Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from The Book of Matthew.
Matthew 25:14-30 (KJB) 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.
This is a passage about being faithful with the things that you have been given by God. Sometimes people might win the lottery, or others become the recipients of a huge windfall. Perhaps they will receive a large unexpected gift of money, or receive a huge inheritance. But whatever you might receive in this temporal world, God expects you to be faithful with the things that have been given to you by Him. Let no man say that they got these things of their own accord, otherwise God might strip them away from you and leave you penniless.
James 4:13-16 (KJB) Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
One time I met a man who told me that when he died, it was going to be far worse for him than he ever had it in this present world. This is because he had wealth and riches beyond compare, but knew very well that he loved them much more than God. Many people don’t understand that nothing happens in our lives without the Divine intervention of God. Some people can spend an hour making an invention and make a billion dollars because of it. Some people can spend an afternoon designing a special type of tool, and by the time they are twenty five they are millionaires. Why does God do these things? It is because He is watching to see what people do with the things that He has given them. Is it a test? Absolutely! When He blesses you with finances, you had better make sure that you are faithful with them because the misuse of them, and storing them up all up for your own self pleasure, is condemned by God.
James 5:1-6 (KJB) Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
God gives people wealth to see what they are going to do with it, but many people will love their possessions more than using what they have been given to help out their poor neighbor.
Matthew 19:21-25 (KJB) Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
Is it wrong to double your money? Not according to our study passage, but as a God fearing Christian, you must understand what the purpose of making money is all about, which is to serve God by giving to the Servants of Christ who are preaching and teaching His Word, and reaching out to the poor and the destitute of this world. You must remember that it is the Lord’s money, and He has granted you to have it for a period of time, but He is watching to see how you make use of it. If God gave you a million dollars today, and you used it to make 5 million this week, would you use half of that extra money to help others? Zacchaeus did, and was blessed because of it
Luke 19:2-10 (KJB) And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Many people are not going to do anything beneficial with all of the money that they have been given by God. They will simply bury it in a savings account somewhere, and be too lazy to do something good with their wealth. God expects a return, and when you give to the things of God, He can give it right back and prosper your investment. But on the other hand, many people are not going to do anything with what they have been given, and will eventually reap the same consequences as,….
…….The Slothful Servant
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
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