Faithful

October 3, 2010 Preacher: Randy Smith Series: Matthew

Scripture: Matthew 25:14–30

Transcript

Faithful

Matthew 25:14-30
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Pastor Randy Smith



I have called it the "forgotten fruit." We all know about the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. But just as I have omitted one from that list, I believe many Christians also omit that one from their lives as if it were not important. Christians wrongly believe that if they display the majority of the fruits but miss one or two, they are still walking in the Spirit. That assumption is inaccurate. If we are in the Spirit, we will display all of the Spirit's fruits, which does include the "forgotten fruit" of faithfulness.

When we consider faithfulness we often think of it on a large scale as the world does. We need to be faithful to our spouse. We need to be faithful to help a friend in need. We need to be faithful to pay our bills. However, what we often overlook is the faithfulness on the smaller scale that is also very important to God. Faithfulness to reply on time. Faithfulness to arrive on time. Faithfulness to keep an appointment. The difference between the large and small scale levels of faithfulness is the difference between a godly person and an average person.

Godly people are Spirit-filled people. And Spirit-filled people manifest all the fruit of the Sprit. And one of those fruits is faithfulness - a dependability, a trustworthiness, a loyalty, a dedication first to God and then to others that keeps priorities and commitments even when it is inconvenient or something better comes along. Faithfulness is important because it clearly imitates the Lord who is faithful all the time.

We have spent several weeks studying the Second Coming from Matthew 24 and 25. After revealing the specific events that will precede His return, Jesus has been teaching us how we are to apply this information to our lives. Last week we learned about the need to be prepared to meet Him. I mentioned that being a Christian is not a hobby that we attend to when inspired by feelings. Rather it is a marathon. It is a race that requires discipline, accountability and perseverance. It is our goal not just to get ourselves across finish line, but to help others in their journey that we all might finish stronger than when we first started. Endurance is important. As Jesus said in this section, "But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved" (Mt. 24:13). Endurance, perseverance is the only guarantee to preparation.

This week's parable will deal with the subject of faithfulness. This is also spoken of in the context of the Second Coming. For starters, a great way we can persevere is to be faithful with the resources God has entrusted to us. And since God has given us resources and expectations, it is only logical to assume that God will hold us accountable when He comes back as to how faithfully we discharged those duties. Therefore any theology about our Lord's return will naturally deal with the practical subject of faithfulness.

Like the last parable, I believe this one is also addressed to all those who profess Christ. Last week we learned true converts will be waiting for His return. Those unprepared heard the bridegroom say, "Truly I say to you, I do not know you" (verse 12; cf. 7:23). This week we will see that true converts will be working in light of His return. Saving faith is always serving faith. Again, if people are faithful to use the resources He has entrusted to them to build His kingdom, they will be commended (verse 21) unlike the lazy servant who is cast from the master's presence (verse 30).

1. A STORY REGARDING FAITHFULNESS

Let's begin with an explanation of the parable. Let me see if I can bridge the cultural gap so we can understand this story in its original context and then make the proper spiritual application.

Verse 14 informs us that a man was preparing for a journey. We know from verse 19 that he was planning on being away for a long time. Just before he left, he entrusted his possessions to his servants. In the ancient world servants were given different degrees of responsibility and authority. In this case, these individuals were highly trusted and expected to turn a profit on the money placed in their hands.

Obviously he did not want to have his money sit idle while he was away, so as verse 15 indicates he gave five talents to one, two talents to another and one talent to the third servant. These talents (a monetary unit - verse 27) were no small sum. A current equivalent would value one talent around $300,000. According to the verse, the master was reasonable. He distributed to each one according to the servant's ability, and then he departed. The expectation was simple. "In my trust for you I have given to you a large portion of my resources. I expect you to use it for my honor and profit. When I return I will call each of you to account for your faithfulness."

The first servant met his responsibility with great enthusiasm. Verse 16 says he "immediately" went to work. And when his work was done with whatever business venture he employed, he doubled the master's money. He "gained five more talents."

Verse 17 indicates the second servant acted similar and also doubled his master's talents.

Yet by way of contrast we read verse 18: "But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money." Unlike the other two, the one with the one talent buried his master's money in the ground (cf. Mt. 13:44). I would like to say he did it for noble reasons, but based upon what we will see shortly, it was due to unjustified suspicion and laziness. He was the only one who failed to use the talent for his master's profit. He was the only one who was unfaithful.

Verse 19, "Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them." It seems his return was unexpected, and it seems upon his return his first order of business was to examine the faithfulness of his three stewards.

The men brought a report. Verse 20, "The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, 'Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.' "The master's return did not catch this first servant as a "thief in the night." There was a readiness and even an eagerness to see the master and reveal what he was able to accomplish. You can almost hear the excitement in his voice and see the sparkle in his eyes. He wanted to be found pleasing to the master. He achieved his goal.

The master's response is found in verse 21: There was a commendation - "Well done, good and faithful slave." There was a promotion - "You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things." There was an invitation - "Enter into the joy of your master."

The second servant though starting with a lesser amount had also doubled his master's resources and received the same commendation seen in verses 22-23.

Unfortunately the third servant, the one who failed to use the single talent entrusted to him, masks his unfaithfulness by falsely blaming the master of being unjust and over-demanding. A typical unfaithful individual - always blaming others for his or her lack of activity. Look at verses 24 and 25: "And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.'" It is said as if he almost expected a pat on the back. Unfortunately all he did was hang himself with his own words.

Verse 26, "But his master answered and said to him, 'You wicked, lazy slave.'" Why was he wicked? He was wicked because he deliberately misrepresented his master's goodness and his sinfulness in an attempt to present himself in the best possible light. Why was he lazy? He was lazy because he did not serve the master in the way he was expected. The only person he served was himself. Unlike the other two servants, this one received not commendation, but condemnation.

The master continues, "You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest" (Mt. 25:26b-27). In these comments the master is not accepting the accuracy of the complaint against him. Rather what he is doing is playing off the man's words and saying, "If you really did believe all these awful things about me, the least you could have done was put my money in the bank and earn some interest." The interest then was about six percent. It was at least some return for the master that would have required little effort from the servant. The master cornered the servant by his lame excuse.

Verses 28-30, "Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away [cf. Mt. 13:13]. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

No doubt these verses reveal the anger on the part of the master. The expectation is that his servants will be faithful. Yet when they squander his resources they only prove the reality of their heart; a heart that sees no joy in serving the master, a heart that takes the commands of the master as trivial or unimportant, a heart that cares more about its own comfort and pleasures and a heart that justifies its own disobedience by directly or indirectly blaming the master. This servant is called "worthless" (verse 30) because his actions proved that he only cared about serving himself. His lack of dependability and faithfulness proved that he did not love the master. It was a phony relationship which resulted in severe consequences. The imposter, proved by his unfaithfulness, was cast from the master's presence.

2. SOME APPLICATION REGARDING FAITHFULNESS

Although I think it goes without saying, let's examine how this story practically applies to our Christian life. And instead of just spitting out the facts, I would like you to write the spiritual transfer in one sentence in your sermon notes.

For this application I plan to stay right in line with the details of the parable. I will present these very logical truths in the form of a question.

Number one - Like the master in the parable, our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ has gone away and one day will return. Will He not expect His true servants to look forward to His return and live in light of that return?

Number two - If our Master has gone away, will He not expect us, as His spiritual body, to minister in His place while He is absent from this world physically?

Number three - If our Master expects us to minister in His absence, will He not entrust us with all we need to get the job done effectively? Therefore is not all of our time and talents and treasures His resources that He has entrusted to our care to use faithfully for His purposes?

Number four - If the great King of all kings has enlisted us in serving Him, will we not discharge the duty with great enthusiasm? Will we not serve with cheerfulness and eagerness and excitement?

Number five - If someone who claims to be God's servant and is entrusted with God's resources fails to use those resources, will he not be considered a lazy servant? And if someone takes what belongs to God and is to be devoted to God's glory and uses them for his or her own pleasures will not that person be identified as wicked?

Number six - And if we are faithful to serve God, will we not be excited to present to Him what He has accomplished through us when we one day see Him face-to-face?

Number seven - And if we are faithful to do as God expects, will He not like a good master reward us appropriately? Will He not consider us "good and faithful"? Will He not entrust us with greater responsibility? Will He not invite us to enter into His joy?

Number eight - And if we serve the Master unfaithfully, will it not show the Master that we really do not have faith Him? And if we have no faith in the Master does not the Master have the right to remove us from His presence because by ignoring His voice and squandering His resources we have proved ourselves as one who does not belong to Him?

I believe the parable is clear. In His physical absence, Jesus Christ has entrusted valuable resources to us. We are simply stewards. All of it belongs to Him. We are to use those resources for His glory. There will be a day of reckoning. We will be called to account. How did we spend His time? How did we spend His talents and spiritual gifts? How did we spend His money? Were we faithful?

Our faith is proven by our works. Like the wicked servant in the parable, we can blame God and make all the excuses in the world as to why we squandered God's resources. All of them will be self-condemning on judgment day. According to this parable, our final destiny hangs with our present responsibility. Our faithfulness proves the reality of our faith.

Do we understand how serious it is to be faithful like a good servant joyfully discharging what He has given to us to promote His glory? May we all be people who obey His expectations faithfully using the resources He has entrusted to us, so that one day we may enter into the joy of our Master hearing Him say, "Well done good and faithful servant!"


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