Matthew Pt. 94- The Parable of the Talents

So just like the Lord sovereignly set us up with where

we were coming through and those moments of surrender, the

passages we were looking at months back, he's done the same

thing now as we've transitioned into this moment where we've

sensed His direction that we were to go into growth and that

growth is going to look like certain simple obediences.

And here we are at the Parable of the Talents.

It couldn't be more perfect. If I was preaching to you on

stewardship, this would have been the passage I would have

chosen. Anyway.

This is a favorite place to go whenever I'm teaching on that.

And now this is where it lined up for us anyway.

So here we are, the Parable of the talents, perfectly designed

by the Lord for us in this moment, in this season.

A very practical discipleship. And remember this parable, Where

are we in context? We're in context, where is

Jesus? He is in the last 48 hours of

his life before he's crucified. So we're at the end of the end.

But his disciples had asked a question about the end of the

age and they're saying, when are these things going to happen?

What will be the sign of your return?

And Jesus answered them. And then he started to tell

parables as well. So he gave the parable of of the

servant with the master over his household.

And he comes and he's he finds his servant being faithful, or

he finds his servant being unfaithful.

And then we have he gives the parable of the 10 virgins and

five were wise and five were foolish, Five were prepared and

five were unprepared. And he immediately goes, So he's

still answering the same thing. He's still in the same moment.

He's still sharing about this is what it will look like at my

coming. This is how it's going to be at

the coming of the Kingdom at the end.

And then that's where he's in verse 14.

He doesn't miss a beat. He doesn't come up for air.

He just goes right into the next parable for it will be like what

will be like the Kingdom of heaven at the end, at his

return, For it will be like a man going on a journey.

Jesus is the man who went on the journey.

He's been on his journey about 2000 years.

He's going to be back any minute.

We don't know when he's coming back.

It will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants

and entrusted to them his property to 1.

He gave 5 talents. These are financial

measurements. One talent is about a 20 years

worth of one, one year's wage times 20, whatever the right way

to say that is. So these are large sums of

resources. To 1 he gave 5 talents, to

another two, to another one each according to his ability.

Then he went away. He who had received the five

talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five

talents more. So also he who had the two

talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one

talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's

money. Now after a long time, the

master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

And he who had received 5 talents came forward bringing 5

talents more, saying, Master, you delivered to me 5 talents.

Here I have made five talents more.

His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant,

you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over

much, enter into the joy of your master.

And he also who had the two talents came forward saying,

Master, you delivered to me two talents here I have made two

talents more. His master said to him, Well

done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a

little, I will set you over much.

Enter into the joy of your master.

He also, who had received the one talent, came forward saying,

Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not

sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed.

So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground.

Here you have what is yours. But his master said to him, You

wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I have

not sown, and gather where I scattered no seed.

Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and

at my coming I should have received what was my own with

interests. So take the talent from him and

give it to the one who has 10 talents.

For to everyone who has more will be given, and he will have

an abundance. But to the one who has not, even

what he has will be taken away and cast the worthless servant

into outer darkness. In that place there will be

weeping and gnashing of teeth. God, we approach Your word with

a holy fear and also knowing that you equip us to obey.

So we humble ourselves right now, eager to receive Your

truth, eager to adjust ourselves to it.

That you would be the Master who is pleased with all of his

servants. That we would enter into joy,

That we would enter into reward. That we would embrace the

calling that you've given to us and the faithfulness that you've

called us to. Strengthen your church now and

equip us not just for today, but for all that lies ahead.

In Jesus name we thank you. Amen.

One thing that we notice right away when we're looking at the

the parables side by side with one another is that there is a a

strict and harsh judgment on those who fail each time

whenever you look up and you know, verse 48.

But if that of chapter 24, rather if that wicked servant

says to himself, my master is delayed and begins to beat his

fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards.

So this is the one who's doing the absolutely wrong thing,

right? He's not just in some neutral

place. He is doing the opposite of what

he was supposed to be doing. We kind of go, yeah, makes sense

if we understand it. He's getting what he deserves.

The master, that servant, will come on a day when he does not

expect him, at an hour he does not know.

He will cut him into pieces and put him with the hypocrites in

that place. There will be weeping and

gnashing of teeth. And then we come to the parable

of the 10 virgins, beautiful young girls prepared for the

wedding day. The bridesmaids, they're so

excited. What an honorable thing.

The five are wise. The five are foolish.

The five foolish. They show up late because they

didn't have the oil that they needed.

And they come to the door and Jesus looks at those sweet,

beautiful girls and says, all girls, it's OK, come on in,

right? No, he says, I don't know you.

And they do not come into the feast, which is heaven, which is

the eternal Kingdom. So they erred, they they failed

at their assignment. They didn't, they didn't go do

anything deliberately wicked, but they were negligent.

And now here in this parable, we have those who are faithful and

then we have the one who is unfaithful.

And he again just simply didn't. He didn't go do anything

particularly evil, it doesn't seem, but the master disagrees.

The master says you are a wicked and slothful.

You're a wicked and lazy servant.

That's how the master judges him.

And also he's thrown into the outer darkness where there's

weeping and gnashing of teeth. These are Jesus's words about

people who are going to be shocked on that day.

People are going to knock on the door and say, I'm ready to come

into the wedding feast. And he's going to say I don't

know you, you don't have any oil in your lamp.

Or he's going to say I don't know you, you have not been

obedient to my commands. Or he's going to say I don't

know you, or I'm displeased with you because you're wicked and

lazy. Well, you gave me this deposit

and you did nothing with it. I didn't give you that deposit

so you could just return it back to me safely.

You're not my Piggy Bank. I don't give you money for you

to just hold on and shove under your mattress.

I didn't need somebody to just protect my $100 bill.

And I'll be gone in a few and I'll come back in a few months

and I hope you can hand the Benjamin back to me.

The Lord is looking to invest in people and the Lord is looking

for a return from people. Verse 14 of 25 for it will be

like a man going on a journey who called his servants and

entrusted to them his property. Whose property was it?

Whose property is it in US? It's God's every gift that you

have, every advantage that you have, every personality strength

that you have. You didn't develop that in your

mother's womb. You didn't pick that as you were

being formed to God. I think I'm going to be this

kind of person. I think I'm going to be that

kind of person. Every strength and gifting that

you have, and you do have strengths, every single one of

you. And you do have giftings, every

single one of you. Every single one of those things

is still a gift from God. Everything in you is his

property, everything in your bank account.

Well, I earned that money. Yeah, you did.

And did you, did you build the hands that earned that money and

did you build the mind that earned that money?

Well, I, I did the work. Well, congratulations on your,

your simple obedience. But that's all we were called to

do anyway, is walk out faithful and simple obediences.

So anything that we've built, anything that we've done, we've

all we did it. Did you, did you use your own

air in the process, or were you using the Lord's air and the

Lord's breath? Everything, every good and

perfect gift comes from God above, Amen.

So we have lots of good and perfect gifts in our lives and

they've all come from the Lord. All the property belongs to him.

And that's how this parable starts.

He called his servants and he entrusted to them his property.

The talents do not belong to the servants.

So we use this word talents, and it works well.

The talent was a financial measurement, but we could also

literally be talking about talent, skill, and gifting.

So it works well to cover the gamut.

It covers money, it covers personality, it covers gifting,

it covers ability, it covers hard work, but it all still is a

gift from God. Everything we have belongs to

the Lord. Whatever gifts, whatever

opportunities, whatever money, whatever abilities, whatever

influence, whatever responsibilities we possess,

they are still His. The ESV translates this, this

word servants, it's the word is slaves.

That's the word. The original word is slave.

The word that came out of Jesus mouth that day was slave.

And it's not a bad thing. It is a good thing to be a slave

to Christ. We are slaves to our master.

Thank God we have a good master, but we still are his possession.

Make no mistake, you're still owned by him.

I'm not going to be owned by anybody.

Then you won't be Jesus's. I can tell you that.

You don't have Jesus if Jesus doesn't actually have you.

So we are slaves of Christ. And the New Testament authors

had no problem calling themselves slaves of Christ.

And because everything is his, He expects a return.

He doesn't expect a return on our stuff.

He expects a return on his stuff.

This is why the Kingdom perspective is one of

multiplication. This is why the Lord requires

multiplication. This is why it's normal in the

Kingdom for thing. If something's healthy, it

should be growing. And the Kingdom, something is

multiplying, something's growing, something is

increasing. Nothing we possess originated

with us. Another thing I want you to

notice about this parable, this parable is not about what you

stopped doing for the devil. Well, I don't.

I don't do anything like that other guy did up in that other

parable. The guy who's beating everybody.

He's drinking, he's getting drunk.

He's doing all these other things that I'm not.

I don't do all the things I'm not supposed to do.

Well, that's not the parable that Jesus told.

Nobody was doing stuff that they weren't supposed to do.

Nobody was doing bad stuff. He didn't gamble the money away.

He didn't run to the casino with the money and lose it all.

He didn't spend it on frivolous living.

He didn't go buy himself a bunch of fancy clothes.

So the parable is not about what you've stopped doing for the

devil. Some people try and evaluate

faithfulness by saying, I don't do this, I don't do that, I

don't do this and I don't do that.

But this parable is not asking what did you avoid?

This parable is asking what did you do for Jesus.

That's what the parable is pointing out.

What are you doing for Jesus? And that's like, that feels like

a whole new gear. I didn't, I didn't write it.

It's been there the whole time. I didn't put it in this.

This isn't just my notes. Jesus said this a long time ago.

American Christianity has watered it down and has

belittled the strong sayings of Jesus.

But they've been here the whole time.

And plain reading comprehension leads us to these.

Come to these conclusions. What did you do for the Lord?

Obedience is not neutral. Obedience is fruitful.

Yes, yes, yes. Obedience has to look like

something. It doesn't look like, well, I

didn't do the thing. Yeah, I know, man.

But like, I didn't just ask you to not do the thing.

I actually left you to conquer the world.

I left you to multiply and make disciples, to teach the world to

obey everything that I've commanded.

And that assumed that you were first obeying everything that

I've commanded. The Lord equips us for this

work. If you feel overwhelmed by it,

that feeling of overwhelm should not lead you to despair.

For any of you right now who feel like I may as well give up

because I can't do it, that is exactly what the guy in this

parable did. It's too hard, my master demands

too much, I can't do it, so I'll give up.

Two reasons you shouldn't do that.

Number one, you're forfeiting your own soul and you're going

to regret that 200 years from now and 20,000 years from now

and 2,000,000 years from now. So that's one reason not to do

it. The other reason is that whole,

that whole weight that you feel is designed to cause you to run

to the cross and fall on your knees and plead for the Lord for

more grace and mercy and he will give help to the humble.

But if you just say my master's harsh and his requirements are

too heavy and you're like, I can't do it, you've missed out

entirely. You're forfeiting your soul,

which of course that's the only thing you got, but you're also

missing the point that he's going to help you, but you've

got to come to him and recognize that you need help.

He's not saying do better, try harder all by yourself and I'm

watching. He's saying you're weak on your

own, you're pathetic on your own, and you fall short of my

glory by a lot on your own. And that kind of prayer, when

you come to the Lord and say, Lord, help me, it's the Pharisee

who came and said, Lord, thank you that I don't do all the bad

things. But it was the other man who

beat his chest and said, God have mercy on me.

Help me an idiot, help me the Sinner.

And then of course he's expected to go do something because power

comes with that prayer. The power comes.

The Lord doesn't automatically ZAP us, but power is present

when we pray, when we seek the Lord in humility.

Obedience isn't neutral, obedience is fruitful.

Verse 15 to the one he gave 5 talents, to another two and to

another one, each according to his ability.

Then he went away. The other thing we got to point

out here is Jesus is not afraid of money.

Money in and of itself. Jesus talked about money a lot.

Money is not evil, Money is not good.

Money is just money. It's what you do with it.

It's just a thing. Loving money makes it an idol.

Loving money. You'll serve God or you'll serve

wealth. Mammon, you'll serve a demonic

consumerism or you'll serve God. But you cannot have two masters.

You will love 1 and hate the other, but you cannot have both.

So Jesus isn't afraid of money. It is a tool, but it is a

measure of faithfulness. That's the point I want to make

for you and I today. Money is a measure.

It's a measure doesn't mean everything, but it does not mean

nothing. Your money reveals what you

treasure, how you spend your money, how you invest your

money, how you save your money. It does reveal you treasure.

You might think, whoa man, looks like I love gasoline.

Well, it's not that you love gasoline, but you highly value

going from point A to point B. It's an important thing.

I highly value a warm house in the winter.

So yes, that is why I invest in the power company so they

continue to pump the electricity to my house so that my heat pump

can continue to work, so that I can stay warm.

These are things that I value. You will know what I value by

looking at how I spend my money. You will be able to look and see

this guy cares a lot about this. This guy cares a lot about it.

This guy cares a lot about Natalie.

I'm just saying my budget reveals that I care a lot about

Natalie. That's your choice.

I do. It's not a complaint.

I'm happy about it. I know you're not complaining,

but your your treasure reveals this thing about your heart.

Jesus has taught us that already.

And the Lord cares about otherwise also just how we

manage our money. So there's the point to be made

about where your money is a treasure and you're always going

to apply it to the thing that you most treasure and you're

going to worship with your money.

So that's one one important part of the conversation.

The other important part of the conversation is simply this.

The Lord cares about how you manage money as a resource.

It matters, and it's something that you got to grow in.

I used to know nothing about nothing when it came to managing

my money. The way she and I early in our

marriage, I remember we would be in Walmart and the way we would

go shopping for things is we would be like, I feel like we

have that in the account. And then we're like, yeah, I

think so. It's before smartphones.

We couldn't just check our balance instantly and we didn't

keep a checkbook Like we were the generation that like didn't

like we're the generation I think that stopped keeping the

checkbooks. Before us.

Gen. X was keeping checkbooks and

millennials like I think a few of us did and I did for about 5

minutes and then I didn't. So then, you know, and then some

generations like how do you exist without keeping a

checkbook? I'm like, I don't know, we're

doing it. But so we would say, I think

we've got it. And then we would be shocked to

find out that we've somehow overdrafted.

What? And we didn't know.

No one taught us. Nobody ever came to me and said,

hey, Joe Michael, do y'all manage your finances?

And I'm like, what do you mean? And they'd be like, what do you

like have a system? Do you have a budget?

And I'd like, well, what is that exactly?

Like, well, it's a plan for the money for the month.

Like no, I don't have that. OK.

Are you tracking what you spend each month?

Also no to that. What are you doing, Joe Michael

Are we just, if we feel like it's in there, we were like, I

think it's in there. We swipe and then what happens?

Joe Michael, Well, then we overdraft and then we call the

bank. We're like, could you please

pull off our overdraft fees? We're super broke and we're

super stupid and we didn't know what we're doing.

And sometimes the bank would pull it off.

And sometimes if Niecy was at the bank, sometimes the bank

would pull our overdraft fees off.

Sometimes they wouldn't. And we're just like, man, life

is so hard. You know, life is so hard.

I just don't know how we're going to get ahead.

Lord, please, we just need a financial miracle right now.

Hey, Joe, Michael, you actually don't need a financial miracle.

You just need to you need to learn and grow.

There's there's a lot you don't know, buddy.

And you're not even at level 1. You're at zero.

You got to go from zero to 1, John Michael, and that's going

to look like you actually have to take ownership and

responsibility for your finances.

That's how far gone I was. I didn't know.

And I found this guy called named Dave Ramsey and he was

talking about you need $1000 emergency fund.

It was a plan. I was like, that makes sense.

So watching some of his videos, I was like, man, that's really

helpful. Have I ever told me I didn't

know? I didn't know.

I was truly ignorant. Once I found out how it's

supposed to work, I was like, at that point, if you don't do it,

then I become stupid. So far I was just ignorant, but

thankfully I did not go into the realm of stupidity.

I've had moments for sure, but mostly it was ignorance on my

part. But but then I started to learn

and then I started to grow and then I found there's levels to

this thing. So there's going from zero to 1

and then you go from 1:00 to 2:00 and that looks like

something. And then your, your financial IQ

will increase. My encouragement though, and my

challenge and requirement from the Lord is it needs to look

like something. Whatever level you're at on that

spectrum, don't condemn yourself, don't be overwhelmed,

and don't compare to anybody else.

Just know that you need to go to the very next one, and you ought

to do it now. It's always good to get more

responsible with your finances. It's always good to get more

responsible with your resource so that you can actually be more

fruitful with it. Because the Lord expects a

return. I'm good.

I got everything I need. How selfish of you.

There's more than just you in mind here.

There's more than just you at stake here.

The Lord is not looking for you to return what He handed to you.

The Lord is looking for multiplication, and that would

include Kingdom multiplication. We got everything we know.

I got this for my kids and their colleges paid for, and I bought

a house for everybody. OK, Why not build an orphanage?

Why not do this? Like, why?

Why are we stuck here? I want to expand your vision.

Wherever you are, if you got gajillions or if you got good

dozens of dollars, whatever it might be, the Lord has more

vision and the Lord can grow you from where you are.

Amen for not what I got all my needs met Good.

You should. I'm not surprised.

God is good. And if you walked out some basic

financial principles, that is going to be and if you work,

then that's going to be what happens.

But beyond that, the city on a hill, we've got abundance.

The city on a hill should have enough to give The city on a

hill should have enough to provide for others.

Who have you given to lately? Who have you surprised lately?

Who have you blessed in the grocery store lately?

Who have you helped to the gas station lately?

If if that's the place where you're at, then you go, yeah,

that's normal. OK, then what would it look like

to expand again? Keep multiplying your resources.

The Lord does care about how you manage your money, and He

expects a return on his investment, even financially.

What else do we see here in verse 15?

He gives each according to His ability.

That means each of us has been assigned the obedience and the

faithfulness and the responsibilities that we are

capable of obeying and walking out.

He didn't give them the same financial resources to each one.

He's like, I know what this guy can handle.

One is the appropriate one. Talent which is still 20 years

wages, so still a significant sum of money.

Hey, I want you to manage this. You going to manage this much?

You are going to manage this much.

And maybe the one with five started off years ago and he got

one-on-one of the master's journeys and he proved faithful

over and over and over. And it's his turn to be tested

now. Hey, this is according to your

ability. You are able to accomplish this.

I know that you are. I'm the master.

I know what's in you, and I know you're capable of doing this.

This is encouraging for you and I to know that Don't compare to

the five talents. Don't compare to the two

talents. I only got 1 talent.

Well, that's exactly where you're supposed to be.

And be thankful for that and be faithful with that.

You got what you need for where you are from the Lord.

The servant with one talent is still capable of succeeding.

Faithfulness is required at your level, not at someone else's.

This eliminates comparison. This eliminates your ability to

say well, what about he's not interested.

He didn't say you wicked servant.

Look at what they did. Look at the amount of money that

they've given me. He said you didn't bring any

return. We don't know how it would have

gone if the servant said, well, I, I put it in a, a low interest

account and it's slightly increased.

Like, OK, it's a slight increase, but it's an increase.

It's something instead of I buried it, I hid it in the

ground and now I hand it back to you.

Don't compare to the other servants of the Lord.

Don't compare to other people compared to you.

Are you at level 0? Level 1 is your next target.

That's your next bullseye. Are you at level 9?

Level 10 is your next target. And just so you know, if you

ever make it to level 10, the Lord will show you the scale

goes to 100. And if you ever make to level

100, the Lord will show you it goes to 1000.

And that's not to discourage you.

He goes well done, good and faithful servant.

I'm going to make you rule over much and you rule over much.

Well, and he goes well done, good and faithful servant.

What are you doing? You're becoming more like him,

more faithful, more fruitful. He gets more glory and we get

reward and also we get growth because that is a stretch that

is a challenge to grow. You handled all that money well.

Thank you, Master. I'm so glad you're pleased.

I was hoping that you would be. I'm going to put you over 10

cities now. Whoa.

Managing money to managing cities, economies, police

departments, sanitation, civilization, like that's,

that's a big challenge. Like that's going to require

more of me. The Lord's growing us.

He's blessing others. He's getting glory and he's

pleased in the process when he has humble and faithful servants

who remember that they need him to accomplish the next level.

You don't do the next level on your own.

He says, I'll give you this, now you go, will you help me?

And he goes, of course, and you go, Well, then I can do it, and

then I'm all in. He goes, I will help you, I will

teach you, I will walk with you through the whole thing.

Verse 16 and 17. He who had received the five

talents went at once and traded with them, and made five talents

more. So also he who had the two

talents made two talents more. Look at what the faithful

servant does. He goes at once.

He knows the masters going on a long journey.

How long does he wait? That's what we all did, right?

Whenever professors would assign us a paper, you all started on

it right away. It's like this is going to be

this is due in six months. But he told us all to get

started right away. And that's what everybody went

home that very first night. They're like, I'm going to get a

great start on this thing. That's what I did till I dropped

out of college right away. The faithful servant gets to it.

He did not wait, he did not delay.

That's something that we see about the diligent and now is

the time to start, not later. Well, it's not due until what's

that got to do anything. I want to be fruitful.

I want to be fruitful. I'm not looking to do to do the

minimums. I'm not looking to just not get

caught. I'm looking to do the maximums.

It's the approach that I talk about going for the gold medal

instead of like, I'd like to compete in this sport compared

to the way an Olympic athlete trains.

They want the gold medal. Nobody's training for bronze,

nobody's training for silver. They're doing the maximums with

everything they can think of. They're thinking about their

sleep, they're thinking about their nutrition, they're

thinking about their stretching, they're thinking about the music

they listen to in their warm up. Everything is deliberate because

they were like, what is going to do the Mac?

Can I get 1% out of this? Then I'm going to do it.

Can I get 1% out of that? Then I'm going to do it.

They're trying to do the maximums.

The faithful servant is saying I want to do the maximums.

I want to be the most fruitful. I want to be the most faithful

that I can be to him. Our master's been gone for 2000

years, but he is returning. One thing about lazy workers.

Lazy workers love when the boss is gone.

Lazy workers love when the boss is out of the office or when the

boss leaves the job site and like, cool, I'm glad he's gone.

Diligent workers don't care where the boss is.

Boss is here, boss is there, boss is gone.

Boss is like, they don't care. Like, hey, boss, what are you

doing? Same thing I was working, you

know, like I'm just, I'm just doing what I'm supposed to be

doing all the time. The cat's away.

This mouse isn't going to play. I'm going to continue to just be

faithful and do what I got to do because I'm not working on a man

anyway. I'm working under the Lord.

So what Scripture tells Christians how to work?

So I'm going to keep working for the Lord and I'm going to be

pleasing to him. Diligent workers are happy to

show their results. The third servant, though, is

the only one who never did anything.

So the diligent right away, I'm going right away.

All right, I'm going to go. What investment looks good?

What properties could I go and buy and sell with the masters

money? I could do this, I could do

that, I could do this. And he's multiplied the money by

the time the master returns, he goes, I'm excited.

I've been waiting. I've been waiting for you to get

back. The other servant.

He's been dreading the masters return The whole time he's since

the master left. He's had nothing but dread and

fear. I hope the master doesn't come

back today. Is he going to be mad at me?

Is he going to be mad at me? Is he going to be mad at me?

Yes. Yes.

You're a wicked and lazy and unfaithful.

You haven't multiplied. You haven't increased.

He will not be pleased with you and you know it.

Which is why you feel the fear. Which is why you dread his

return instead of looking forward to it with great joy.

The best time to start your obedience is immediately it's

right now who said it the best time to plant an oak tree was 50

years ago next best time today this is the best time to start

your obedience right now. I'm not a, I'm not afraid to use

the calendar to my advantage. Some people are really cynical

about New Year's resolutions, like, oh, I don't it's just a

day on the calendar. OK, I suppose technically that's

true. And also I'll take any excuse I

can to reboot. I'll take any excuse I can to

level up. I'll take any excuse I can to to

take a step forward. So sure, January is a good a

time as any. It is a new year.

Why not do a new thing? And even more so as a church.

I mean, that is deliberately what we're doing.

And that is very much what I'm calling you to and inviting you

to as your pastor to say, let's step into this thing.

Like pick 2 new habits that are going to bless your life and you

go, you know what? That's a little bit of a

challenge for sure, but there's also real fruit there.

This is doable. And let's normalize this thing

so that six months from now you're like, I need another

worksheet that's like brushing my teeth.

I need another way to grow. I need another way to think

about how I can level up, another way, how I can boost my

obedience and faithfulness and fruitfulness so that Jesus gets

more pleasure from me. Verse 18 But he who had received

the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's

money. So in the ancient world,

remember I've taught you all this before.

That was your, that was the place you would hide something

important. There was no bank.

There was no safe deposit box. There was no safe in your house.

Like a foreign army start. Y'all hear that?

A foreign army is like coming and it's 100 miles away.

You're going to go out somewhere in the wilderness where your

neighbors don't see you, and you're going to bury the

treasures of your home. You're going to take like any

gold that you have. It's going to be a tiny amount

for most folks. Any treasure, any Ruby, any gym

that's been in your family for generations, you're going to put

it in a clay pot. You're going to dig, you're

going to bury, you're going to cover it.

And then if you'll have to evacuate when foreign armies

come, you're going to hopefully be able to return at some point

some years from now or whatever the case may be, and dig up your

thing and you still have your valuables.

So that's the idea. Like, why would he bury this

wealth in the ground? That's why.

Because that was a normal thing that they would have done.

So he buries it in the ground. It's a common safety practice.

But what do we notice here? He takes action, but it's just

not the right action. I mean, digging is hard.

We all know digging is no fun. He was active, but he wasn't

fruitful. He was busy, but he was not

faithful. I'm super busy.

I'm super busy. I'm super busy.

That's fine as long as it's on the obedience.

If you're super busy about your father's business, then that's

good. But if you're just super active

on the wrong thing, you're like, I did something, but it's the

wrong thing. He exerted effort.

He created labor, but it wasn't what his master wanted.

Your activity is not what matters to the Lord.

The right activity is what matters to the Lord.

So He did a safe thing. He protected it.

But safety was never the goal. Safety was never the

expectation. Safety was never the demand.

Faithful was the goal. Being busy does not equal being

faithful. Being active does not equal

being faithful and being fruitful.

Verse 19. Now after a long time, the

master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

That one's as plain as it sounds.

The master is coming back. He is going to settle accounts.

You will stand alone before him. And that is the question that

all these parables should make you ask.

Am I ready? Am I ready for the Master to

return today? Will I be able to say, look,

Jesus, what will you say if Jesus comes back today and he

says, present to me, Present to me your multiplication.

Here's the thing, Lord, none of that's going to fly.

I think a lot of people with bad theology and self deception and

demonic deception are going to stand before the Lord on that

day and try and make a case and he's going to say, depart from

me. I never knew you.

The only thing he's going to want to hear is here's what I

did. I've been, I've been excited to

show you. It hasn't been all I wanted to

do. I actually was hoping to do

more. I wanted to accomplish more, but

I was often foolish and weak and wasteful.

But I have multiplied. I have grown.

Can you say I have multiplied? I have grown what you've given

me, Lord. If not, this parable is quite

shocking. What do I do?

The same thing we always talk about that we always have to do.

Repent, believe the gospel and run to the cross.

Ask God for help and humble yourself, but be honest about

where you actually are. Man, if we could get the pews of

America to be honest about where they actually are instead of

being comforted by the fact that they are the pews of America,

instead of being comforted by the fact that I read my Bible a

lot. That's not fruitfulness to show

the Lord. Lord, I have more knowledge than

I've ever had. That will not be a measurement

that he uses. I know more stuff than I ever

knew. I was only in the best churches.

I I listen to the best sermons. That won't be fruit.

That's leaves on the tree, but that's not fruit.

Fruit is actual things that make a difference in the world.

Fruit is people's lives. Fruit is Kingdom impact.

Your personal knowledge and self pleasure with spiritual things

is not fruitfulness that the Lord will measure.

It's not evil for any of those things to happen.

But those things are supposed to lead to something.

Because if you really are full of the Word of God, if you

really are full of the Spirit of God, you will automatically be

bearing fruit for God. So you can't have the first

without the ladder. The master is coming back.

These parables make us ask that question.

Am I really ready? Verse 20 And he who had received

the five talents came forward bringing 5 talents more, saying,

Master, you delivered to me 5 talents here, I've made five

talents more. His master said to him, Well

done, good and faithful servant. The faithful servant is excited

to show the master what he's done.

He's not dreading his return. And his joy was proven through

his diligent labor. He believed his master was

returning without knowing when, and he prepared.

And then the master said to him, Well done, good and faithful

servant. You have been faithful over a

little. I will set you over much.

Enter into the joy of your master, who here is well done,

good and faithful servant. It's not everybody.

Whoever existed, it's not everybody who dies.

Like a lot of preachers are liars.

They lie at funerals all the time.

It's hard. You want to you're you're

looking at these families that you love, but sometimes you're

like, it's difficult, but you have to be honest and you can't

say, oh, right now, so and so is here and well done, good and

faithful servant. Like I'm not Jesus.

I don't pass that out. That's not mine to assign.

I can judge fruit, though. If there's fruit, I love to talk

about the fruit. And if there's not fruit, you

know what I do? I focus on comforting those who

are here. I don't have a lot to say

necessarily. If I don't know a lot about the

fruits, they're in God's hands, not mine.

I'm not putting them in heaven. I'm not putting them in hell.

They are where they are by God's grace and no matter what, by

God's justice, well done, good and faithful servants.

I don't think everybody hears that, but I think everybody's

supposed to hear that. But Jesus only gave 2 categories

in this parable. There's the obedient, well done,

good and faithful servant, and there is hell forever.

But what got well done, good and faithful servant?

A multiplier. That was it.

A multiplier who actually increased what the Lord gave.

I'm running short on time, so I'm trying to figure out how to

the good news that we're supposed to be excited about

here. I, I know this parable

rightfully puts the fear of God and knows who it should put the

fear of God in. It puts the fear of God in

everybody. But there's a, there's another

group who's excited when they hear this parable and they go,

that sounds good. That's good news for me.

There's some of you who are like, this is good news.

I'm hearing about increase coming my way and I'm hearing

about the Lord being pleased and telling me to enter into his

joy. That is supposed to be the great

motivator here. There's increase to be given for

multiplication. Not just I want to avoid

punishment, but I want to please the Master and I want to

experience more reward. So the Master does that.

The Master says enter into the my joy.

Faithful obedience leads to more glory and more joy.

Verse 22 he also the two talents came forward.

His master said to him, well done, good and faithful servant.

You've been faithful for a little while.

I'll set you over much. Enter into the joy of your

master. Notice the two talent servant

gets the exact same reward even though he has a lesser amount to

show for it because the reward is not based on the amount.

The reward is based upon obedience.

This reveals the masters perfect fairness and his constant

justice. God is fair.

You're judged according to your baselines, not to mine, not to

your neighbors, not to anybody else's.

You're well able to obey what you're called to obey.

Verse 24 He also who received the one talent came forward

saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, sowing where you did

not, or reaping where you did not sow, gathering where you

scattered no seed. So I was afraid and I went and

hid your talent in the ground. Here, have what is yours, One

theologian said. The foolish virgins.

Their error was that they thought their job was too easy,

so they didn't take it seriously.

This man thought his job was too hard, so he gave up.

Both responses are unacceptable. Oh, this is not that big of a

deal. It's a happy wedding day.

Oh, we ran out of oil, we can sort it out.

No, you can't. It was a big deal to the groom

and this guy though. This is so hard.

And what does he do? His master returns, and he

begins greeting his master with insults.

It's your fault, actually, Master.

I knew you're hard. I know you're difficult to

please. I know you're so holy and set

apart and different. You have such high standards for

us, and you always require so much of us.

You are good at digging. You're digging your own grave

right now. Continue to insult the master

who you did nothing for while he was gone.

So here's what I did. I was afraid so now he seeks

pity. I know you're so harsh and awful

and I was so scared. Please have pity on me.

It doesn't go the way he thought it was going to go.

He had his excuse planned out and the Lord didn't care about

his excuse. The excuse did not meet the

Lord's standard at all. God does not reward self pity.

God hates self pity. I've reminded my children that

especially when they were little, whenever you would see a

child feel sorry for themselves, one of the best things I ever

did for them as a father, I would say, hey, buddy, look at

me, look at me. Nobody feels sorry for you.

That was kind of a jarring thing.

And then I would show them love still, which that was love by

the way. I would still find other ways to

show them tenderness, but I had to break self pity.

Self pity is disgusting. We hate it in one another, but

in ourselves it just feels comforting.

It's just a blanket. I've been there, you've been

there. Self pity is a strange,

comforting thing, but it does not serve us well and it does

not please the Lord. So anyone who's feeling sorry

for themselves, yes, for a child, a young child, sometimes

that jarring that, that cold slap in the face is the exact

thing we need. Sometimes that's exactly what we

need. We still need compassion, but we

cannot be pitied. We have to be trained.

We have to be called higher. We have to be corrected.

Self pity does not serve you in your Christian walk.

Pity from others does not serve you and your Christian will.

Compassion will, but compassion will also call you higher.

God does not reward excessive caution or paralysis by fear.

I don't know what to do, so I did.

Nothing is actually, we can see, not safe in the Kingdom.

This guy thought he was playing it safe.

He did nothing but nothing. Nothing to play it safe.

Playing it safe is multiplying and obeying.

That's what the Lord wants, master.

I mean, show the master the effort you took.

I bought this field and I did that field, and I made a mistake

and that one turned upside down and I lost all your money.

I wonder how that parable would have gone like.

I tried something. I tried, I tried.

I thought that was a good deal. And then it turned out like this

and I lost some money and I only have this amount.

All right, next time, talk to the other guys and they'll help

you figure it out. That that was me and Natalie.

Master, we're swiping money and we need a financial miracle.

We don't know where the money's going.

And the bank, the bank's so evil.

They keep hitting us with these fees.

The devil's. The devil's coming after us.

Master. It's the devil at work.

He's working overtime. Devil gets too much credit.

Sometimes it's just the devil fighting against me.

The Lord expects His church to have an ambitious, faith filled,

growth oriented posture. Fear based inactivity is

condemned in the Kingdom of God. God does not want a fearful

people. If He tells you that's the

promised land, you're going to go take it.

He expects you to go into the promised land and take it.

And when you send scouts in and they come back and say we are

well able to take the land, the Lord is pleased.

But when they come back and they say there's giants in this land

and we're like grasshoppers to them, this is not going to go

well. The Lord's not pleased with

that. Is it factually true that there

are giants in the land? Yes, it is.

That is truth. We're not denying that.

But you're pretending as though that truth somehow supersedes

the truth that the Lord said. We're we're well able to take

the land. God hates that.

And now you're going to be punished and none of you are

actually going to go into the promised land.

This whole generation is going to die off and none of you will

see the promised land because of your doubt and unbelief.

He is serious about faith. And God really hates fear.

Oh, I feel fearful. Take it to the Lord and humble

repentance. God, I feel afraid.

I give it to you, Oh Lord, bring it out of me.

Work it out of me. That's what real prayer looks

like, Saints. That's what real prayer looks

like, a humbleness, A faithfulness, A dependency.

And the Lord says, oh, you're asking for help, I'll do.

I can do that. You feel afraid when you see the

giants in the land. OK, bring it to me.

Don't take it back to Israel. Don't take it back and spread

fear among the people. Don't take it back and spread

fear among the Saints. Bring it to me.

I can recalibrate your heart. I can help you.

No excuse is going to stand before the Lord on the Judgement

Day. Fear of doing it wrong is not an

acceptable reason to disobey. Because remember, God has

already accounted for your ability.

So I was afraid that I couldn't. Well, that's another judgement

you just made against the Master.

You said he chose poorly with the investment he made in you.

Others are doing it. Others are being obedient.

There's a way you can be obedient.

Other Christians have done this throughout history, Joe Michael,

there's probably a way you can obey this command right now.

I know you think you're in a tough spot.

I know you think you're in a tough moment.

But I'm just going to remind you, buddy, other Christians

have had it harder than you, Joe Michael, and they've been

faithful. Other Christians have navigated

difficult stuff. Your problem, usually Joe

Michael, is you're doing it on Joe Michael's strength and you

feel like a failure because you are and you always will be when

you try and do it apart from him.

But if you can be a humble Christian who leans on the Lord

and depends upon his power, the rest is history.

He gets involved and he starts flexing good news.

God has a pounded for God has accounted for my ability and God

has accounted for my stupidity. What a relief.

God expects a return. The Lord did not save you just

for you. He saved you for fruitfulness.

He saved you for others. The question is not did you

waste the talent in this parable?

That's not the concern here. The question is not did you

waste it? The question is, did you

multiply it? Are you the same Christian that

you were or did you multiply? Are you the same husband or did

you multiply? Are you the same father or did

you multiply? Are you the same wife?

Are you the same mother? Are you the same church member?

Are you the same staff member? Are you the same son or

daughter? The faithful are eager to look

at the Master and say, look, I multiplied by your grace with

your help. I mean, you gave the gift to

begin with and you help me with your wisdom to multiply, and I'm

so happy to present it to you. This was my assignment.

This was my requirement. I'm happy to show you.

Lord verse 26. His master answered him.

You wicked and slothful servant, You knew I reap or I have not

sown. He just takes his own logic.

Oh, is that what you think about me?

Is that how I am? Well then, by your own logic,

with your own words, you're condemned.

You know that I reap where I don't sow, I gather where I

scatter. No seed.

Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and

at my coming I should have received what was my own, with

interests at least. Might not have doubled it, but

I'd have gotten something for it.

Take the talent from him and give it to the one with 10

talents. He's condemned by his own words.

The master exposes his flawed logic.

His own reasoning shows that he's failed.

Minimal effort would have been better than none, but fear

driven activity is labeled wicked and slothful.

You've heard it said that you know whenever you're aiming

something, it's ready fire or ready.

Sorry, I was describing my personality.

It's ready aim. Fire is the traditional, right?

But there are some folks who tend towards ready, aim, aim,

aim, aim, aim. I don't know, aim.

And then you got some folks fire, bang.

All right, Now I see where it went.

Now I can adjust. Fire, fire, fire.

Let's get after it. One of those, one of those is

more pleasing to the Lord. So you're like, oh, my

personality doesn't tend to us that way.

Then you better shift something because the Lord is not pleased

with aim. Aim.

I was afraid and I was worried, and I didn't want to do anything

wrong. Well, welcome to life.

Remember that there is grace for you.

Yes. Do you remember that there is a

King who is loving and merciful and forgiving?

Is your motive right? Well, yeah.

My motive is pure. Then take action.

Take action as you're led by the Holy Spirit.

But take action. I'm afraid it won't go right.

Have you forgotten that there is a God in heaven?

Do you think that you're him? Do you remember that you have a

shepherd? Then do something.

Take action. Everything involves risk.

Everything. Everything.

Every man in the room, every married man knows want to marry

the girl. I don't want to get shot down.

What are you going to do? You got to do something.

You got to make a move. You got to speak up.

You have to make the connection. It's going to cost something.

It's going to cost ego in that in that case, risk is a part of

life. And if you feel afraid, if your

body still feels afraid, if you still feel tension, then do it

afraid, but do something because the Lord will help you.

The Lord will strengthen you. This is the opposite of human

thinking. What happens here?

Take the guy who has nothing, take from him and give it to the

guy who has everything. This is the opposite of

communism. The Lord is not a communist.

The Lord takes from the unfaithful and he gives to the

faithful. Why?

Because he's a smart investor. He's like, that was a bad

investment. I'm pulling all my funds out of

there and I'm putting them here. That's not taking money from

people and giving it to other people in the in the same way.

But he takes from the unfaithful and he gives to the faithful.

You're not useful, you're not reliable.

He calls him worthless. Jesus calls people worthless.

It's not a recommendation for us to do so, but at the master can

certainly make his determinations however he wants

to of his slaves. He's a wise investor.

So he plays his resources where they bring return in glory.

Chris and Kayla, we're going to wait till next week.

We're closing y'all. We're not closing with a a great

deal of encouragement, but we're closing the way Jesus closed.

Take from the one who has not, oh, but from the one who has not

even what he has will be taken away.

So even though I didn't multiply and didn't do anything with it,

what's taken away from me? Whatever he gave me, and then

what happens with me? And cast the worthless servant

into the outer darkness, and that place there will be weeping

and gnashing of teeth. This is hell.

This man is cast into hell. A7 year old would know that

reading their Bible. This is separation from God

forever. He doesn't rebuke him and say

hey, next trip, next time. Why?

Because he's talking about the Lord's return.

The end is the end. Many people have experienced the

end and they just found out on their deathbed, and then they

thought they just had a terrible, terrible, terrible,

unexpected end because they get before the Lord or they or they

immediately start descending into hell and they're going.

What? What?

No, no, no, no, no. Oh.

What evidence would you point to?

What fruit would you point to? Well, I was saved.

OK, So what fruit was there of the salvation?

Well, I don't know that I've got a lot of fruit.

You mean to tell me the living God, the all powerful Lord Jesus

Christ, saved you and made you a new creation?

Yes, and you have nothing to show for it.

This Jesus that you're describing sounds pathetic to

me. I'll be honest.

How pathetic must this God be that so-called gave you a new

identity and that there's no fruit to go along with your new

identity? Well, I've been new look, but

for those who are new in the Lord and they're like, well,

I've been in the Lord for like 5 minutes, like, OK, we're like,

we'll allow babies to grow and mature.

That's a normal process of sanctification.

But but there are many who don't have that story at all and

they're going to be in for a shock.

And that's my job is to prevent that shock.

My job is to say that's unnecessary.

But you must face reality and not applaud yourself for leaves.

But always judge by fruit. This is your soul.

It's mostly your responsibility. It's partially mine, which is

why I'm scared of Jesus, which is why I tell you the truth

about this stuff. Michael, this is hard to receive

because I haven't heard it preached this way before.

That's a fairpoint. And also go to the book.

Like, This is why there's no fancy footwork up here, because

I know these things are hard to hear if you've never heard them

before, but we're just taking the Master at his word.

People will be cast into hell. And it's not because they didn't

earn a salvation, because they didn't have fruit.

The point is, they never had salvation.

They never had salvation. How do you know?

Because there was no fruit. The fruit doesn't save.

But if you're saved, you'll have fruit.

If you don't have fruit, you're not saved.

New Testament stuff here. That's right.

Well, I'm, I'm still growing. I'm still.

Then keep growing. If you're at level 0, you're

just going to 1 and the Lord's going to do it.

It's OK. It's OK.

But if you're at level 8, you're looking to 9, and if you're at

9, you're looking to 10. That's the normal growth

pattern. A life with no fruit reveals

that there is no saving faith, because leaves without fruit, of

course, are not enough. The servant proves that he was

never actually a genuine servant, because genuine faith

produces genuine faithfulness. You are saved by God's grace

through your faith. And if indeed that miracle of

new birth has happened in your life, fruit has to follow.

Fruit will follow conviction that you feel.

Now, if you're like, I want more fruit, good, good, me too, as

you should. But what do you do?

What do you do if you feel despair?

You run to the cross. You run to the faithful servant,

the Lord Jesus Christ, the only one who did it perfectly.

Welcome to the gospel again, Salt Church.

The good news that we all need every day, every week, every

time you get crushed by the law of God, as we do it, is intended

to lead us to the gospel and the grace of God.

That's too heavy. It's too much for me.

You're exactly right. But don't stay there.

Come all the way through. Jesus.

I really need you. I really want you.

Will you please help me? I've been fruitless.

I've been fruitless. Jesus, will you help me?

I've been. I have not been faithful.

Jesus, will you help me? Jesus, I need even the want to.

I don't even want to enough. Will you help me?

Want to enough? Lord?

I don't even want to. I feel like I should want to,

but I don't even want to. I barely want to want to, but I

don't even want to enough. Can you help me with that,

Jesus? Yeah, I'll help you with that.

The way he helps with that is He takes out your Stony heart and

he puts in a heart of flesh. That's the new birth.

Because then your desires do change.

Because if your desires aren't right, that's evidence that the

Lord actually isn't in you. And if your desires are right,

then that's when you have to humble yourself in moments of

conviction, in moments of anointing like this where the

Lord makes it even easier for you, you better act on it.

You better do something with it. Oh, this is, this is the most,

this is the most tender I've felt on this in a long time.

You better not walk away from it.

Then you ought to do something with it.

This is the help from the Lord in this moment, right here,

right now. But what would that might cost?

That might cost your ego. The Lord might be telling you

walk up right here even without an altar call, He might be

saying walk up front, walk up front.

I'm not the Holy Spirit. I'm just saying if he is, do it.

He might be saying Neil, he might be whatever he might be

say talk to so and so. But but you got to do something

with it. It's your life, it's your soul.

I know we're thinking about this afternoon.

I know we're thinking about the week.

I know we're thinking about the year.

I know we're thinking about the next decade, but we got 10,000

years from now. We really need to be thinking

about it matters. You matter, God loves you.

You don't have to die and go to hell, and you don't have to live

a life on earth that's not a beacon of light for the King.

You can live a multiplying, fruitful life.

That's what I'm committed to. And I'm committed to being as

helpful as I can to you, as loving as shepherdly as I can be

to you. So you feel blessed, so you feel

covered, so you feel equipped to do the work of the ministry.

So we go beyond I'm, I'm unsure about my salvation.

And we go far beyond that to you.

Look at you bearing fruit. Look at you multiplying.

Look what the Lord has done in your life.

I can see it. I can see it in everyone of you.

I have that prayer and I have that vision for your life.

Some of you don't even have it for your own life.

And I have it for your life. I can see the level 10 version

of you where you're just like a fruitful multiplier for the

Kingdom. And you're like me.

Yeah, actually, you let me get eye contact so you know that you

are included. Actually, you, the Lord sees it.

And that's not like a spectaculate Joe Michael's such

an optimist. He's such a sweetheart.

He sees the best in us. The thing I'm describing was

always the Lord's will for your life.

It was just the normal plan for God's will for your life.

I'm not like I'm really a dreamer, guys.

I can see stuff that nobody else can see.

No, what what I'm describing is just the Lord's will for your

life. I can see it.

I can see you bearing that kind of fruit.

The Lord wants that for you. Heavenly Father, thank you so

much for your mighty word. Thank you so much for your

mighty church that you are building Jesus and the gates of

hell will not prevail against the Church of the Lord Jesus

Christ. Lord, I pray for every single

one who loves you and walks with you that you would continue to

strengthen them, equip them, take them from whatever level

they're at to the next level, from glory to a greater glory.

And for those who are unsure, for those who are, You're

stirring in their heart. I don't even know if I really

have been saved. I don't know if there's the

fruitfulness there to prove that.

Is there enough evidence to convict me in the court of law

that the Lord is really present in my life and that He's made me

a new creation? God, draw them to repentance

right now. Grant them that great gift of

salvation. I pray that they would, that

they would labor in prayer for their salvation, not to earn it.

But to pursue and then receive it, you have first pursued them.

Grant repentance, grant growth, grant blessing, grant

breakthrough. Take us into faithful obedience,

Lord, that we would just do what we should with what you have

given in Jesus name. Now the Lord bless you and keep

you. The Lord make His face Shinedown

upon you, and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace in

Jesus name, Amen.