January 14, 2012
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Matthew 25:14-29 Parable of the talents by Pastor Don Moore
Pastor Don was away for a few weeks, this study was taught on August 26, 2011
We are supposed to busy ourselves doing God’s work until He comes, even if He is coming later than we think He is going to come. There are no exact dates, no time setting. We are to do His work until He comes. Our goal is for Him to say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Matthew 25:14-15 For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
This is Jesus talking, sharing a parable. The word used for servant in this passage is – doulos – which means slave or servant. In those days slaves were part of the family, and often worked for a set period of time. After that time period was over the slave could either leave or choose to become a bondservant, staying with the family for the rest of his/her life. The owner was required to give good care for his slaves. For the owner, it was a sign of his good care that a slave would choose to be a bondservant. A slave that begins to know his master’s will could be elevated to the position of steward – one who would act the way the master would act without the master needing to be present. This is a parable of testing to see which of the slaves would become good stewards.
The Master is going to give the servants talents according to their ability. One servant will receive five, the other will receive two, and the third will receive one.
Ability is your able-ness and it involves two factors.
1. Availability – Do you make yourself available to be used?
2. CapabilityIf you make myself available and the Lord turns the heat, the challenge, or the requirements up, are you spiritually available? Are you a spiritual vessel?
God’s ability and your capability working together can bring you further than you doing things by yourself. Are you willing? What will you suffer yourself to do?
We had to repeat this as a group, “If I’m willing to take my able-ness and become able, God can use me for stuff. I can see clearly if I get out of my ego zone and do Your will.”
God can take our plans and make them go further. Our doubt has to go. Don’t make a list of how we want to do things, listen to God’s plans. Don’t negative speak. Negative speaking limits God’s ability. When we say, “I can’t do that.” It ties God’s hands.
God has the ability to make your capability exceed your false expectations of your capability. We can go way beyond what we think. Our vision of ourselves limits what we can do.
A steward is a mature saint and only mature saints know WWJD – What would Jesus do? He’s our Friend and we learn what our Friend likes and wants us to do by spending time with Him.
Pastor Don gave the example of going out to dinner with his wife. If she leaves the table for something and the waiter comes, Pastor Don could order for her because he knows what she would order if she was at the table. He’s spent forty years with her and over that time together, he learned her likes and dislikes. We are to spend time with the Lord and learn His likes and dislikes, then we can change from servants/slaves to bondservants and stewards.
Matthew 25:16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.
This servant stepped up from servant to the next level. He knew his Master grows and improves. So this servant made an investment that doubled what the Master left him.
Matthew 25:17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.
This servant also doubled the Master’s money. Remember, the Master gave each servant according to their ability. According to what they could handle. The master did not overload a servant with what is greater than they could function with. This servant did well and doubled the Master’s talents.
Matthew 25:18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.
This servant was not a steward. He did nothing with the Master’s talent but bury it. And we will see later in the story that he was not a friend of the Master for he didn’t know the master.
Matthew 25:19-21 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
This servant was advanced to steward – ruler over many because of his faithfulness over the talents the Lord gave him.
Pastor Don said, the blessings of God and the provision of God are always progressive. We just sustain and the grace of God does. It is an abundant grace. It will surprise us up-ward. We need to open up and let God bless us. It is progressive even in the difficult moments. God surprises us with abundance.
Matthew 25:22-23 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
This servant also became a steward – a ruler over many because he faithfully used the talents the Lord gave him.
Matthew 25:24 Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.’
This servant shows that he does not know his Master. He assumed wrong things about the master and called him a thief – saying he reaped and gathered where he hadn’t sown. He had not spiritual vision. He only saw the physical, not the spiritual vision.
Pastor Don told us to always pray for the unseen blessing, and believe for the increase. God surprises us.
Matthew 25:25 ‘And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
This servant wasted seed. All that we have is God’s, and this man buried the seed. He took his ability and did not put it to use so no one received the benefit. We need to put the ability God gives us to use for His Kingdom.
Matthew 25:26 But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.
The Master calls this slave wicked because the slave chose to believe evil about Him. If we sabotage the possibility of God’s acting by our negative speaking we are wicked. We are not portraying God as He is. We don’t want to offend the Spirit of God by speaking evil of God.
This servant robbed God. God wants His Kingdom to multiply – we need to take the seed (talents) He gives us and multiply it. God wants us to multiply and get something back for the Creator.
Matthew 25:27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.
This servant didn’t even do the barest minimum with the talent – putting it in the bank to earn interest. God gives us gifts and talents and wants us to increase the value of the gifts and talents and abilities.
God puts things in our lives, gives us the tools and people. We don’t have to understand why or how. We just need to be obedient to grow the seed He has planted in us.
We take our capability and our willingness and God adds ability. If we are uncertain how to use the talent, we need to find a mentor and say, “Teach me.” We want to learn how to use our talent correctly – sometimes, when we try to do things on our own we learn them wrong. It takes twice as long to unlearn something than it does to learn it properly the first time.
Sometimes, in our stubbornness, we fight to defend the wrong thing.
Matthew 25:28-29 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.
So the servant lost the talent, it was given to the one with five talents. I asked, why was the talent not given to the one with two talents? And Pastor Don reminded us that the Lord knows the amount we can safely handle. He won’t give us more than we can properly use.
Things in the Kingdom of God do not stay the same – they either get better or worse. We need to stir up the gift that is within us and use the talents God has provided.
Have a blessed day.
Heather
