Matthew 25. I'm taking the title
from what is repeated two times here in verse 21 and verse 23. His Lord said unto him, that
is the one who had the five talents and who gained five more. His
Lord said unto him, well done, thou good and faithful servant.
Thou has been faithful over a few things, I'll make thee ruler
over many things. Enter thou into the joy of the
Lord. And again, he repeats the same
thing. The servant who had two talents
and had gained two more, his Lord said to him, well done,
well done. Good and faithful servant. Thou has been faithful over a
few things. I'll make thee ruler over many
things. Enter thou, enter thou. Now, no sinner is going to enter
into glory without the Lord Jesus Christ. Enter thou into the joy
of the Lord. Well done, thou good and faithful
servant. Now, let me say this in the beginning.
Our salvation is based upon the obedience and faithfulness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Totally and only upon His blood,
upon His righteousness. That being so, that makes salvation
by the sovereign will and grace of God. That salvation that's
given unto us who are by nature unprofitable servants, He makes
us by His grace to serve His greater purpose and glory. He
makes us faithful unto the Lord. Now remember, this is the Lord's
last sermon to His apostles and disciples. As He sits on the
Mount of Olives, and He teaches His disciples And this is his
last message. You remember, turn back one page
to Matthew 24 verse 1. Jesus went out and departed from
the temple and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings
of the temple. They were quite impressed and
the Lord said, unto them, See ye not all these
things? Verily I say unto you, There
shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be
thrown down. And he said, Upon the Mount of
Olives. And the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell
us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of
the coming of the end of the world? And the Lord, first of
all, he said, Don't be deceived. And then he gives us these parables.
And these are the last parables the Lord gives unto us. And we have the privilege, these
words have been preserved and given to us, that we might hear
from him and learn from him. Wouldn't that be a blessing?
We have his word. Oh, we might sit and hear a word
from him, that we might hear from him, learn of him, and then
what? Worship him, worship him. Now,
last time we brought a message from the first part of Matthew
25. That would have been two weeks
ago. But the last message was about
being vigilant, being watchful, being ready to meet the Lord.
Do you remember the last verse of that parable of the five wise
and the five foolish virgins? Verse 13, watch therefore. Watch
therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour when the
Son of Man cometh." He talked there about being watchful and
being ready to meet the Lord when He does come. Today, the
message that our Lord brings is about being diligent, being
wise, and being a faithful servant unto the Lord. Now, it is our
high privilege, you think about it, It is our high privilege
the Lord has chosen us to serve Him and to worship Him. We are blessed above all people
of the earth. We are blessed with all spiritual
blessing in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ. And because
He has chosen us and saved us and redeemed us by His grace,
the Lord's people desire to serve Him. What's the motive for serving
him? Love, gratitude. We don't serve
him out of fear of punishment, nor promise of reward. We serve
him the love of Christ constrains us, the apostle says. But Paul,
writing about being a servant, he said, let a man so account
us as the ministers of Christ, stewards of the mysteries of
God. Moreover, it's required that
a servant or a steward be found faithful." God's people are faithful
to the Lord. But now, as I said in the beginning,
our salvation is not based upon our faithfulness. Our salvation
is based upon His obedience in death. We are faithful unto Him
because He saved us by His grace. Now how many times through the
epistles of Paul do we find Paul calling himself the servant of
the Lord? A willing, loving, bond servant. He calls himself the servant
of the Lord more than he calls himself the apostle of Christ.
A servant of the Lord, separated unto the gospel of God, concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the gospel of God
is all about. Our blessed Savior is the Lord Jesus Christ. In
Isaiah 42, God says of Him, Behold my servant, my elect, in whom
my soul delighteth. And I love what He says, This
servant of the Lord cannot fail. He cannot fail to accomplish
all of God's purpose. Now this is called here in Matthew
25, the parable of the talents. You can see that at the top of
the page. But remember, these are the words of our God and
Savior preaching to us right now. This is a word for you right
now, a word for us. What an honor and privilege we
have listening to the Lord bring this parable. Now, you remember
the apostles asked the Lord one time. You remember, let's turn
back over here to Matthew 13. The Lord asked or was asked of
his disciples, Matthew 13, look at verse 10. And the disciples
came unto him and said, why speakest thou unto them in parables? Now parables are earthly stories
that represent a spiritual and heavenly truth. And he answered
and said unto them, because it's given unto you to know the mysteries
of the kingdom of heaven, but unto them it's not given. Moreover,
whosoever hath to him shall be given and he shall have more
abundance but whosoever hath not from him shall be taken away
even that which he has. We see that in our parable in
Matthew 25. Therefore speak I to them in
parables because they seeing see not and hearing they hear
not neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Isaiah which saith by hearing you shall hear and
shall not understand and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive.
This people's heart is white gross. Their ears are dull of
hearing. Their eyes have they closed,
lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear
with their ears and should understand with their heart and should be
converted. And I should heal them, but blessed are your eyes,
for they see, and your ears, for they hear. So the Lord speaks
unto parables and he reveals the hidden mysteries of the gospel
are revealed unto us. Now, what do these different
things represent in this parable? Verse 14, the kingdom of heaven
is as a man traveling into a far country who called his own servant
and delivered unto them his goods. Now, the man traveling into a
far country or a better country is type and picture of our Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ came in
the fullness of time, having accomplished all salvation for
us, redeemed us from the curse of the law, and when he by himself
purged our sin, what, he went away into a far country, seated
there on the throne of glory. In verse 19 it says, and after
a long time the Lord of those servants cometh, and he reckons
with them. There is an accounting unto the
Lord. The Lord will return and require
the counting of his servants, that is talking about the Lord's
second coming, the pending coming, and he will reckon with them
upon a just, righteous judgment. His servants are accountable
unto him, and one day will give an account. We studied in 1 Peter
chapter 4 this morning. Remember, they shall give an
account to him that is ready to judge the living and the dead.
1 Peter chapter 4 verse 5, God has appointed a day in which
he will judge the world in righteousness by that man. We read in 2 Corinthians
5, for we all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
that everyone may receive the things done in his body according
that he had done, whether it be good or bad. Therefore, knowing
the terror of the Lord, we persuade men." Now, we're going to appear
before the presence of God in that judgment, but not to be
judged, believers won't, but rather to be displayed as a trophy
of his grace. We'll see that in a minute. The
servant in the parable represents sinners who have made a profession
of religion, who profess and say they are believers. They're
all servants, they say. Some were good and faithful to
the Lord by his grace. They were made profitable. Some
were unprofitable, as it says in verse 30 and verse 26, the
Lord said, you are a wicked and slothful servant. Verse 14, the Lord, It says there, the Lord delivered
unto them his goods. You see that? Who called his
own servants and delivered unto them his goods, his blessing. Now these talents that are given
represent anything and everything given unto us of the Lord. It includes common mercy, special
mercy, God sends a rain on the just and the unjust. Common grace
and special sovereign grace. He gives gifts unto men both
naturally, some men are just smarter than others. Some have
a better intellect and understanding, naturally speaking. That's the
gift of God. Other men are blessed with a
spiritual understanding and some have more spiritual understanding
than others. They're all saved by the grace
of God, but they have more spiritual understanding. There are degrees
and growth in growth and in the grace of God. Now, one of the
old writers that I read quite often, his name is Robert Hawker.
He said on this parable, the servants given five talents or
five gifts and the two gifts represent spiritual gifts of
his grace. which grow and increase. Peter
talks about growing grace and in the knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Grace is that good part which cannot be taken away.
The servant that received the one talent or the one gift represent
natural gifts that will end, all things must come to an end,
and at death will be taken away. That one servant, even that that
he had was taken away. The Lord said, cast him into
outer darkness, where there shall be weeping and gnashing, gnashing
of teeth. Now, let's look at several things
here in verse 14 and verse 15. The Lord traveled into a far
country, who called his own servant and delivered unto them his goods.
Verse 15, unto one he gave five, to the other two, to the other
one, to every man according to his several ability and straightway
he took his journey. He took his journey. The Lord
does give out these blessings, these gifts, these talents of
gifts according to his own will. The one he gave five, the one
he gave two. As he will, he will have mercy
on whom he will have mercy. The one just The one servant
only received one gift. Now we know the scriptures teach
us that the Lord Jesus Christ is the sovereign owner and giver
of all things. The father loved the son and
given all things into his hand. The kingdom of salvation is his. And he gives it to whomsoever
he will. All, he said all powers given
in me, given unto me in heaven and earth. Therefore, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. The kingdom of salvation
is His. In Psalm 45, 145, His kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom. All servants are His. All people
are His. He's Lord of the living and the
dead. He's the Lord of every man, whether
they recognize it or not. He's the Lord of all. He's the
King of all. King of kings and Lord of lords.
He's over all servants, whether they be good or bad. By nature,
we're all bad. By nature, we're all unprofitable
servants. Turn to Romans chapter 3. Let
me show you that. Romans chapter 3. We're all like
Onesimus, a runaway slave. Unprofitable, as Paul said. Romans
chapter 3, look at verse 10. The last part of verse 9, it
says, Jew or Gentile, they're all under sin. As it is written,
there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none to understand
it. There is none that seeketh after
God. They're all gone out of the way. They are together become,
there's the word, unprofitable. You see that? Unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no, not. One. So by nature, we're all
unprofitable servants. It's only by his grace, all the
goods and blessings that we enjoy as believers are given unto us
as the Lord sees fit. I like what Paul said to Philemon,
if he owes you anything, you put that on my account. And that's
exactly what the Lord, he's the surety of our everlasting salvation,
is he not? Verse 15 in our text says, for
one he gave five, to another he gave two, to another he gave
one. To every man according to his
several abilities, and I take that to mean not as we earn or
merit them, All we have earned is condemnation and the just
wrath of God. For the wages of sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ. But rather, as the Lord is pleased
to give them, to distribute them in the portion of His sovereign
will. In James chapter 1, we studied
recently, every good gift and every perfect gift comes from
God. Even a man who has natural ability
to think and to compute, he doesn't have those things naturally.
These are sovereign gifts of God. And God uses that to his
own purpose and glory. So every good gift and every
perfect gift is from God. The gift and calling of God are
without change. He said, I'm the Lord, I change
not. Who made you to differ from another? What do you have that
you didn't receive by the grace of God? Now this does not refer
to our ability, but rather the Lord's ability to give as he
pleases. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he in heaven and earth see in all deep places. Our gifts,
our money, our health, our strength, our time, our knowledge, all
given unto us by the grace of God, and should be always used
in a way to bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, not just for
the gratification of the fresh, but rather to the glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Use whatever God has given you
to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. He that would glory,
let him glory in the Lord. That's a believer's desire to
use what God has given us to the fervence of the gospel, to
the glory of God. And then in verse 16, 17, and
18, we see how these servants used what the Lord had given
each of them. The man who had the five talents
traded with the same and made them five other talents. Likewise,
verse 17, the man that received just two He also was busy about
the Lord's business, and he gained two others. But he that received
the one went and digged in the earth and hid. Notice, it's the
Lord's money. What we have, it's all His. Say, well, I have a deed to a
piece of property. You have the deed, but it's not
yours. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Two
servants made good use of what the Lord had given to them. They
were diligent and faithful to the Lord. They were about their
master's business, using what the Lord had given to them. You
remember we saw something of that back in verse 45 in chapter
24. Look at those And chapter 24 verse 44, therefore be also
ready for in such an hour as you think not, Matthew 24 verse
45, who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his Lord has
made ruler over his household to give them meat in due season.
Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall
find so doing, a faithful servant, a faithful servant of the Lord,
so doing. The servant that had received five had received two,
they took what the Lord had given to them, and the Lord blessed
them in their faithfulness to serve the Lord. The servant who
had only one talent was unfaithful, unprofitable, he dug a hole, and hid the Lord's money, hid
the Lord's talent. Now having one talent was not
a lawful or right excuse not to use what the Lord had given
him to his honor. This man did not lose or waste
the one talent, but he neglected to use what the Lord had given
him. He dug a hole, put it in the
ground, Now, which of these servants
would describe a believer who served the Lord out of love?
Now, it's a no-brainer question, is it not? the diligent and faithful
servant of the Lord that used what was given to him to honor
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that's a fit
description of those who trust the Lord Jesus Christ. They want
to serve him out of love and gratitude. So which of these
two servants did serve the Lord? Well, the faithful and diligent
ones. That wicked slothful servant
was disobedient, the Lord said he's unprofitable, seeking his
own business and interest instead of the Lord's. Now here's the
third thing. Finally, verse 19, the Lord does
come. After a long time, the Lord of
those servants cometh, and he reckoned with them. That means
he dealt with them. That means he judged them. That
means they were accountable unto the Lord. And so he that received,
verse 25, talents, came and brought five others, saying, Lord, thou deliverest unto me five
talents. Behold, I've gained beside these five others. And
the Lord said unto him, oh, you're well done, well done. Now, good
and faithful servant, thou has been faithful over a few things.
I'll make thee ruler over many. Enter into the joy of the Lord.
And also, he that had received the two talents came and said,
Lord, thou deliverest unto me two talents. Behold, I've gained
two others beside them. And his Lord said to him, well,
you're a faithful servant. Well done. Well done. The Lord
does not expect us to do more than what he's enabled us to
do. Someone said the Lord doesn't expect us to make bricks without
straw. The Lord blesses us, and we should
use what the Lord gives unto us. 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 into the joy of the Lord. And he which had received
the one talent came and said, I knew that you are a hard man,
reaping where you have not sown, gathering where you have not
cultivated straw. Thou was afraid and hid thy talent
in the earth, and lo, there is that that is thine hasten. And the Lord said unto him, Thou
wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I
did not sow, and gathered where I have not cultivated? Thou oughtest
therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at
my coming I should have received my own usury." Notice the Lord
said, everything you have, I gave you. Even those natural, natural
blessings. Finally, the Lord comes and the
great day of reckoning and judgment will take place. We must all
give an account of our stewardship to the Lord. In verse 20, 21, 23, Instead of the words given to
the wise and faithful servant of the Lord, they gave honor
and credit to what the Lord had given to them. Thou deliverest
unto me. We can say with Paul, I am what
I am by the grace of God. All that we know He taught us.
Notice it says there in verse 20, Lord, thou deliverest unto
me. All that we know, He taught us. All that we have, He gave it
to us. And then we can consider that
spiritually and even naturally. All that we are made is by His
will, by His grace. You remember that Psalmist served
the Lord, Psalm 100, served the Lord with gladness, come before
His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord, He is
God, He hath made us, not we ourselves. We are the people
of his pasture. The Lord approved and rewarded
each of them for their faithfulness. There is a blessing in obedience
to the Lord. Well done, good and faithful. As believers, we don't look to
ourselves with high esteem. We are unprofitable servants,
but this is what the Lord says of us. You're good and you're
faithful. In Luke 17 we read, when you
shall have done all things which I command you, we say we are
yet unprofitable servants. And we are. It's only by His
grace. And what we have is by His grace.
And the blessings we have are of His grace. We're at best sinners,
only saved and made whole by the grace of God. We also see
the Lord's approval and reward of his grace. The Lord honors
that work of his grace done within us and through us. It is Christ
in us, the hope of glory. That's our reward. Christ is
our reward. God, who hath begun a good work
in you, he will finish it. It is God which worketh in you,
both the will and do of his good pleasure. It's reward of his
grace, not our merit. Enter into the joy of the Lord.
enter into his eternal presence, enter into his eternal salvation,
rest, righteousness, and joy forevermore in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, sadly, we have to look at
this person who was blessed with, he was blessed with one talent.
But he did not use what the Lord had given him to honor the Lord. We see the sad and tragic end
of the wicked and slothful and unprofitable servant. But notice
something here. This man puts the blame upon
the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Where he says, then he which
received the one talent came and said, verse 24, Lord, I knew you're a hard man. You're a hard taskmaster, reaping
where you have not sown and gathering where you have not cultivated.
This man puts the blame for his failure upon the Lord. I know
you're a hard man. He doesn't point the finger here.
He points the finger to the Lord as being a hard man. What does
that remind you of? It reminds me of fallen Adam. You remember following Adam in
the garden? You remember what he said? Lord, it's the woman
you gave me. He didn't say, it's me. I've
sinned against the Lord. And the woman didn't do any better.
Remember what she said? It's the serpent. She didn't
point to her own heart either. I knew you were a hard man. In
this parable, the wicked servant had a distorted and unfair assessment
of the Lord. He had an unfair view of the
Lord. Distorted view. The Lord Jesus Christ is always
gracious and merciful. He's not a hard man. He came
to save sinners. He came to heal those that had
need of healing. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. We have no one to blame for our
sin and rebellion, but our own wicked and sinful heart. for
our lack of zeal and repentance and lack of faith in our Lord
Jesus Christ. The blame lays at our own feet. Never one time in the scripture,
and this is interesting, never one time in the scripture do
we ever find a believer calling upon the Lord in prayer and saying,
Lord, forgive me for what Adam did. You ever read that? Not one time. Lord, it's always
forgive me for my sin, my iniquity. For example, listen to David's
prayer in Psalm 51. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercy. Blot out my transgression. Wash me throughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. You see,
I own it before the Lord. It's not that you're a hard taskmaster. No, I've got the problem. David said, I acknowledge my
transgression and my sin is ever before me. I have sinned and
done this evil in thy sight. We own what we are, don't we?
We have no one to blame for our sin and rebellion but our own
wicked heart. The words out of his own mouth,
they condemn him, don't they? The Lord's just answer and the just judgment, the judge
of all the earth must do right and will do right. Verse 26,
his Lord answered and said unto him, thou wicked and slothful
servant, unprofitable servant, you knew that I reap where I
did not sow and gather where I have not cultivated. Thou oughtest
therefore to have put my money, my money, to the exchangers and
then at my coming I should receive my own usury. See, everything
belongs to the Lord, everything we have. Take therefore that
talent from him and give it unto him which hath ten talents. Unto
everyone that hath shall be given and he shall have an abundance,
we have an abundance of blessings in Christ. Everyone that hath
shall be given but into him that hath not shall be taken away
even that which he appears to have. And cast ye away the unprofitable
servant into outer darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. The Lord's just answer and just
judgment because the judge of all the earth will do right. The Lord will not bend his holy
law, At the bar of justice, there will be no mercy, not in that
day, and no grace upon those who stand before the Lord in
their own merit. Remember, the Lord said, depart
from me, I never knew you. There will be a just sentence
and condemnation upon those who refuse to believe and serve the
Lord and bow unto him. They'll be cast away as unprofitable
servants, cast away from any mercy, any grace, any hope of
pardon, cast away from any peace and joy, cast away from the very
presence of Christ, who is light into everlasting outer darkness,
no light, eternal misery, no joy. Now let me close with this. There is salvation for unprofitable
servants. For the Lord Jesus Christ came
to save sinners. Let me show you an example of
this, and I'll let you go with this. Turn to 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy
chapter 1. 1 Timothy chapter 1. This is the apostle Paul. Remember
who he was by nature, Saul of Tarsus, a very self-righteous
Pharisee. He says in 1 Timothy chapter
1 verse 12, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who enabled me for
that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,
who was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, injurious. He was unprofitable, wasn't he?
But I obtained mercy because I did it in ignorance and unbelief.
And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith
and love, which is in Christ Jesus. This is the faithful saying,
and this is worthy of all exceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world to save sinners of whom I am the chief offender. There is salvation for unprofitable
servants, those who were saved by the grace of God. They're
saved by the grace of God alone, and they desire in their heart,
out of love, out of mercy, out of reverence, to serve the Lord
Jesus Christ. Out of love.