Whose Wealth Is It Anyway?
New Series: Ready or Not
It deals with last words–the last words or stories Jesus told before He marches to the Cross.
It's as if Jesus says, “Wait! Before I go, you need to know this.”
Then he tells three parables that serve as the overarching theme of this series.
You don’t know exactly when death is coming—but it’s coming for sure. But that is not the only thing that is certain. There is one other thing. JESUS!
Jesus is coming–He knows He is coming, we know He is coming. We just don’t know when.
After Jesus gives some of the signs of the times in Matthew 24, he delivers His last seminar in Matthew 25.
- He chooses four topics for His discussion.
- Each topic is illustrated in three different parables.
- Today’s parable begins in Matthew 25:14.
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
-Matthew 25:14-18
Cause and Effect
We are saved by grace through faith, but where there is faith there is fruit! There is life change.
One area that significantly changes is what you are doing with the resources God sends your way.
When Jesus returns, He is going to ask you: “What did you do with the resources I sent your way?”
- Does your answer determine your salvation? NO
- Does your answer reflect your salvation? YES
Why? What captures your heart captures your resources.
Three Words to Consider:
First Word to Consider: Awareness!
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.
-Matthew 25:14
Question and Answer:
- Who is the Master going on the journey? God
- Who are his servants? You and me
- To whom does the wealth belong? God
- Are we owners or tenants? Tenants
When the Spirit of God gets poured into a person or individual, they move from owner to steward.
A person can receive only what is given them from heaven.
-John 3:27
Some are given more than others due to calling and capacity.
To whom much is given much is required.
-Luke 12:48
To whom has much been given? You and Me.
Have you come to terms with that yet?
Everything you are today is the result of:
1. God’s gifting
2. God’s sifting
3. God’s blessing
Whatever your ability or gift, Jesus wants you to see that:
- You may have honed some skills, but it all comes from the One who breathed life into you.
The overarching truth:
Everything you have has been entrusted to you for a purpose greater than yourself.
Ready or Not, Jesus is coming. His question will be: “What did you do with the resources I gave you?”
To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent, . . .
-Matthew 25:15
Dual Meaning of Talent:
1. Money, gold, economic insinuation
2. Talent, skill, ability.
Regardless of the skill and the reward, there is great power in awareness that it all belongs to God!
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.
-Matthew 25:14
The Ascension: Jesus goes away…
- He has entrusted his servants with bags of gold.
- When He returns His first order of business is to determine what the servants have done with His assets.
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.'
-Matthew 25:20
His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.
-Matthew 25:21
The focus is on the attitude of the servant, not the amount of the accomplishment.
The attitude of service; to take what the Master had entrusted and to expand it.
What is the reward? “You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.”
God is a wise investor.
Parables not only tell us what the Kingdom of God will be like in the future but also communicate what the Kingdom is supposed to be like now!
The man with two bags of gold also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.' His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!'
-Matthew 25:22-23
The second servant did the same as the first.
1. He expanded the wealth of the King.
2. He doubled the two talents he was given.
We are not given equal wealth, but we are expected to make equal sacrifices and investments with what God has given.
The Third Servant:
Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So, you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned, I would have received it back with interest. So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
-Matthew 25:24-30
The characteristics of a person who may look like a follower of Jesus Christ but is not.
- Their identification with Jesus is superficial.
- It does not involve genuine faith or regeneration.
1. He did not make an attempt to use the gifts God had given him for His master’s profit.
- There is no attempt to expand the Master’s kingdom.
- There is no genuine effort to invest his time and talents and money into Christ’s kingdom.
- He simply goes about his own life, living for himself without thinking about all that God had given Him and the responsibility he has to serve his master with his wealth.
2. He demonstrated his counterfeit allegiance by deprecating his master’s character, accusing him of being a hard man.
‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
-Matthew 25:24b
Insults to his master, showing he does not know Him.
1. "You are dishonest. You take whatever you want."
2. "You are unmerciful. You are not forgiving."
His erroneous estimation of his Master’s character was sufficient proof that his slave had no intimate or reliable knowledge of him. That slave portrays the unregenerate church member who has no spiritual fruit in his life and no spiritual worship in his heart. He is blind to the Lord’s kindness, grace, compassion, mercy, honor, majesty, and glory because he has never surrendered himself to the Lord’s sovereignty and grace.
He resented the fact that everything belonged to the Master and that he owed him anything!
He went on to tell the people this parable: 'A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.'
-Luke 20:9-12
Jesus is illustrating something: we have more than an indifference or apathy toward God–our hearts have a repressed hatred!
Why? Because we want to be the owners! When someone reminds of this, we get angry.
So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
-Matthew 25:28-29
Assets are transferred to those God can trust.
Those who are faithful will be entrusted with more.
Those who are not faithful, what they have will be taken away.
His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
-Matthew 25:21
There is a joy and happiness associated with the way you use the resources God has given you.
A true servant of God has an easy time giving money away because they know it belongs to God.
Second Word to Consider: Adventure!
The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.
-Matthew 25:16
Putting your money to work for things that come and go is not a good investment and not much of an adventure.
Contrast that with these thoughts… you give generously and:
- Children in the slums of Kenya are able to go to school.
- Children in Zimbabwe are saved one village at a time.
- Preachers in India have a training School: where they get housing, a bed, and food, before they give their lives.
Our primary calling is this valley.
Third Word to Consider: Apprehension!
Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid. . .
-Matthew 25:24-25
When you are not in the Kingdom of God, you see a separation between “your stuff” and “God’s stuff!”
But when you are in the Kingdom of God you see this: What’s mine is not mine if I am His!
The third servant is afraid because he does not trust in the goodness and provision of God.
I have asked this question all of my life: Why do those who claim to be Christ-followers refuse to use their resources for the kingdom of Christ?
Here are my conclusions based on the truth of Scripture:
One: They don’t know God.
They are religious but not Christian.
They don’t know the Master.
Two: They have never had a Jesus revelation.
What captures your heart captures your resources.
Greed surrenders to generosity at the point of conversion!
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, 'Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.' Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.’
-Luke 19:8-9
Paul wanted to motivate Christ-followers to invest in the Kingdom of God. How did he do it?
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
-2 Corinthians 8:9
Jesus gave up all His treasure in heaven in order to make you His treasure.
When you see Him dying to make you His treasure, that will make him yours. Money will cease to be the currency of your significance and security, and you will want to bless others with what you have.
To the degree you truly grasp the gospel, money will have no dominion on you.
Three: They are lazy and financially irresponsible.
His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So, you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned, I would have received it back with interest.’
-Matthew 25:26-27
They think conviction and action are the same.
1. They think the money will always be there.
2. There is no budget or intention.
3. There is no sacrifice of want.
4. There is no planning or consideration for anything other than what they want right now.
This is the reason Jesus begins this section with lazy and irresponsible bridesmaids who fail to make sure their lamps have oil for the return of the bridegroom.
Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
-Matthew 25:21
Those are the words I long to hear!
Don’t you?
Make a Decision