Our lesson this morning is in
Matthew chapter 25, verses 14 through 30. This is the parable
of the unjust steward. Matthew chapter 25, verse 14. For the kingdom of heaven is
as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants
and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents,
to another two, and to another one. to every man according to
his several ability. And then straightway took his
journey. Then he that had received the
first, the five talents, he went and traded with the same and
made them other five talents. And likewise, he that had received
two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one
went and digged in the earth and hid his Lord's money. After
a long time the Lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth
with them. And so he that had received five
talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou
deliverest unto me five talents. Behold, I have gained beside
them five talents more. His Lord said unto him, Well
done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful
over a few things. I'll make thee ruler over many
things. Enter thou into the joy of the
Lord. He also that had received two
talents came and said, Lord, thou deliverest unto me two talents. Behold, I have gained two other
talents beside them. His Lord said unto him, Well
done. good and faithful servant, thou
hast been faithful over a few things, I'll make thee ruler
over many things, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Then he which had received the
one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee, that thou art a
hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering
where thou hast no steward. And I was afraid, and I went
and hid thy talent in the earth. Lo, there thou hast that is thine.'
The Lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful
servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather
where I have not strawed. Thou oughtest therefore to have
put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should
have received my own with usury. Take therefore the talent from
him, and give it to him which hath ten talents." Matthew 25,
29. For unto every one that hath
shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him
that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable
servant into outer darkness. There should be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. Now last week we looked at the
parable of the ten virgins, five bullish and five wise. And He used that parable to show
us that as we assemble ourselves together waiting for His return,
not all that profess to look for Him are truly saved. They are not all wise unto salvation
who assemble with us at any one time. That is what He is telling
us. They were all virgins by profession. Five actually were. Five actually
were. Five foolish. And what was the
problem? Well, the five foolish virgins
had no oil in their lamps. Speaking of the Holy Spirit of
God within them, that which regenerates. And then this morning we had
before us the parable of the unjust steward. And once again,
he's going to remind us that not everyone who makes a profession
of faith actually believes. There are three stewards set
before us, two faithful and one unprofitable. Now let me begin
first by telling you what this parable don't teach. It does
not teach that men are ultimately saved by their works and will. That's not what this parable
is talking about. Though it's used that way in
Arminian circles all the time. And it's also, it's not teaching
us a system of rewards. That men are going to be rewarded.
Some men who have great talents and do great things and they're
going to get a mansion in glory and they're going to have servants
in glory and all this kind of foolishness. And then this other
one, He didn't have a lot of talents, and he didn't do a lot
of things, so he's not going to get anything. He's just going
to be glad if he, like the old song we used to sing back when
I was in religion, he'd just be satisfied with a cabin in
the corner of Glory Lane. I've never heard any mention
of cabins in Glory Lane. Our master said, in my father's
house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. The Scriptures say, by grace
are you saved through faith. And Paul said this, not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy
He saved us. He saved us. And the Bible is
not a book of contradictions. The Bible states as clear as
words can be used that salvation is not by our works and will. It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but it is of God that showeth mercy.
And this parable does not teach us salvation by men's works or
wills, and it doesn't teach us salvation of rewards. Paul said, what have you gotten
that you haven't received? Who maketh thee to differ from
another? Is that all yours? Is that all
you're doing? I think sometimes we really think
it is. I think we do. I just, I can
picture old Nebuchadnezzar in a pair of bibbed overalls and
them thumbs in behind them suspenders and looking down out of that
big old garden down on Babylon and man, look at this, what I've
done. I was out there the other day
and my daughters came to visit and they just was awed by that
garden. I've got the prettiest garden
this year I've ever raised. But I can't put my thumbs in.
I want to. I want to stand out there and
say, now look what I've done. I didn't do anything. I planted
the seed the same way this year I planted it last year. Who maketh
thee to differ from another? That's what he said. That just
blows rewards right out the window. Right out the window. All the
crowns of God's elect should be cast at the Savior's feet. It just does not teach a system
of rewards and punishments based on our service and faithfulness. And then secondly, what this
parable does teach, that God's people and the world, believers
and unbelievers, those with faith and those with nothing but a
hollow profession, are known and manifest in this world by
the lives they live and how they conduct themselves here in this
life. You know, God Himself, who justifies
His elect, justifies the faith that He gives His elect. Did
you know that? He's going to justify those gifts
that He gives you. When He gives you a gift, no
matter what gift it is, if it's the gift of preaching, there's
false preachers everywhere. That's one of the things my sister
told me. Well, you say you're a preacher.
This man says he's a preacher. Our pastor said he's a preacher.
How am I supposed to know who's God's preacher? Who's God's preacher? Well, you won't, but by the grace
of God, you never will. You never will. But God justifies
those gifts that He gives. He justifies that gift of preaching
to those He's called. He justifies the hearing of faith. He'll justify that. That man will hear. He will hear. He won't just hear words. He
hears in his heart. Those words go home. Those words
are affection. They're affection. That's what
Paul said. And when those words are effectual
and God justifies those gifts, something happens. Something
happens. God Himself who justifies us
freely by His grace also justifies the gifts of faith and the work
of the Holy Spirit in us. That's what the book of James
is all about. One of the old writers, he wanted
to tear the book of James up. He just couldn't, because he
was trying to read that book of James in the light of God's
free justification. And that's not what the book
of James is about. It justifies the faith of God's
elect. James said, Show me thy faith
without thy works, and I'll show thee my faith by my works. True
saving faith is justified by its giver, by the works which
always accomplish it. Listen to this scripture in Ephesians
chapter 2. He said, by grace are you saved
through faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. For. See, don't stop there. It keeps on going. For. We are
His workmanship. His workmanship. This faith is
about Him. It's not about you. It's about
Him. This gift is something He gave. It's dependent on His power. It's dependent on His Spirit.
And it's going to be effectual. You're His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works which God Himself ordained that
we should walk in them. And you're going to walk in them
if God ordained for you to walk in them. That's right. Why? Because it's effectual. God justifies
those gifts that He gives. And then thirdly, let's consider
the goods that was given to these three men. If both believers
and unbelievers are represented here in this parable, and there
has to be, because no child of God is ever going to be cast
into outer darkness. And what happened to this third
steward? He was cast into outer darkness.
So both believers and unbelievers are being represented here in
these three students. If both believers and unbelievers
are represented here in this parable, what is it that God
could give to two men who were saved and one who was not? What could He give? Have you
ever thought about that? What kind of goods is He talking
about? He gave this one five talents,
and He gave this no-hair two, and He gave this no-hair one. Did He give these two something
different than He gave this one? Well, what then could God give
to all these men, unbelievers and believers? What sort of gift
could a man have from God that might not be effectual? What
kind of goods could he receive that one day would be used to
testify against him? Only one thing I can find in
the scripture. Light. Light. All men have light. Some to a
greater degree than others. Some to make them wise unto salvation,
and others to warn them concerning the wrath of God. to witness
in them. As the five foolish virgins had
no oil in their lamps, so the unjust steward had not the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus Christ. Now all men have light. They
have the light of conscience. He says in Romans chapter 1,
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men. Now listen. who hold the truth
in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them. Manifest in them. For God hath
showed it unto them. That's Romans 1, 18 and 19. So God has given to all men the
light of conscience. And then secondly, He has given
to all men the light of creation. In one almighty act, God created
all things, declaring to all His eternal power and Godhead. And then He enforces that act
by maintaining and governing and ordering all things in that
creation. He constantly manifests His Godhead
and his power in the maintenance and preservation of this world.
Not only in its origin, God himself spoke this world into existence.
Well, what about them stars? He hung them there. What about
them planets that we're just now beginning to discover? Well,
it's just my guess, but I'm guessing that after you discover them,
there's some more beyond that. More beyond that. How'd they
get there? He spoke them into existence.
That's right. This God. Now I'm telling you
something. You just go out here on a clear
night and you look up into the sky. Or go out here in the noon
day and look. Or go out next to the ocean and
look outside. Or go to the mountains and look
at the greatness of those mountains. God spoke them things into existence
as though it was nothing. He commanded and they stood fast. Now I'm telling you, if you can
do that, you've got power that I can't touch. You've got power
that I can't resist. I'm going to acknowledge you
as God. In one act, God declares it.
But He don't only declare it then. It's just not written down
on a piece of paper, He created the world. Yes, He did. And Paul
uses it, and all the prophets used it. The psalmist used it.
I guess everybody's ever witnessed for God has used that. But God
created all things. But He maintains all things.
There's an order about creation. It don't just spin off into eternity. There's an order about it. And
God declares His eternal power, and God hid in the order and
maintenance of it. Listen to this. By Him were all
things created that are in heaven and that are on earth visible
and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers. All things were created by Him
and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things
consist. That's light. And every man has
it. Every man has it. All you have
to do to have that light is walk outside and look. And then listen to this here
in Romans chapter 1 verse 20. He said, For the invisible things
of him from the creation of the world, are clearly seen being
understood by the things which are made, even His eternal power
and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. A wise old preacher
once told me that if men would acknowledge the light God gives
them, He'd give them more light. He'd give them more light, but
they won't. They won't acknowledge it. It's
not the nature of a fallen man to acknowledge light because
he loves darkness rather than light. And then notice what he
does with this light. This unjust steward takes this
light and he buries it. He hides it. He puts it out of
sight. He puts it out of mind. He buries
it. He digs a hole and he buries
it. He does everything in His power
to put it out of His sight and out of His mind. Puts it where
it cannot alter His life or change His ways. Puts it where it cannot
disturb His conscience. He puts it where it cannot affect
His friends and family or disturb His way of living. He puts it
where it cannot offend His religious friends and family. He buries
God's gift of light in the ground and then He trots it underfoot. He dug a hole and he buried it. And then thirdly, the unjust
steward pretended to be a steward. He pretended to be a steward. Pretense won't save you from
the wrath of God. It won't do it. Pretense will
cause the multitude to look on you with favor. Pretense will
cause your name to be spoken of well in this world. Our Lord
said this world will love its own. Pretense might offer you
some temporary peace and rest in this world, but pretense will
not hide you from the face of Him who sees our very thoughts
and intents of our heart. It's not going to accomplish
anything. It won't accomplish anything. He was gone a long
time. He went into a far country. This
man's Lord did. It says over in the book of Luke
that he went over there to receive a kingdom. And he said, I'm coming
back. I'm coming back. And he did. But it was a long time, it said,
before he come back. But when he did, you had to deal
with him. You had to look him face to face. cast ye the unprofitable servant
into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
And then fourthly, what of the two faithful stewards? Well,
they took the gifts which God gave them to those who could
give increase. It never says where they took
them, but they went where they knew that what God gave them
could find increase. The effects of calling and gifts
of God, he says, are without repentance. They're without change.
And those to whom he gives true saving faith, they go and advantage
themselves of the means provided by God's good providence to them. They go where these gifts can
be increased. They go where this light, when
we talk about light, we're talking about knowledge. They go where
that knowledge and understanding can be increased. My friend, if God has truly given
you the revelation of Christ and convinced you and convicted
you of sin and awakened you from the sleep of your depravity and
opened your eyes to the glory of God in Christ, you need to
take that gift what God has given you where it can be increased. That's where you need to be.
Every opportunity you have, that's where you need to be. You need
to be. He tells us in the Scriptures,
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Do
you know where that's at? Anybody in here know where that
Scripture's at? That's in Romans 10. And it comes right after
that verse where He said, How shall you hear without a preacher?
And how shall he preach except he be sent? As it is written,
How beautiful are the feet of them preach the gospel of Christ. And then he tells us, faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Advantage yourself.
If you know that's where it comes from, go there. Every opportunity
you get, go there. It only took me one or two times
to figure out where the meal was. Once I realized where the
meal was set on the table, that's where I went. Those fellas, they
wouldn't go fishing, wouldn't go here, wouldn't go there. Not
at mealtime. I'm going to mama's table because
that's where the food is. Faith understands that. Faith
has an appetite for that. Faith wants to hear that. These men were faithful stewards.
And they were careful with what they had been given. and is careful
where they went to get their increase. When God gives His
gift of light, He also gives eternal life. And the Holy Spirit
of God works in them both to will and to do of His good pleasure. And so they are made willing,
and made doers, and made wise unto salvation. They are made
faithful, made gracious, made tender, made submissive and obedient. Because he which hath begun a
good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. And that man will repent, and
he'll keep right on repenting. He will believe and keep right
on believing. And he will obey. He will obey. Are you saying that man never
disobeys? No. No, I'm not. But I'm telling
you that the bent of his will, the bent of his will is to obey. To obey. And He will submit. And He will keep on submitting.
And in that day His Lord will say unto him, Well done. Well
done. That ought to be the shock of
our lives to hear our Lord say to us, Well done. Well done. Thy good and faithful servant,
enter thou into the joy of the Lord. Enter into this.