“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 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. Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ 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.’ Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ 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.’ 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. And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ 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. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ 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. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:14-46 NASB
This passage really stood out this morning. It begs the question of the reader but one thing. If you indeed claim the name of Jesus Christ as your Savior, what have you done with what you were given on the day of your Salvation?
You indeed were given something on that day. Jesus was there, you were given both a measure of faith and a mission. Scripture says so.
You will notice the man with 5 immediately went and invested. Likewise the one with 2 went out and invested.
The eagerness was there to please the one with whom they had been entrusted with his money.
This is an analogy of receiving from God when we are saved. This passage goes with the one on the parable of the seeds. In that one it speaks of the soil and what it produces.
We are clearly shown that we are not saved for the sake of being saved. There's gifts entrusted to us. There's a mission entrusted to us. A Disciple has knowledge imparted to them from their Master. That imparted knowledge is to be handed down to a new Disciple. Not kept to themselves. The good news of the Gospel was given and should be regiven to others.
We don't recieve Salvation to just get out of Hell. We certainly are not saved to keep that treasure to ourselves but to invest it into others. Not living our lives for ourselves after we come to Christ. Taking up our cross daily and following Jesus is to deny ourselves in favor of what our mission is. Oh, you say that's difficult? Well, yes it is, but you may not realize it but you do it in other ways. You spend time at work when you would rather be out enjoying the day, right? You tend to a friend or loved one or stranger whom is ill do you not, when you would rather not? You can do it, you choose not to. Just as the third man in that parable did. He knew yet chose not to do something with what he was given.
He says it was out of fear. Let's hone in on this. Let's look at that. Afraid of what his master would react to. The other two were too but rather than let it immobilize them it motivated them. They knew the same truth as the third man.
I will confess fear paralyzed me early in life. I had just come to Christ and wanted to tell the world. I began at school. I was mortified by the response of my peers. It was terrible how I was treated. It shut me down for a very very long time. I didn't know who among those at Church that I could talk to about it. I was afraid to talk to anyone really. There was no reason to be but I was. Fear can be a real perception to change us for the better or the worse. It took a very long time until I came in contact with Godly men whom I could talk to.
Fear doesn't allow us to abandon our responsibilities. The Scriptures say we were not given a Spirit of fear. So there IS a way around that.
We aren't saved so that we can do what we want. Read the following:
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour. |
That's Matthew 25:1-13. Salvation without something to show for it is empty words. Some may disagree with that but read it for yourself. Scripture says that faith without works is dead. Oh some may run to the thief on the cross. He didn't do anything with his faith. Yes, he did. In his remaining time on that cross until his life was spent, he lived as a memorial to generations. That was his mission. Look at the post resurrection restoration of Peter. He points to John and asks an what of him? Jesus's response is it's none of Peter's business. Peter is to be concerned with following Christ. Each one of those 3 men in the parable, each of the 10 virgins, had their own purpose and mission. They were given something valuable to their Master and expected to do something with it.
So look at your life today. If others would see you would they see Christ or you? Would they see evidence that you are about the mission God gave you or would they see someone who lives for themselves? If your attire and attitude are of this world then you need to go back to the closet and change clothes. People shouldn't look at your life and see anything that isn't right before God. Do they see worldly symbols of idolatry? Do they see course jesting? Do they see silence when speaking up for those who cannot need a voice? Do they see someone who is trying to please the One to whom they owe their life to? Look honestly at your life. Is it all about your way or is it about what you have been entrusted?
The bottom line is this: How will YOU explain your life to Christ when you meet Him face-to-face to give an account of your life. Because Scripture says we all will.
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