It was pretty weak. Good morning.
Thank you, thank you. You know, you get all this effort, and, “Good morning.” Yeah. Anyway, no, just kidding. Amen.
Lord, I was so impressed this morning with Your invitation and how gracious You are. Lord, we should be assaulting the gates to get in.
Lord, we just come this morning because You love us, and You desire us, Lord, to learn of You and to seek You more and more. And that’s what’s on our heart this morning as we come to this time of Your word, Lord Jesus.
I often wonder how it is that flesh and blood, other than You Yourself, can really speak the words of God. But Lord, You have called us to this, and we want to fellowship in Your word this morning. But Lord, we want Your word to be fruitful in our hearts, and that You could achieve Your purposes for Your word regardless of the vessel.
Lord, we ask that You speak. We ask for Your anointing both to be able to utter and also to receive Your words. And Lord, we pray that Your words will find good ground this morning. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Well, what I’ve been sharing on previously was spiritual responsibility, and I want to share again on this matter of spiritual responsibility.
You know, when you share the word of God, it needs to come out of your heart—from your spirit through your heart. If your own heart is not touched with the word, it probably won’t touch anyone else.
So this morning, I just have to say that this is something that’s been on my heart since 1974: spiritual responsibility. It began with ministry given by our brother Stephen Kong at the second conference at Roslyn in 1974. He shared on spiritual leadership.
But, brothers and sisters, as he shared, he made it very emphatic that spiritual leadership was not a matter of position, but a matter of functioning—a matter of responding to the Lord and just responding to His life.
Truly, if anyone would ever lead in any kind of way and in any kind of function, it was not in the sense of being an authority over anyone, but actually being subject to everyone—to be servant of all.
Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself said that He did not come here to be served, which He certainly could have, but He said, “I came to serve.” And that should be the basis of spiritual responsibility.
It’s also on my heart because I think there’s a tremendous amount of misunderstanding about spiritual responsibility. The ways of the world have come into the church, and spiritual responsibility seems to be taken up in that way.
In other words, in the world, you take up responsibility when you are appointed to one. When you are given a position, then you take up responsibility. When you’re given a task to do, you take up responsibility. If you’re irresponsible in carrying out that function, generally speaking, you will be terminated.
So that is the way of the world. It’s by appointment—man’s appointment. But spiritual responsibility is far different.
Spiritual responsibility, by its very nature, comes from the life of Christ that you have received through the grace of God. By His grace, you have received not only doctrines and teachings in this book, but you’ve received His very life.
And if you will consider the life of our Lord Jesus—the very nature of His life—how responsible He was to His family and to God, as He purposed in His own heart to carry out that responsibility of being the Lamb of God, to take away the sins of the world. What a tremendous responsibility.
So responsible that even on the cross, in all of that agony and suffering that He went through, brothers and sisters, He remembered His mother and appointed the apostle John to take care of her.
And brothers and sisters, He heard the voice of that thief who cried out to Him, “Remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” The Lord did not say, “Look, I haven’t got time for this.” What did He say?
Today, thou shalt be with Me in paradise.
Not only did He want this man to have eternal life, but He gave this man assurance that that day he would be with Him in paradise. How responsible is the very nature of the life of Christ that we receive.
It is out of that nature of His life in you that spiritual responsibility comes. In other words, if you have His life, you’re spiritually responsible. And that’s what these parables are about that I’ve been sharing on.
Last time I shared on the parable of the mina, or the pound, where the Lord taught His apostles right before He was to be crucified. Right before He had that Last Supper, He was talking to His disciples, and they thought He was going to Jerusalem to set Himself up as King.
They were actually arguing over which position they might obtain in His kingdom. One requested, “I want to sit on Your right hand or on Your left. I want to be in a high position. I want to be able to exert authority in Your kingdom.”
And the Lord had to correct them. But, brothers and sisters, our Lord is so gracious. He knew they weren’t grasping what was going on, because He had told them He was going to Jerusalem and that He would be taken by the hierarchy of the Jewish people, the Pharisees, and would be brought, judged, and sent to be crucified.
He also told them He would rise again, but they didn’t get it. They were still expecting Him to go and set up His kingdom right then, and so they were arguing over position at that time.
So the Lord does a couple of things. He shares these parables to correct their understanding and to explain to them the nature of the life of the kingdom. And it’s quite different.
He also wanted them to know, “Hey, you think I’m going to set up My kingdom now, but that’s not true. I’m going back to the Father, and I’m going to receive a kingdom, and then I will come back.”
He wanted them to know what He expected of them while He was gone—between His ascension back to the throne and His second return.
Last time we spoke on the parable of the pound, which, brothers and sisters, is the Lord explaining to them that the life given to them is something for which they have to be responsible.
In that parable, He said, “I’m going away. I’m going to receive a kingdom, and I’m going to come back.” He had given all of the servants a mina, or a pound, and He said, “I expect you to do business with this. I expect increase when I come back.”
This is not something given to you for your own use or just for you. You are just a steward. You don’t own the life that I give you; you are a steward of the life that I give you.
A great example is our children. We think the children are ours, and they are, but they are the Lord’s, and they are a trust given to us. We are stewards of our children. God is really the owner of our children.
And that’s the way it is with His life. We are just stewards of this life that He’s given to us, and He expects that life to grow and increase. That is the parable of the mina. It’s grace—the grace given.
That grace, brothers and sisters, He gave in the same amount to everyone. He gave the same amount to everyone, and He expected increase.
One increased it ten times, one increased it five times, and one buried it. We remember that the Lord commended those who had this great increase of ten times and five times and said, “I’m going to make you ruler over ten cities and five cities in My kingdom.”
But there was one who basically had put his pound in a towel and hadn’t done anything with it to make it grow or increase. The Lord called him a wicked servant. He rebuked this servant. He said, “I expected increase. I expected fruit from what I’ve given you.”
The life that I have given you should bear fruit—not only within yourselves, but for others. There should be fruit.
In other words, when the Lord returned, He held His servants accountable for the life that He had given to them. So that is something that the Lord has given to all of us: grace.
We all receive grace in the beginning. It’s the same life. It’s the same amount. Paul was given the same amount of grace that you were given. And how great was the work of Paul.
I am what I am by the grace of God.
And he said, “I’ve done more than all the rest,” speaking of the other apostles. He wasn’t bragging; he was just stating fact.
Remember Paul’s ministry—how he traveled thousands of miles throughout Asia Minor. Brothers and sisters, what a work he did.
Not only that, Paul said that he was always being pursued by the Judaizers, trying to overturn the message that he was given. He was always concerned about thieves and robbers on these trips that he made.
He was beaten three times with thirty-nine stripes for sharing the word of God. He was beaten with rods once. He was shipwrecked three times. And he said one time, in a shipwreck, he spent a day and a night in the ocean itself.
Brothers and sisters, what a man of God. What pursuit. Nothing held him back. Nothing was too large for Paul because he had a large God.
He took the grace of God. He said, “I am what I am by the grace of God. I have done more than all the rest, but not I; it was the grace of God in me.”
In other words, he allowed that life to grow and expand. That life overcame all the obstacles, brothers and sisters—all the oppression and all the opposition.
That life has been so fruitful through all of the books that we receive from the apostle Paul—Galatians, Colossians, all of these ministries that our brother has given. How it has been used to build the church through the centuries.
What a man of God. This is grace. This is the grace that each of us has been given, and the Lord Jesus expects it to grow.
Now, this morning I wanted to come to the parable of the talents. Let’s begin by reading Matthew 25:14-30.
I’m reading from the King James, I guess you figured that out.
For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling 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 straightway took his journey.Then he that had received the five talents 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 deliveredst 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 will make thee ruler over many things:
enter thou into the joy of thy lord.He also that had received two talents came and said,
Lord, thou deliveredst 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 will 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 an hard man,
reaping where thou hast not sown,
and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
and I was afraid,
and went and hid thy talent in the earth:
lo, there thou hast that is thine.His 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 mine own with usury.Take therefore the talent from him,
and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
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 shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We’ll stop there.
Once again, the Lord is making clear through this parable that He is going away. The master is traveling to a far country, and he calls the servants.
He gives one five talents, the second one two, and the last one one—according to their ability, it says. Once again, they were to trade, as with the mina, or increase the talent.
It wasn’t for their self-satisfaction, use, or enjoyment. Once again, it was given as a trust. They were to be stewards of this talent that they had been given.
Increase was expected. The Lord was very clear about that. He wanted them to be responsible with what He had given them.
These talents, brothers and sisters—the mina or the pound represented grace. Everybody received the same amount. But these talents represent spiritual gifts, and the spiritual gifts are different for everyone.
They are given differently. They are given according to ability. The mina represents grace, and here the talent represents the gift of God.
Both are to be exercised. Both are to be used for increase. Both are to be used to take care of the rest, to be food for the other workers, the other servants.
Just to give you a little bit of contrast, grace is more general in that everybody receives the same amount. All are responsible for this life that we’re given, and it’s given equally.
Prayer, for instance, is not called a talent or a special gift. It’s just grace. We pray by the grace of God.
Now, there are some intercessors, and there’s no doubt about it. But you know what? Those intercessors have exercised grace in prayer so much that they have greatly increased their ability to pray effectively, because they use the grace of the life of the Lord Jesus in their prayers.
But gifts are more specific. We all might be called to be, for instance, construction workers. That would be grace. You’re a construction worker; you get paid to be in construction.
But there are various types, aren’t there? Electricians, plumbers, carpenters, masons—they all have specific tasks. They all have unique abilities, and they’re really good at their particular task and specialty.
And that’s the way the talents are that are given to us. The Lord gives you not only His grace, His life—and you have to use His life to exercise a gift, by the way—but He also gifts you in a certain way.
Now, I want to be very clear. First Corinthians 12:7 says:
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
It is given to everyone, and it is for the profit of all—not just for your profit, but for the profit of all, for the building of His house. Brothers and sisters, these talents are given.
So you see, talents are very specific, and they are given according to measure. The potential for the increase of grace is limitless.
That’s why you see the man increasing the mina to ten minas, or ten pounds, through his work, because grace is limitless. We see that in the life of Paul as an example.
But the talents are given in measure, according to ability. In other words, it’s according to what the Lord has ordained for you. It’s where the Lord wants you to specialize, so to speak.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t function in other ways, but there is a function that the Lord has for you that is special for you. He’s given you that talent and the measure of what He expects of you, brothers and sisters, and what He wants to accomplish through you.
So we all have that talent. Now, you may not know what it is. A lot of people say, “I don’t,” and it’s hard sometimes to see what your own talent is. But others observing you probably can tell you what they think it is.
But the way you know your talent or special gift is just to function. Function in the house of God. Function among the brothers and sisters, looking to the Lord to be able to share with your brothers and sisters, to help your brothers and sisters, to serve your brothers and sisters.
Out of that functioning, you will begin to discover what the Lord uniquely calls you to. You may not totally realize it, but you’re functioning in that way.
So it is given according to ability. Let me say it another way, because you need to be very clear on this: we’re all different, every one of us.
We have different personalities, which our brother Stephen describes as being the shape of your soul. In other words, your personality is not wrong. It’s not wrong to have a personality. You should. But they’re all different—different kinds of personalities, different temperaments.
We’re all made unique by the Lord. Every one of you is very unique. Now, I know the psychologists have grouped us into four or five different temperaments, but brothers and sisters, even within those groupings, no one is exactly the same.
It’s just like the leaves on those trees out there. You think a maple tree has all the leaves the same, but they are not. If you closely examine them, they’re all a little different.
Same with snowflakes. There’s no one snowflake that is the same. That’s amazing when you get twelve inches of snow on the ground and you think, “Well, every one of these snowflakes is different.”
But that’s the way the Lord has built us together. That’s why we’re here together. We each have a specialty, so to speak, that is ordained for you by God, not by man.
It’s not by man’s appointment; it’s by God’s appointment. It is what comes out of the life of Christ in you. That talent is there in His life, and that is what comes forth.
You know what’s interesting? One had five talents, one had two, and the other one had one talent.
I will repeat from Brother Nee in this case. He says most people are one-talent people. But that doesn’t mean you’re not spiritual. It doesn’t mean that the five-talent person is more spiritual than you are. It means he has to take up that responsibility.
In Luke 12:48 it says:
For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.
So if He gives you five talents, He is going to require that you use all five talents. If He gives you one, He wants you to use the one. He has given it to you according to the ability that He has ordained for you, brothers and sisters.
You always have within you the grace to carry out the talent the Lord has given you. And praise the Lord for that.
I hope you get excited about what the Lord has done in His life. We so often fall into this worldly trap of saying, “Well, I’m just going to sit here until somebody tells me what to do, or appoints me, or gives me a task, and then I’ll be responsible.”
Brother and sisters, that life is in you, and it wants to be responsible. If you’ll just function, what it is will come out. And it’s part of our responsibility, brothers and sisters, to encourage you in those ways as well.
You might think—and I want to be very clear on this point—the five-talent person isn’t necessarily more spiritual. It’s just that he’s got five talents, but he’s got to use them all. He’s got to work at it.
But the one-talent person has to work at it too.
It’s interesting that, as we saw with the pound that was given—the mina—it can increase greatly. Here with the talents, the two that were commended had doubled the talent.
In other words, they strengthened the talent, increased the talent, or maybe were given another talent because they were so faithful in the little things. God gave them more talent, more functions to deal with.
And I think that’s very interesting. You know, in the book of Acts, the apostles were serving the tables, as well as ministering the word and doing all the various functions in the house of God.
They said, “We need to give ourselves to the word of God and prayer, and yet we’re occupied a lot with this matter of serving the tables as well.” They said the body would function much better if there were those specially appointed for serving the tables.
So they chose seven, remember? Seven men, of whom Stephen, who ended up being martyred, was one. What was the requirement for choosing the seven?
Full of the Holy Spirit.
No one said, “Ah, this is a lesser task than ministering the word, and therefore you only need half a tank of Spirit.” You need the full tank, you know.
So all of them, no matter what the talent or service was, had the requirement to be full of the Spirit. Now, I know what you’re going to say to me: “Jerry, I don’t even know if I’ve ever been full of the Spirit.”
But let me say this to you: you just function. You just give your life to the Lord. Let that grace work in you, and the Spirit will move, and the Spirit will fill you, brothers and sisters.
Let me say it another way. You don’t have to look for a special experience. You just have to have faith that when you step out by the grace of God, that grace will fill you. That grace will meet you there. But you need to do it in faith.
“Lord, I’m not able, but You are, and I need to be doing this. And so, by Your grace.” That’s what Paul was saying. It wasn’t me. It wasn’t my strength of will and my toughness that got me through. It was the grace of God.
So may the Lord be gracious to us in that. The requirement was to be full of the Spirit. It wasn’t that this task was lesser in any sense. It was required and necessary.
Now, let me say one thing about serving the tables. They weren’t just talking about passing out the cup and the bread, like we do at the table here. They weren’t talking about serving at their love feast.
Serving the tables meant that there were many poor people in their midst, and these seven men were responsible for taking care of those needs. They had special needs.
They would collect funds, clothing, and food, and redistribute it to those in need. So they had a tremendous responsibility in the house of God.
There are a variety of gifts. There is the talent of the ministry of the word and taking care of the tables, but it says in the word of God that helps is a talent—being helpful in different functions and in different ways.
Administrations are also talents: administrative things that need to be carried out and done. All have a different talent, and it is given to every man, as I have said.
I think it’s interesting, because I want to be as clear as I can on this matter of the ministry of the word.
In Ephesians 4:11, it says:
And He gave some, apostles;
and some, prophets;
and some, evangelists;
and some, pastors and teachers.
They are to strengthen the church. They are gifts to the church. They are meant to serve the church, and they have this special gifting from the Lord.
And, like I say again, it is carried out in grace. But they are called to that. That’s why Paul said, “We need to give ourselves to the ministry of the word and prayer,” because that’s what we’ve been called to mostly.
It doesn’t mean that they couldn’t serve in other ways. As a matter of fact, do y’all remember that Paul was a tentmaker? In Corinth, when he was there, he actually made tents to support himself.
So it doesn’t mean that you don’t function in other ways, brothers and sisters. But it does mean you have something special that you need to concentrate on and see that it’s taken care of.
For instance, those ones that I’ve just mentioned had the ministry of the word. It’s very obvious—they were called to minister the word.
But in 1 Corinthians 14, which some of you have already shared on very recently, and which we’re going into in our group next time, remember what came out of 1 Corinthians 13. What was the better way? Love.
All ministry, whether it is gift or grace, when you’re serving, is out of love. That has got to be the motive and the motivation for serving, brothers and sisters.
Because if you’re serving, expecting to get a pat on the back, brothers and sisters, the motive is wrong. The Lord died for us. He wasn’t expecting a pat on the back.
But we worship Him. We love Him, don’t we? Because He first loved us. So it is out of love that we serve. That makes that very clear.
He also exhorts them in the fourteenth chapter to seek gifts that would edify the brothers and sisters. They were really high on speaking in tongues.
He makes it very clear that there’s nothing wrong with speaking in tongues. He said, “But when you come into the assembly and you start speaking in tongues, if there’s no interpretation, nobody can be edified except you.”
And he said that’s not what the assembly is for. When you assemble together, we’re there to edify one another, not ourselves. Well, we are edified, but he said speaking in tongues was great. He felt it would be nice if everyone did that, but everyone didn’t. I didn’t, by the way.
That’s just the way the Lord works. But in 1 Corinthians 14—I’m getting off my point, and I don’t want to lose it—there are those called to special ministry, and it involves giving the word of God.
But in 1 Corinthians 14, he says you should desire that you may prophesy. Then he goes on to describe what that meant. He said prophecy edifies, exhorts, and comforts.
A word of exhortation to a brother or sister, a word of comfort for a brother or sister, a word that will edify them—that is also ministering the word of God.
That is something that we can all do to varying degrees. But it seems like some are especially able to encourage, to edify, and to exhort. Brothers and sisters, that’s a responsibility we all have in the word of God.
I just want to be very clear about that: words of comfort and exhortation.
The next point is that gifts can be increased. Remember, they doubled their gift.
It wasn’t quite as spectacular as grace. Grace just blossomed and grew. But the gift could be doubled, and I’m not saying gifts are not important. They’re very important in the house of God—essential, in fact.
But once again, in this matter of serving the table, Stephen—I mentioned him—was one of the seven brothers. Not Stephen Kong, but Stephen back there in those days. He was one named to serve the tables, full of the Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, he was so faithful in fulfilling his function that later, if you read Acts 6:8, it says they found Stephen powerful in deeds, doing great miracles and wonders. His testimony was great.
You remember the reason he was martyred was the testimony that he gave of Christ. He went through the history of Israel and showed how Christ was the answer. He was the Messiah.
So powerful was that message that the Pharisees could not stand it. It so convicted them, but their conviction didn’t lead to repentance. Their conviction led to violence, and they martyred Stephen.
But you know what that did? That particular event in the history of the church was critical, because up to that point Christianity was considered a sect of Judaism, a part of Judaism.
But after that event, it was made very clear that Christianity was not a sect of Judaism. It was the new and living way.
That speech was used in the church of God to greatly affect the Christian community of that time. What happened after that was greater persecution.
But, brothers and sisters, it was out of that persecution that the saints began to leave Jerusalem and go to other places, other cities, and other parts of the world. The gospel was spread because of that persecution.
So a great event took place because of this apostle who was faithful in carrying out the talent the Lord had given him. That talent increased in our brother. So talents can also be increased.
The reward. You know, last time, with grace, the reward depended on the increase of grace.
The one who had increased to ten pounds, the Lord said, “You’re going to be over ten cities.” And the one who increased his five pounds, He said, “You’re going to be over five cities.” So the reward was a little different, based on the effect of grace in their life.
But when we come to the talents, if you read carefully, you see that the reward is the same for the five-talent brother and for the two-talent brother—but not for the one-talent brother who buried it.
The master, when he returned from receiving the kingdom, expected increase. So he told the servants to come before him, and he was going to have an accounting of what they had done with their talent.
The two who had been faithful were told:
Thou hast been faithful over a few things,
I will make thee ruler over many things.
Brothers and sisters, these two parables should tell us that in the kingdom, we’re not just going to be sitting around on a bench playing a harp. We’re going to have responsibility.
The Lord is using this age in which we are living now—He is using our personal lives right now—to develop spiritual responsibility in our lives. Not worldly responsibility, but spiritual responsibility.
He’s going to look at you and say, “You’ve been well trained, and so I’m going to give you responsibility for ten cities or five cities.”
But with the talents, it was a little bit different. It seems like the reward was the same. He said, “You’ve been faithful in a few things in using your talent, so I’m going to reward you in the kingdom, and you’re going to be responsible for many things.”
In other words, there are all kinds of special talents that will be needed in the kingdom, in serving God’s government and in serving the earth for a thousand years during that kingdom age.
So we won’t be sitting around just worshiping. We will worship the Lord, no doubt about that, but we will have business to do. We will have functions to carry out.
They will be carried out by His grace, without any infection of our own flesh. Thank God, it will be carried out purely.
Today, our flesh seems to always get in the way, doesn’t it? But then it will be without the flesh, without self-centeredness, brothers and sisters. We won’t be doing it out of a wrong motive. We’ll be doing it out of our love for Him.
It will be a service of love, not duty—not because you’ve been appointed a job, but because of that life in you that will so want to serve the Lord and love the Lord.
It will not be like our earthly tasks sometimes, where we kind of trudge through them. It won’t be that way. It will bring joy to our hearts in serving the King.
Well, that being said, I think the great thing that the Lord said to both of these faithful servants was:
Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Enter the joy of the Lord. That’s what the kingdom age is going to be about: just serving, loving the Lord, entering the joy of the Lord, enjoying one another in our service together.
Brothers and sisters, we won’t be offending one another and that kind of thing. It will be pure service out of love for one another. Enter the joy of the Lord.
But the third servant had buried his talent. He said, “I was afraid of You, Lord. You expect too much of us.” That’s what he was saying.
“Yeah, I knew You were a hard man.” Is the Lord a hard man? He died for our sins. He carried the heavy load—the heaviest load that anyone could ever carry.
It was the load that we had to pass on to Him because we couldn’t handle it. We had no way of handling it. We had no way of getting this load of sin off our shoulders. But the Lord took it for the whole world. Praise the Lord.
“Wicked servant,” the Lord said. “You are a wicked servant. You’re irresponsible. You’re lazy. You’re unprofitable.” That’s the Lord’s view. That’s the Lord’s judgment, brothers and sisters. It’s not my judgment.
We might think that’s a bit harsh, but you’ve got to remember: the Lord is a Lord of love. He wants us to respond with love, not duty.
This man just saw it as a duty. He saw the Lord as a hard taskmaster and that He was being unfair to expect him to increase this talent.
Brothers and sisters, we’re all caught up sometimes with this matter of responsibility. We want the good for ourselves from the grace of God and the talents that He gives us, to kind of use them for ourselves.
The Corinthians fell into that trap. They were using it to display their great spirituality, and in so doing, they showed how fleshly they were. They weren’t spiritual.
They had a great instrument of a talent or gift from the Lord in their hand, but they were unspiritual. They were fleshly, and they were not able to use it.
It would be like giving a knife to your four-year-old child. You wouldn’t dare do that, because they can’t handle it.
Brothers and sisters, we always have the unfortunate ability to misuse the talent we have or not use it at all. This servant was not interested in the talent other than keeping it for himself.
The Lord said, “You’re irresponsible. You’re unprofitable.” Then the Lord went on to say that those who are irresponsible will be under discipline.
What was that discipline? He said, “You’ll be cast into outer darkness. There will be gnashing of teeth.”
Brothers and sisters, this is not hell. This is a servant of the Lord. Nobody is going to hell—that’s a servant of the Lord.
But outer darkness—the Lord doesn’t say a whole lot about it, because He doesn’t want us to focus on it, I think. But it is a serious warning, because He uses gnashing of teeth in another place, being cut asunder. That is very serious.
The Lord wants us to be serious about His warning concerning our being irresponsible with the life that He has given to us. It is a serious matter before the Lord, and He uses very strong words.
What that means is there will be deep regret—the gnashing of teeth. In other words, “Lord, what have I given up?”
Not being able to be a part of that thousand-year millennial reign: “Lord, I really messed up. Lord, I missed You.” Deep regret.
But the Lord is merciful, brothers and sisters.
We’ll all make it through to the New Jerusalem. That thousand years will be used to send—I call it—to send you to remedial school, to summer school.
Now, that’s a light thing compared to this, but it’s the only analogy I can come up with because I had to do it. Summer school is terrible. All your friends are out enjoying and having fun, and you’re in there working, with the teacher demanding that you get ready for this test or do this homework.
Boy, I could be outside playing. Well, obviously that’s a poor analogy, but brothers and sisters, maybe it’ll bring home to us what the Lord does expect.
But the Lord is gracious. In the New Jerusalem, we will all be there, and in the new heaven and earth, we will all be serving Him. There won’t be any flesh to get in the way. Praise the Lord.
The Lord is faithful. He will finish in us what He has determined to accomplish in us. That is the great part about the love of God, even if it requires additional discipline in our lives.
So it’s better to come under discipline now than wait until later. Having said that, it is a very sobering account here that the Lord gives.
This man was given this talent as a trust. He was the steward of it, and he was to make it grow and to be able to share the results with the King and with others. But he failed.
I think it’s very interesting that, on this matter of accountability, we will be held accountable. The judgment seat of Christ is where we, as Christians, will be held accountable.
He will bring us before Him and say, “What have you done with the grace that I’ve given to you? What have you done with the talents?” The Lord doesn’t let anybody off the hook.
Brothers and sisters, I don’t know if you’ve thought about this, but in Revelation, the Lord brings the churches of Asia—the seven churches in Asia—before Him, and He holds them accountable. Every one of them.
Only Philadelphia really got commended. But, brothers and sisters, He pointed out where they had failed, what they were doing wrong, and He admonished them strongly. He held them to account.
You know why He chose those seven churches in Asia? I know that they also represent the different church ages that we’ve experienced, but brothers and sisters, do you remember that this revelation was most likely written near the end of the apostle John’s life?
He had experienced all the grace of God. He had experienced the life of Christ. He had experienced all the full counsel of God. All the other apostles had been martyred by that time or killed.
And you know what? Who had served so faithfully the churches in Asia Minor? Y’all tell me. Who had faithfully served the churches in Asia Minor?
Paul. Because Paul said at the very end of his life, “All of Asia has left me. They have rejected my word. They have rejected my testimony.”
That was a great declension in those churches in Asia. In Revelation, we see the Lord holding those churches to account.
They had received a revelation—Paul’s particularly—who gave them the great revelation of God’s eternal purpose and the building of His house. In the end, they had completely rejected him and his teaching. They had left Paul.
The Lord said, “You didn’t listen to My servant.” When He brought those seven churches up there—you won’t find this in the word, but that’s what the Lord was saying—“I’m holding you accountable for the revelation that you’ve received.”
“I’m holding you accountable for what Paul taught you and what you received from the other apostles. You received much. You received much revelation, and what did you do with it? You set it aside. You set it aside.”
“You didn’t listen. You didn’t build on what was given to you. My revelation to you was meant that you might enter into My service and build the house of God. But rather, it is gradually being destroyed because you’re not spiritually responsible.”
That’s the bottom line. The point I want to make is, brothers and sisters, the Lord doesn’t let anything get outside of His notice.
He won’t let any of us get away with anything. He’s going to hold us accountable. He’s going to hold Jerry Amon accountable. I think that’s why I’ve been so affected by these messages: the Lord has been dealing with me on this matter of spiritual responsibility.
But, brothers and sisters, we all need to be aware that we will be held accountable. Certainly our heart would want to be able to stand before the Lord and hear those words:
Thou hast been faithful over a few things;
I will make thee ruler over many things:
enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
“You have pleased My heart.”
I think we all want that, brothers and sisters, but sometimes we kind of get away from it. The enemy uses the pressures of this world, the pressures of life, to keep us from it.
I haven’t got time to do the other parable. I’m sorry, brothers and sisters. I’m just going to stop here today.
The next parable is the parable of the faithful servant in Matthew 24:45-51. But I don’t want to just lightly go over that either.
Basically, in that parable, the Lord says, “Who is a good and faithful servant?” The one who is giving meat to the servants—responsible to give meat.
I want to go into a little more of that when we come together the next time I share.
Brothers and sisters, you remember what the Lord said to Peter. Peter had failed the Lord greatly. I want you to know, Peter thought his relationship with the Lord was totally gone.
Because the Lord says, “If you deny Me before men, I will deny you before My Father.” He thought it was over. He thought his life with the Lord was completely gone.
But you remember, after the resurrection, we do know from the word of God that the Lord met privately with Peter to restore him and to reassure him in his heart.
But that day on the Sea of Galilee, Peter and the other disciples were there. The Lord met Peter. Once again, He met all the disciples that day. But what was His word to Peter?
Lovest thou Me?
Peter, what did He say?
Feed My sheep.
Provide food for My sheep. Food for the assembly, food for your brothers and sisters.
That’s not just Peter’s responsibility. That’s all of our responsibility: to provide meat for our brothers and sisters. We all have that responsibility.
Let me end with that today, and we’ll see where the Lord goes next time I share.
Lord, we just thank You. Lord, for Your love, we thank You for Your life. We thank You for the great grace You’ve shown to all of us.
Lord, we want to be those who are responsible with what You have given to us, what You have shown to us, and what we’ve experienced of You. Lord, we want to be faithful with all of these things.
And Lord, we’re not up to it. We really aren’t. The flesh is so alive and so insistent—Lord, so self-confident, or unconfident, whichever.
But Lord, I thank You for those verses that You gave from our dear brother Paul:
I am what I am by the grace of God.
And I have done more than all the rest.
Yet not I,
but the grace of God which was with me.
It wasn’t me. It wasn’t my strength of will or my hardening of my emotions. But it was Your grace.
Lord, that is my testimony. It is Your grace. Lord, may we all learn to live by faith—faith in God’s grace. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.