The Faithful Christian’s Service

First Peter, we find ourselves
in chapter four and we’ll get there in a moment. I want to
begin this morning just by kind of speaking from the heart. The events of this week have
done something concurrent in my own heart. I, as most of you
know, have the privilege of doing the devotion and being on the
board at Olive Tree and being a participant there and so many
of the programs. And as I said on Friday night,
to those of you who are here, it is one of my highest privileges
to be able to open the word to 60 to 80 little children and
just to to to teach them from God’s word. What a what a glorious
privilege. And I know that in and of myself,
I don’t deserve that. I know that it is only by the
grace of God that I have been equipped and placed in this position
and given such opportunities. But the thing is, I guess what
it’s done to me this week, together, as I said, with this passage,
is bubble up something that is that has been gnawing at me for
some time. I am broken hearted for this
family and I am absolutely devastated at the loss of a set of eyes
that just looked and drank in every word that I had to say
there during those devotions. And that is my personal confidence
that she is at peace with Christ even as we speak. But what it bubbled up is that
there are a lot of people who are on the sidelines. And there are some people that
aren’t even on the sidelines because they’re not even in the
stadium. There are some people who live
as if they have a thousand lifetimes and once I finish this project,
then I will serve the Lord. who will happily sing, O to grace
how great a debtor, daily I am constrained to be, and they are
content to do nothing.” And people, I am not looking to single out
anybody. I’m looking out over the landscape
of 20 plus years of walking with Christ in ministry. And I’m speaking
primarily to men because for the most part, the women of the
church are active, are energetic, are endeavoring to serve the
Lord. It is the men that so often at the very best are on the sidelines.
I am weary and I believe that I see here in Peter’s passage
a weariness with people who are on the sidelines. People who
are careless to Christ and His people, who are casual about
the church and its needs and indifferent to what’s going on
around them. It is what I would call a practical
disdain for the church and these from the people who from the
testimony of their mouths would give the most glorious and zealous
testimony for Christ. Yet, practically speaking, it
seems that they have a disdain for Christ’s church and his people. In my years of ministry, I’ve
seen arrogant men that because they can’t have it their way
or can’t do what they want to do, then they go to the sidelines. I’ve seen more than my fair share
of lazy men who profess energetic faith in Christ and would acknowledge
all the things that we acknowledge of what Christ has done for them,
and yet are absolutely lazy. They’re so addicted to entertainment,
they can do nothing in the service of Christ. Nothing. I’ve seen
too many men distracted and therefore unavailable. Distracted by business
and distracted by everything but that fleeting opportunity
that we have that may not be there tomorrow. I’ve shared this
so many times, I’m sure it’s a worn out illustration. It’s
Doris, my illustration of the one who would have served Christ. Doris was a manager in one of
the apartments when I was a pool cleaning seminarian. And I walked
in and struck up a conversation with Doris. And in time, I found
out that Doris was a Christian. I also found out from the testimony
of Doris’ own lips that she desired to serve Christ. She was going
to be a Sunday school teacher one day. And then one day, Doris
was out sick. Had a headache. Two weeks later,
I came back. She was still out. The headaches
had sustained. They weren’t going away. It turned
out that Doris had a brain tumor. They operated on the brain tumor,
but Doris never returned to work. She died about three months later.
She never served Christ in that capacity anyway. I’ve seen far
too many men unfaithful. who have been given a very clear
stewardship from the Lord, a sacred trust, who squander it at almost
every turn. By even the way that they look
at the Word and the way that they speak of Christ, I’ve seen
sin. I’ve seen too many men caught
up in sin that takes them completely out of the ministry. Perhaps one of my least favorites is I’ve seen
critics. Critics who counted a ministry. To come in and do
nothing more than to sit on the sidelines and to backbite those
who are in trying to make the place. And I tell you, that’s
what I see. That’s what I see in this passage
in front of Peter. That came from his heart and
his pen. And he calls out to you and me and he says, you know
what? It is the last hour. It is the 11th hour. You have
a few more minutes left to serve Christ. What are you going to
do? Go back again with me, if you
would, to this passage, 1 Peter chapter four, and let’s pick
it up again at verse seven. Where Peter said with no hyperbole,
the end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be of sound judgment
and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent
in your love for one another because love covers a multitude
of sins. Be hospitable to one another
without complaint. As each one has received a special
gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the
manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, let him speak
as it were the utterances of God. Whoever serves, let him
do so as by the strength which God supplies. So that in all
things, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom
belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. I’m not going to go back because
I’ve got a huge passage in front of me. I’m not going to go back
and repreach what we preached last week. He says it’s the 11th
hour and there ought to be a commensurate intensity. As I said, so many
people live like they have a thousand lifetimes to dedicate to Christ,
and they don’t even know that they have tomorrow. Don’t tell
me what you’re going to do in the future. Don’t tell me what
you’re going to do once you get trained. Don’t tell me what you’re
going to do in the days to come. What are you doing now? What
are you doing tomorrow? If the Lord wills. Peter said
the end of all things is at hand. It isn’t the end of souls. It
isn’t the end of God. It isn’t the end of time even
in God’s calculation. There are things that are eternal.
It isn’t the end of God’s Word. But the end of opportunity is
near. The end of the privilege that you and I have to serve
Christ is fleeting. When I thought about Sarah this
week, I shared on Friday night with some folks that, you know
what, even if no other child listened to me all year long,
I know that my words were for that child. And that that child,
this is what always amazes me, it is always a humbling, humbling
thing to be bedside with a saint as they go home to be with the
Lord, to pray with somebody and then a week later, Learn that
they’ve died. What a humbling thing to know
that that person to whom you ministered now stands in the
presence of the Lord. The end of all things is at hand.
Therefore, Peter says, be of sound judgment and sober spirit
for the purpose of prayer. The urgency of the hour should
affect our head. It should change the way we think.
It should change our focus, our perspectives. Our affections. It should change us. We should
know that we don’t have forever and that we must rise and do
something. Secondly, Peter says the urgency
of the hour should touch our hearts. Keep fervent, he says, in your
love for one another. In that passionate love that
should be so infectious in the church that that is the testimony
to the lost as they look out. And before they ever hear your
words, they see how you treat one another. And in that, this
church is an exceptional example. Not only that, the urgency of
the hour should affect our head, it should touch our hearts, and
we saw that it should open our home. And I told you if there
was any H that I could change, if I could think of a cooler
word, this is the one I do. I’d change it if I could. Be
hospitable to one another without complaint. And immediately, because
of my words, you think of your house. That boy, I really need
to have somebody out over for lunch next Lord’s Day. And that
is such narrow thinking. And the next time I preach it,
I’ll change it, even if I have to make it not an H. It’s not just about opening our
home. It’s not just about having people
over for dinner. It’s about ministering to people
with everything that we have, which brings me to point four. The urgency of the hour should
move our hands, and this concludes that sermon. And if you will,
there are notes below that will take us into the proper depth
of this passage that it so deserves. The urgency of the hour should
move our hands. But as I said before, the sad
thing is that it doesn’t. Here’s Peter practically pleading
with people to get in the game, to serve the Lord in some capacity. From a structural standpoint,
the passage is simple. Peter just says employ it. And
it’s even that it’s a participle employing it, using your gifts.
He assumes that you’re going to be using it and he doesn’t
state it in the imperative. He assumes that as those who
have been touched by Christ and saved by Christ and gifted by
Christ, that we’re going to rise up and serve others as we have
been so abundantly ministered to. The word, you know it, it means
ministering or serving. It is the word from where we
get deacon, diakoneo, serving, to serve. That’s the word. It’s
used of deacons, but it’s not talking about deacons here. Don’t
think that you can shrink back into the pew and say, well, we
have elders. Where are our deacons? We’ll
talk more about that in a moment. Peter just says serve. People
serve. Serve one another. Use your giftedness. Get busy for the Lord. I remember In those solemn days
following 9-11, probably months later, they interviewed on one
of the news channels a freshly, I don’t know what you call it
in the military, graduated sergeant ready to go over to Iraq to serve
his country. And they were talking to him
because this guy came from just the ordinary walk of life. He
wasn’t a career military guy. As soon as 9-11 happened, he
saw his own call to service. He enlisted. He stayed in training. He rose up through the ranks
and became a sergeant. And off he was going to serve
his country for Iraq. And the news person was just
amazed and impressed with such duty to country. And he said,
you know, I don’t expect everybody to follow in my tracks. This
is the call that I’ve heeded. But you know what? Everybody
can stand up and do something. You know what? That’s exactly
what Peter says here. You may not be the pastor of
the church. I’ve heard that excuse so many
times it makes me ill. I really can’t serve yet because
I haven’t been to seminary. Stand up and do something. Have the humility that if it
doesn’t work out, you’re being redirected by the Lord and stand
up and do something else. We have been called, people,
not just to service, but to faithful Christian service. Service is,
I mean, it’s simple. It’s deeds on behalf of others. Faithful speaks to how we do
it. Are we doing it as unto the Lord? But it’s Christian first
and foremost. It’s all the while we cannot
forget the fact that we have been touched by Christ. That
we’ve been saved. That we don’t even deserve to
be here if it weren’t for Christ. I want to give you five particulars
here of ministry in the church. First of all, Christians serve
because they are gifted. You see, you didn’t even need
to go to seminary for that, right? This isn’t rocket science. Look
at the page. Look at verse 10. As each one
has received a special gift, employ it. Put it to use. That little word, as, in the
Greek, in whatever quantity or quality that Christ has bestowed
upon you. Whatever the form of the gift,
whatever the quantity of the gift, whatever way Christ has
equipped you, serve. And what he’s talking about there
is the particular and special spiritual enablements which has
been graciously bestowed upon you by Christ. And it’s been
done so so that you can serve Him in ministering to the church. You know what? There isn’t a single one of you,
if you are truly in Christ, have been left out of that equation.
There isn’t a single Christian who’s ever really come to Christ
in faith who’s been left out of some kind of gift or another. And whatever gift or talent any
of the Lord’s people have, They are supposed to be used
for God’s glory and the service of the church. The word here
is a form of the word grace, and it speaks to that undeserved
gift of God. There isn’t a one of us that
deserves anything. But the fact that Christ gives
us gifts when we come to faith, the fact that He would use us
at all It is astounding. And people
don’t misunderstood here. He isn’t talking about all the
what we call, you know, spooky gifts. You don’t have to be worried,
you know, if somebody finds out that you have a spiritual gift.
They’re all spiritual gifts, but he’s not talking here necessarily
about healing and miracles and prophecy and tongues and interpretations. He’s talking about how God put
you together, how He’s equipped you, how your mind works, how
your heart works, your abilities. All of those things come into
play. You say, well, you know, you’re really stretching this
passage. If you would please turn to the book of Ephesians,
chapter four. I don’t know how long we’ll spend
here, but I wanted you to turn nonetheless. In verse 7, Paul introduces this
thought that Peter is just alluding to here. Verse 7 says, One of us. To every believer
that has ever truly come to Christ, to every believer, to each one
of us, grace was given. We didn’t deserve it. God wasn’t
in some way obligated when you came to Christ. It is a magnanimous
privilege to serve Christ in any capacity. To each one of us, grace was
given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. In other words,
he is the one that determines sovereignly who would get what
gifts and in what measure. To each one of us, grace was
given according to the measure of Christ’s gift, therefore,
it says when he ascended on high, he led captive the host of captives
and he gave gifts to men. And Peter or Paul there is interpreting
that Old Testament passage. Skip down, if you would, to verse
11 or rather to 14. That essentially, he said that
we’re all gifted in the church, and as a result of that, verse
14, we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves
carried around by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery
of men, by craftiness of indeceitful scheming. But speaking the truth
in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the
Head, even Christ. So there’s our goal. Not one
of us is perfect. Not one of us has arrived. There’s
much work to be done. But he speaks of Christ. And
with that, Paul goes on one of his beautiful and classic little
rabbit trails. He speaks of Christ from whom
the whole body, that’s you and me, being fitted and held together
by that which every joint supplies. That’s us. According to the proper working
of each individual part. And there is the question. Is the joint, are you supplying
Are you doing your part? Is it according to the proper
working of each individual part? Because if it isn’t, the church
is to a degree broken and lame and sick. All Christians are
gifted to participate in building the church. What a beautiful
and glorious concept. And the fact that there are men,
countless men from the last 20 years of my ministry who I can
see sitting on the sidelines, if they’re even in the stadium
at all, is sickening. It’s sickening. To each one of us, grace was
given at the moment of conversion. According to the measure of Christ’s
gift, all are gifted had been in varying measures. In 1 Corinthians 12, why don’t
you go ahead and turn there. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul turns
his thoughts to addressing spiritual gifts there. Now, mind you, he
is here talking about those gifts that are so prevalent in the
early church. But it’s giftedness nonetheless. And in verse 4 of chapter 12,
Paul says this, Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same
Spirit. There are varieties of ministries,
and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects,
but the same God who works all things in all persons. Every
person is gifted. But to each one is given the
manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. It is the Lord
working in and through us all. We’re not all doing the same
thing. And he goes on to detail that, as we’ll see in a moment.
God is the one that decides who gets what gifts. No matter how
hard or how much you want to be the one who sets up the chairs,
if it isn’t your gift, it isn’t your gift. And people, you would
smile at the analogy, but there are people who, you know, fumble
at certain tasks in the church. That’s fine. Let them stand up
and do something else. And it’s okay even to fumble,
isn’t it? It’s okay even to struggle. God is the one who sovereignly
gifts Christians. One Puritan said it this way,
it is pleased the Lord to dispense his gifts variously among his
people, giving to some more talents and to some fewer and different
measures of the same gifts to several persons that all may
know that all fullness is only of himself. Only God has everything. Only God is perfect. And that
everyone may make use of that gift or degree of gift in another
which themselves lack. In other words, we need each
other desperately. The Lord has given different
measures of the same gifts to different persons. You may not
realize it, but I have the same gift as John MacArthur. just
in a much smaller measure, with a much narrower ministry. But it’s the same gift. Others
have a little bit of this gift and a little bit of that gift,
and it’s all according to the Lord’s pleasure. What is the purpose of gifts
anyway? Why do we have these gifts? Paul in Ephesians said it’s for
the equipping of the saints. You say, well, you thought that
was my job. Well, it’s our job. We all are used in the equipping
of the saints. The furnishing of a house is
literally what is meant there for the work of service. We’ll
hear that word again. To the building up of the body
of Christ. Christ gave all these various
gifts to the church to teach, to train, to ground fellow Christians
who are themselves gifted. It’s essentially that we gift
each other up and then set each other free to serve. And he did so because he wanted
all believers to see the church built up. That’s certainly why
I’m here. That’s why you’re here. All believers are supposed to
be in the process of being trained. The beautiful image from the
second chapter of Titus pictures us reaching down, doesn’t it?
To pull somebody up, all the while reaching up, being trained
ourselves and sharpened by others. Paul said in Ephesians 4.16,
he closed that little section when he said, from whom the whole
body being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies. That’s what causes the growth
of the body. When everybody’s working properly, they are the
ones that provide their part in the contribution of the building
of the body. The image that comes to my mind
of this is the symphony. I can remember going not a lot
of times in my life, but a couple of times. Cultured guy going
and sitting in the symphony. And if you go, you have the privilege
of hearing them warm up, which isn’t well, maybe not a privilege.
Squeak and lots of sour notes and and even any one instrument,
even when it’s tuned properly, is just kind of empty and And
then they all come out together, and they’re all warmed up, and
they’re all tuned, and they’re all ready, and they do one last little
adjustment. And then the conductor begins. And it may start with maybe just
a lone violin over here, or who knows, an oboe, or a tuba, or
whatever. I told you, I’ve only gone a
few times. And then it begins to go. And
it begins to play this incredible sound that everybody’s doing
something different, not even all playing the same notes. That’s
why you want to talk about personal preference. That’s why I love
hymns. It isn’t just the theology of the hymns. The choruses, they
tend to only have one tune, right? Whereas a hymn, it’s got all
these different parts and I don’t know how to sing any of them.
But when I hear a couple of people, somebody singing this and somebody
singing that and we have this beautiful unity in diversity. That’s what it is. That’s what
the church is called to be. No wonder Calvin said it this
way. They therefore are insane who
neglect the ministry of the church, who hoped to be perfect, perfect
in Christ, as is the case with fanatics who pretend secret revelations
of the Spirit and the proud who content themselves with the private
reading of Scripture and imagine that they do not need the ministry
of the church. Did you hear what he said? If
you prefer to go up on the hill and read your Bible by yourself
and call that church, you’re crazy. That’s what he said. Romans 12, Paul said it as well.
Just as we have many members in one body and all the members
do not have the same function, so we who are many are one body
in Christ. We’re all functioning differently.
We’ve all been equipped differently. We’re all serving differently.
But it’s all for the glory of God and it is beautiful. And since we have gifts that
differ according to the grace given to us, let us each exercise
them accordingly. Let’s stand up and do something. Paul is using the illustration
of the body. It’s the most basic element to
growing and maintaining a healthy body is eating. Right? Isn’t that the most basic element?
Even a child, an infant needs to eat. Now, follow me on this.
Unless the mind desires the food, and that’s where it all starts.
Whether it’s, I don’t know what gland or what muscle it is that
happens, but it happens. Unless the mind desires the food,
the body goes hungry. and ultimately dies. Unless the
nose smells the food and the eye sees the food and the feet
move toward the food and the hand takes up the food and the
mouth receives the food and the stomach digests the food. And
unless the heart disperses the nutrients from the food, the
body withers and dies. People, we need each other desperately. All hands on deck is essentially
what Peter says. Secondly, I said there were five
particulars of ministry in the church. Christians serve, first
of all, because they are gifted. Secondly, Christians serve others. Now, I realize this one is highly
technical. Don’t try this at home. And I say that tongue in cheek.
It’s as simple as can be. As each one has received a special
gift, employ it in serving one another. That’s who we serve.
We are supposed to put our God-given gifts to work for others. None of the Lord’s people have
received any gift from Christ that is just for ourselves alone.
I mean, can you imagine me going and studying and exegeting a
passage of Scripture and then just sitting there and meditating
on it for the rest of my days? I’d explode. But the whole goal is that we
would glorify God and build up others in the process in the
utilization of our giftedness. We’re servants. We’re servants
of God. It’s exactly what Paul called
himself. Even the passage at hand, faithful
Timothy, that was read here this morning where Paul found faithful
Timothy to go and dispatch to others. He’s a servant. Paul said, you know what, do
you want to call me something? Second Corinthians six, four,
rather call us servants of God, as servants of God, we commend
ourselves in every way and endurance and troubles and hardships, distress. Paul didn’t leave it there. He
knew that in order to perpetuate the church throughout the ages,
it would require everyone. All hands on deck. Galatians
5.13, you, my brothers, were called to be free. Do not use
your freedom to indulge in sinful nature. Rather, serve one another. Serve one another in love. Paul’s
own testimony in Romans 12, he said it this way, for through
the grace given to me, he’s speaking of the same thing. He says at
one point, I was a hopeless, helpless sinner. And all of a
sudden, God reached down and touched me and ministered to
me and changed me and he equipped me. For through the grace given to
me, I say to every man among you not to think more highly
of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to have sound
judgment as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. Turn to that passage, if you
would, Romans chapter 12. Let me read verse 3 again. 4.
Through the grace given to me, I say to every man among you
not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think. Years
ago, I read that little… I think I’ve shared it with a
couple of you from time to time. Everybody likes a somebody. Some even like a nobody. But
nobody likes a nobody who thinks he’s a somebody. Do you get the
point? That’s exactly what Paul’s saying
here. Somehow we have this one little gift and we think that
we are superior in the church. Paul says, keep it in perspective.
You don’t have anything that God didn’t give you. And when
God came to you, you were nothing, you were dead in your trespasses
and sins, but we are to think so as to have sound judgment
as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. Look at verse four.
For just as we have many members, have you heard all this before?
It sounds to me like the apostles are repeating themselves over
and over again, just as we have many members in one body and
all the members do not have the same function. So we who are
many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.
And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace
given to us, let us each exercise them accordingly. And then he
goes into this grand list. If prophecy, according to the
proportion of his faith, of his service and his serving, or he
who teaches in his teaching, he who exhorts in his exhortation,
he who gives with liberality, he who leads with diligence,
he who shows mercy with cheerfulness. Paul says, get in the game. Peter, in our passage, says,
get in the game and serve others. Thirdly, the third particular of ministry
in the church. Christians serve not only because
they are gifted, they serve not only others, but they serve as
faithful stewards. Look at verse 10. As each one
has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another
as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. We don’t use that word anymore,
do we? When we’re hired on for a job, they don’t say, your title
is steward. But that’s what you are. You
don’t own the company. You don’t own the pencils in
the box. You’re a steward. You’re a steward
of what the owner possesses. You’re a steward of what the
owner entrusts to you. Paul used this word of himself.
First Corinthians four one, so then men ought to regard us as
servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things
of God. I love my brothers that I serve
with who speak of of the of the ministry in those terms, some
of the men from fire and others who speak of the ministry as
this sacred trust which has been given to them That isn’t theirs
to squander and do like however they feel. It’s a sacred trust, it’s Christ’s
ministry. We’re just filling the pulpit
for a time. Paul uses the same word of elders. It’s a sacred trust. Titus chapter
one, verse seven, since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work,
he must be blameless, not overbearing, not quick tempered and so on.
It’s a sacred trust. It’s not his ministry to do however
he pleases. You know that some of these places,
this is what really gets me out in the world. You know, in some
of these places where I go in to do my thing, my tool thing,
I walk in and this knucklehead that probably hasn’t even been
with the company six months says, well, this is my store and I’ll
run it my way. OK, you can have it. It’s not our ministry, men. People,
this isn’t our little domain. This is Christ’s church and He’s entrusted
it to us. with a solemn obligation. When Puritan said it this way,
he said, the Lord’s people are not to look upon themselves as
owners of any gifts they have so that they may make use of
them at their pleasure. But as stewards, remember, this
is what I said. People have a practical disdain
for the church. They want to come and go at their
own leisure. They want to use their gifts
even when it’s convenient to them. That’s frightening, that’s frightening
people. We are stewards, we ought to
use them according to the mind and the direction of the giver
of them, using them seasonably, that is at the right time and
with discretion, considering the various personalities of
the rest of the family. and faithfully as those who must
give an account how they have employed all that they have received.”
Oh, now, wait a minute. You see, a steward was one who
was not only placed in something that didn’t belong to him, but
when the master came home, he was going to have to give an
account of what he did with it. He was going to have to detail.
Well, I did thus and such, master. And people, every one of us,
every single one of us, it isn’t just the pastors of the church.
Every single one of us has been given a gift. And guess what?
Every single one of you one day is going to stand before the
Lord God and detail how it is you put to use those gifts. This strain of thinking in which
we find Peter’s thought here is really just the same command
throughout that he’s been dwelling on. It’s love in the use of our
particular talents and gifts and skills and ministries. And
they are to be regarded, he says, as sacred trusts which are committed
to us as stewards to be used for the benefit of others and
for which we will render an account eventually. One pastor said it
this way. He said the Christian has to
regard himself as a steward of God. He himself might be a slave,
but his master’s goods are in his hands. The steward knew well
that nothing in of the things over which he had control belonged
to him. I mean, it’s an unthinkable thought. The thief. He knew they didn’t
belong to him. They all belong to his master
in his ministry administration of them. His one duty was to
consult his master’s interests. And in everything he did, he
was answerable to his master. The Christian, likewise, must
always be under the conviction that nothing he possesses. Wait,
that can’t be right. The Christian must always be
under the conviction that nothing he possesses, material goods,
personal qualities, is his own. Everything he possesses belongs
to God. He must always use what he has
in the interest of God as God would use it. He is always answerable
to God. Such was one of the greatest parables
that Christ told. the parable of the talents, right?
Let me give you the context of the
parable of the talents. While I’m preparing to do that,
turn to Matthew chapter 24. What he’s calling them to is
faithfulness in view of the coming of Christ. Are we being faithful? Here in the midst of the Olivet
discourse, look at verse three of chapter 24. He was sitting
on the Mount of Olives. The disciples came to him privately
saying, tell us, when will these things be? What will be the sign
of your coming? What will be the sign of the
end of the age? Jesus proceeds to respond to their question,
he says, don’t be misled. Verse four, many will come in
my name saying I’m the Christ and will mislead many. Skip down
to verse 12. Because lawlessness is increased,
most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures
to the end, he shall be saved. He speaks of it again in verse
14. The end shall come. Therefore, be discerning. Verse
15. Why? And I want you to skip all
the way down to verse 38. For as in those days or as in
those days which were before the flood, they were eating and
drinking or marrying, giving in marriage until the day that
Noah entered the ark. And they did not understand until
the flood came and took them all away. So shall the coming
of the Son of Man be. I mean, it’s not like he’s going
to write you a memo, right? And say, you know, I gave you
that gift in Haven’t seen a whole lot of return on it. Could you
go ahead and put that to use and see what we can do in the
in the fleeting days that come? Therefore, verse 42, be on the
alert for you do not know which day your Lord is coming, but
be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known what
time the night was, the thief was coming, it would have been
on the alert. He would not have allowed his
house to be broken into. And then skip down all the way
to 25.13, if you would. In the parable of the ten virgins,
the parable there teaches wisdom and prudence. And it ends with this thought
in verse 13 of chapter 25. Be on the alert then, for you
do not know the day or the hour. He repeats the same thought of
Matthew 24.42. Be on the alert, for you do not
know which day your Lord is coming. And then he says this, verse
14, For it is just like a man about to go on a journey who
called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. And
to one he gave five talents and another two and another one,
each according to his ability. God never gives you gifts without
opportunity, without the equipping, without the ability to serve
him. It would be patently unfair on
the part of God himself. He doesn’t do it. You don’t have
anything that you can’t employ for God’s glory. This talent sometimes trips people
up. It was spoken of as a it was
a coin. In the early English translations
of the scripture, they didn’t know what to do with it, so they
just translated it straight across, transliterated it rather. as
a talent. And from all that, we’ve got
all these, oh, she’s such a talented pianist and a talented this and
talented that. He’s speaking metaphorically
here that there are sometimes gifts given. It isn’t necessarily
a talent. God sovereignly gives differing
measures of grace, different gifts to different people, which
we all have the capacity to use. But look at verse 16. Immediately,
the one who had five talents went and traded with him and
gained five more in the same manner, the one who had to receive
the two talents gained two more. But he who received the one talent
went away and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. He’s a steward. It isn’t his
money. It isn’t your gift. But I’ll tell you, I’ve seen
far too many Christians professing Christians who went out and dug
and hid the gift and the skill and the talent and the equipping
of God in the dirt. Far too many. And the master returned in verse
19. Not long after, long after the
time of the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with
them, and God will do the same. The one who had received five
talents came up and brought him five more talents and said, Master,
you entrusted five talents to me. See, I’ve gained five more
talents. His master said to him, well done, good and faithful
slave. You are faithful with a few things. I will put you
in charge of many things. Enter in to the joy of your master. What beautiful words. And don’t
we all long to hear those? Verse 22, The one who had received
the two talents came up and said, Master, you entrusted me with
two talents. See, I’ve gained two more talents. His master
said to him, well done, good and faithful, save you are faithful
with a few things. I will put you in charge of many
things. Enter into the joy of your master. And there was a third. And the
one also who had received the one talent came up and said,
Master, I knew you to be a hard man reaping where you did not
sow, gathering where you scattered no seed. I mean, he almost begins
to accuse God. And doesn’t the critic, doesn’t
the critic who sits on the sideline, doesn’t the one who never ventures
to exercise his gift do the same thing? I was afraid and I went
away and I hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what
is yours. Give it to somebody else is essentially
what he says. But his master answered and said
to him, you wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I
did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you
ought to put my money in the bank. And upon my arrival, I
would have received my money back with interest. Therefore,
take away the talent from him and give it to the one who has
10 talents for everyone who has shall more be given and he shall
have an abundance. But from the one who does not
have even what he does have shall be taken away and cast out the
worthless slave into the outer darkness in that place that should
be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus says here in all this that
his return is going to be sudden and unexpected, and when he does,
he is going to have an accounting. He’s going to call all of his
stewardship into an account for how we put to use our giftedness. We don’t all have the same grace.
We don’t all have the same gifts. But we all have gifts. We all
have opportunity. We all have ability. And we all
will give account. Let’s examine our hearts before
the Lord. Oh, merciful God, we thank you for
your mercy with us. that you look down upon us and
saw sinners who brought nothing to the table, no talent, no skill,
no personality, nothing inclined your heart towards us that was
in us outside of Christ. But father, upon saving us and
beginning that process of sanctification, you placed in us the spirit And
you gave to us gifts for the purpose of serving your body. God, examine every one of us.
For those who so faithfully roll up their sleeves and spiritually
serve Christ, commend them, encourage them, bless them because of it.
For those who get on the sidelines, Father, convict them. Change
their hearts while there’s time that they too may be used of
Christ for your glory. It’s in Christ’s name that we
pray. Amen.