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Copyright © 2012 J. Neely. All rights reserved.
Chapter 24 - Ten Talents
Matt. 25:19-23
19 After [de] [meta] a long [polus] time [chronos] the lord [kurios] of those [ekeinos] servants [doulos] cometh [erchomai] , and [kai] reckoneth [sunairo] [logos] with [meta] them [autos] .
20 And so [kai] he that had received [lambano] five [pente] talents [talanton] came [proserchomai] and brought [prosphero] other [allos] five [pente] talents [talanton] , saying [lego] , Lord [kurios] , thou deliveredst [paradidomi] unto me [moi] five [pente] talents [talanton] : behold [ide] , I have gained [kerdaino] beside [epi] them [autos] five [pente] talents [talanton] more [allos] .
21 [de] His [autos] lord [kurios] said [phemi] unto him [autos] , Well done [eu] , thou good [agathos] and [kai] faithful [pistos] servant [doulos] : thou hast been [en] faithful [pistos] over [epi] a few things [oligos] , I will make [kathistemi] thee [se] ruler [kathistemi] over [epi] many things [polus] : enter thou [eiserchomai] into [eis] the joy [chara] of thy [sou] lord [kurios] .
22 [de] He also [kai] that had received [lambano] two [duo] talents [talanton] came [proserchomai] and said [epo] , Lord [kurios] , thou deliveredst [paradidomi] unto me [moi] two [duo] talents [talanton] : behold [ide] , I have gained [kerdaino] two [duo] other [allos] talents [talanton] beside [epi] them [autos] .
23 His [autos] lord [kurios] said [phemi] unto him [autos] , Well done [eu] , good [agathos] and [kai] faithful [pistos] servant [doulos] ; thou hast been [en] faithful [pistos] over [epi] a few things [oligos] , I will make [kathistemi] thee [se] ruler [kathistemi] over [epi] many things [polus] : enter thou [eiserchomai] into [eis] the joy [chara] of thy [sou] lord [kurios] . KJV-Interlinear
19 'Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 'And 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.' 21 'His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master.' 22 'The one also who had received the two talents came up and said, 'Master, you entrusted to me two talents; see, I have gained two more talents.' 23 'His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' NASB
In the future we all will stand before Christ for our evaluation.
2 Cor 5:10
10 'For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.' NASB
In the body means in this life in our physical life here on earth. We know, we all should know, that we are not intended to live here on earth in these mortal bodies forever. We will all die one day, and after that ???
Most folks just ignore the obvious, because they are neither interested in the truth, or they prefer to pursue their own self defined perceptions of life. They pretend, just as folks read books or watch movies. It is not real but it is a release from reality and that is all that matters.
The first two slaves were not boasting, but were merely reporting the results of their investments. They did only what was expected of them.
Lk. 17:10, 'So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.' NASB
People who pursue greatness in this life are driven by their arrogance and lusts and desires for that which they are not entitled to. People in this life do not know (or they choose to ignore) the whole picture of life and reality, they see only that which lay before them. They want and want, and are never satisfied with anything they acquire.
God, on the other hand, knows exactly what we want and need and provides it in our behalf when we look to Him first in our life, and do not look first in ourselves. God places authority where authority is needed. God places leadership where leadership is needed. God fills need where needs exists.
Man manufactures these things in order to satisfy his selfish lusts. Often times there is no need for power, or leadership, or need, but politics, selfishness, and arrogance creates their existence, then pursues a course of action to fill them.
These two slaves did only what was expected of them. They were given responsibilities from the Master (Jesus Christ), and they complied with their responsibilities. Their compliance was in their attitude and in their decisions to obey Gods commands. They had a genuine desire to be obedient, not for the expectation of reward alone, but because it was what they should have done anyway. We are expected to be polite, we should be polite. We are expected to be honest, we should be honest. We are expected to be charitable, we should be charitable anyway. And that list continues.
Those who reject God, pursue courses of things in which they should not pursue - gossip, judging, crime, cheating, self righteousness, etc. They do these by default, because by living under the sin nature, one has no other choice but to be obedient to the master (the sin nature) of choice. None of us are in charge of our lives. We are either slaves to God (fellowship), or we are slaves to our sin nature. There is no third choice.
There is no such thing as being independent from one or the other of them. That is one of the principles of Buddhism and Hinduism (and other cults) - the idea of rising above ones physical existence to a higher plane, and to do it all on our own. Won't ever happen.
Our rewards in heaven are not specified, but we do know that there will be levels of inequality as well as equality in heaven. Both simultaneously occurring in a perfect place is beyond our comprehension, but suffice to say, that all in heaven will be happy. However because God teaches us that there will be an evaluation, then we wonder for what purpose? If all are perfectly happy in heaven and if life here on earth is over, then what is the purpose of this evaluation - the Judgment Seat of Christ? That answer is found in the first three chapters of Revelation, which we have already studied, as well as in this and other parables. There are 'additional' rewards available to those who advance to spiritual maturity.
If the state of heaven is perfect, and if there are rewards beyond this perfection, then we should take notice that God indicates something far beyond our imagination. They must be grand indeed. But then we do not receive them by our own efforts. We do not qualify for them by means of some 'beyond the call' effort of our own.
We receive them by doing that which we should do anyway. We can only accomplish that by means of a daily Bible study program, by residence in fellowship, by advancing to spiritual maturity.
People who vacillate in their spiritual life, people who are indifferent, people who are negative, people who play their little games with life, people who are negatively opinionated, and certainly those who have not believed in Christ, can not accomplish this pattern of life on their own.
There is only one means to heaven and that is through the Son, Jesus Christ. There is only one means to a good life, and that is through spiritual growth to spiritual maturity, which comes from obedience to Gods commands in doctrine.
Just as being saved and going to heaven is infinitely greater than not being saved and going to the Lake of Fire, so too the 'additional' blessings of spiritual maturity (blessings which only the mature will receive) are infinitely greater than the 'common' blessings that everyone will receive in heaven.
It is very easy to qualify for this special blessing, too. One need only engage in a daily bible study, be open minded, learn, apply what you learn to your daily life (being obedient to Gods commands), and consequently advance to spiritual maturity. You can use the checklist study (found on the web site index page) as a general guide to gage your compliance to the spiritual life.
What is at stake? Billions and gazillions of years of life in unbelievable prosperity and blessing. Blessing which is far beyond our imaginations.
Before you were born into this physical life, you did not exist. No one consulted you to see what kind of a life you would like to be born into. You had no say regarding the circumstances of your birth, nor the circumstances of your life. But now that you are alive, you know that you will be heading into the next increment of your life (the eternal phase) sooner or later. And God has given you through the use of your volition, the opportunity to define the circumstances of your next life.
How can anyone pass up such an opportunity?
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