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Copyright © 2012 J. Neely. All rights reserved.
Chapter 24 - Ten Talents
Matt. 25:16-18
16 Then [de] he that had received [lambano] the five [pente] talents [talanton] went [poreuomai] and traded [ergazomai] with [en] the same [autos] , and [kai] made [poieo] them other [allos] five [pente] talents [talanton] .
17 And [kai] likewise [hosautos] he that had received [ho] two [duo] , he [autos] also [kai] gained [kerdaino] other [allos] two [duo] .
18 But [de] he that had received [lambano] one [heis] went [aperchomai] and digged [orusso] in [en] the earth [ge] , and [kai] hid [apokrupto] his [autos] lord's [kurios] money [argurion] . KJV-Interlinear
16 'Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. 17 'In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. 18 'But he who received the one talent went away and dug in the ground, and hid his master's money. NASB
You and I are the slaves. Jesus Christ is the Master. He is not here with us physically. He is in heaven seated at the right hand of the Father.
At the proper time we (believers in Christ) will leave this world (death or Rapture) and be face to face with Him in heaven. Unbelievers will leave this world via death (and by no other means), and will proceed to Torments where they will remain until the time of the Great White Throne. Then they will have their resurrection and judgment and the lake of fire.
While here on earth, God has left us with three capital assets. We have an obligation to invest them. It is to our advantage only if we proceed through life investing properly that which God has given us. If we do not invest properly, then we cut short our future blessing, and perhaps lose it altogether.
We face but two questions which will have an impact on our entire future. The first question is, 'What do you think about Christ?' We either believe in Him or we don't. Our eternal future hangs in the balance until we reach a decision regarding Christ. To reject Him means that we are destined to live in eternity apart from and totally separated from God. Since God is the only source which holds everything together, by rejecting Him means that we elect to live in an environment which will be in total chaos, totally dark, totally alone, and in a terror which is far beyond our present imagination. Not a good choice.
By electing to believe in Christ then we are included in the family of God forever and will reside in heaven with God forever. This is a good thing! Infinitely better than the other choice.
Now after believing in Christ we face a second question. Which is really a set of daily questions that we face throughout our lives. 'What do you think of Bible doctrine?' Our spiritual growth hangs in the balance regarding our attitude toward Gods Word.
Again we can either ignore Bible study and not grow up (the third slave who buried his assets), or we can study and grow up in our spiritual life. What are the repercussions? First, by being saved all believers will go to heaven and receive many wonderful blessings. But, there is a second aspect to heaven. There are available to us, additional blessings beyond our imaginations. The study of the first three chapters of Revelation spells them out in general terms.
Not everyone will qualify for these additional blessings. Those who advance in their spiritual lives, will qualify and receive their additional blessings in heaven (the first two slaves).
Those who do not advance in their spiritual lives, will not receive them. In fact their blessings will be re-distributed to those who do advance to spiritual maturity. Since these blessings exceed all that we can think or imagine, then it is safe to say that spiritual maturity is infinitely better than spiritual immaturity.
Remember that in this parable, the talents being referred to, are huge sums of money. They are huge for a normal person, but infinitely huge when you consider that it is a slave who is receiving the investment. One talent is worth well over sixteen years wages. Five or ten talents (160 years of wages) is worth far more. You can do the math. And to a slave this is a treasure which is beyond his imagination.
God has given each one of us three capital assets - time, Bible doctrine and volition. The first slave received his portion and he pursued with vigor the investment of that which he was given custody. The second slave did likewise. He had less than the first but no matter, he still pursued with vigor his investments of the assets he was given custody of.
In this physical world there are no guarantees of success, but in the spiritual world there is a guarantee from God, that if you pursue your spiritual life, then God will guarantee your success. Why? Because it is God who creates and supplies all spiritual resources for your spiritual nourishment and growth. You merely supply the 'attitude and desire of wanting' to advance in your spiritual life. Thus you become your only enemy in preventing your spiritual advancement. You alone and no one else can destroy your spiritual life.
The first two slaves traded. That is to say, they continually traded Gods assets, throughout their lives until the day they would be rejoined with Him. Trading of important assets is an activity which requires a constant knowledge of the market place, constant alertness, constant monitoring, and constant awareness of ones position in the market, so that no losses will be incurred.
Your daily study keeps Gods word in the forefront of your mind, and thus allows you to keep your spiritual life and your daily life on track, moment to moment, day to day. Your are aware of the purpose of confession - fellowship. You are aware of life around you and can discern between what is right and what is wrong. You make good decisions. You are obedient to Gods commands. Recall the spiritual check list we put together sometime ago. It can be found on the web site under special studies.
Your daily study is your constant education and knowledge of Gods Word. Your self evaluation of confession and fellowship status is your constant alertness and monitoring of your spiritual status. Your daily application of doctrine to your life is your constant daily trading, and utilization of that which God has given you. Your profit? Spiritual growth to maturity.
The third slave was not to be bothered with the property of the Master. The Master was gone and he (the slave) would have nothing to do with Him (the Master). In the end he will have a convenient and lame excuse. He will pretend to be concerned for the Masters assets, but in reality, he cares nothing for them. He hid the money given him, from his own sight and that of others, and went his merry way pretending to be in charge of his own life. He was a fool.
So it is with all who do not comply with Gods commands. 'Walk in My righteousness and be perfect.'
Negative volition comes in many forms. Some have an outright rejection of God and things of a spiritual nature. Some lead a life of pretense in varying degrees. This pretense can be like the Pharisees who had extreme pretense. They based their entire lives on God, but in their souls they only cared for the attention, the status, the financial gain that the priesthood provided them. Others have varying degrees of pretense. They go to church (Bible Study or whatever) once a week, once a month, once a year, if at all. They think of themselves as good people and in this world they just might be personable folks. But they live their lives out of fellowship, which means that they live their lives under the control and rule of their sin nature.
Spiritual growth only occurs within the sphere of fellowship. Only Gods work is acceptable to Him. Mans works were rejected at the cross and therefore have no place in His divine plan. In fact human good, or works, are the basis for the condemnation of all unbelievers at the Great White Throne. Remember that all sin has been judged. Unbelievers are not condemned based on sin. They are condemned based on works. They elect to try to enter into heaven based on their own works, own opinions, own reasoning, totally rejecting Gods single and only path into heaven - Jesus Christ. Only His work on the Cross is acceptable to God.
We all have obligations received from God and of which we are bound to obey and carry out. Our entire future is dependent on what we do with them.
Nothing happens in history by accident. We have just been through a rather tedious political campaign and election, and we witnessed the extraordinary attempts of liberal politicians, of a liberal media, of arrogant Hollywood types to steal the election and have the power they lusted for but are never entitled to. They are only interested in themselves. They lost resoundingly.
Now Arafat is on his deathbed it would seem. History just keeps going from one event to the next. God honors those who are positive toward His word, and as we have seen, our nation has come out of this election with a very strong foundation for that which is right in life. This means that tremendous prosperity is on the horizon.
But, ... Prosperity lasts only as long as ones positive attitude toward God. Stick with your daily study and things will only get better and better for you, not only in this life, but certainly in the next.
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Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
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