Be Faithful
#goals

Transcript

Good morning, church. Good to see all of you here. This morning we're continuing our series. In fact, we're concluding our series entitled Hashtag Goals. Hashtag goals.

We've been working on that for a couple of weeks now. We started first of the year because this is the time of the year when people set goals right. They think about what they want to do differently, how they'd like to set some new goals. And people want to be successful. We're Americans.

We want to win. And we believe in winning, being successful. These are the kind of goals we set. This year I'm going to be successful. This year I'm going to win.

And in spite of the fact that we give our children participation trophies, as soon as they grow up, they're just like us. Second places might as well be last place. First place. That's what I'm after. Success.

I want to win. But God's goals are different than the world's goals. He doesn't care about results. What he cares about is faithfulness. He doesn't judge us by our success and by our results.

He wants to know, what did you do with what I gave you? Were you faithful? In fact, he doesn't really care about your abilities because he gave you those anyway. He cares about your availability, not your ability. Will you make yourself available this morning in the prayer huddle?

We have a prayer huddle every Sunday morning for the worship team before we come on to lead in worship, because we recognize if God doesn't show up, nothing happens. You can prepare and do all the things, but only God can change a heart. And so today, a lot of us were limping a little bit. A lot of that coughing, cold stuff going around. And so our vocalists were all struggling a little bit.

Plus, Stephen, our worship pastor, is out of town this week with the dub. What's the Dub? Some of you are going, what is the dub? Well, it stands for WCC. It's a name of our youth group, the Dub.

They named it. I didn't. They think it's cool. The Dub is in DC. So if you are on Facebook, you've probably been noticing that our teenagers are in DC and they worked at a soup kitchen and providing meals.

And yes, parents, they washed dishes and cooked. When they get back, I want you to expect great things from them. They made themselves available and they were downtown. I saw some photos of them. They're downtown and they're talking to people about Christ.

And they're especially looking for homeless people and offering to help buy them a meal and to have a gospel conversation with them. So it's really stretching our teens, right? But what was their job? Show up, be available. And that's what God expects from us.

Faithfulness, use what I gave you. Now we're going to be in the gospel of Matthew today, and we're going to be in Matthew chapter 25, where Jesus is on the Mount of Olives and he takes a seat. And really chapter 24 and 25 is all, it's called the Olivet discourse. And it's him on the Mount of Olives. And if you have a red letter edition, then chapter 24 and chapter 25, it's all red.

This is Jesus talking to his disciples. And this just happens to be the Tuesday evening as he's taught all day in the temple. So that Sunday was the triumphal entry. He rode in on the back of a donkey and they waved palm branches. On Monday he cleansed the temple.

On Tuesday he taught all day. And it's Tuesday evening. And that's when this is happening. Wednesday he goes to Bethany. Thursday, last Supper.

Friday, crucifixion. This is the last week. This is passion week. Tuesday night when this is happening, he's telling them a parable. It's a well known parable, the parable of the talents.

And in this parable, he tells them his goal for them, that soon he's going to leave. And while he's gone, he wants to have them use what he entrusted to them, to be faithful with what he entrusted to them until he returns. And his way of teaching them about this is to tell them this parable. And I believe that we can be faithful because he's entrusted gifts and talents to all of us until he returns. So as we look at this, how can we?

Let's look for three principles that I believe Jesus teaches his disciples, and he teaches us as we hear God's word today. Turn with me, if you would, to the book of Matthew, chapter 25, verse 14. For it would be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them. And he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now, after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more. Saying, master, you delivered to me five talents. Here I have made five talents more. His master said to him, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little.

I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. And he also who had the two talents came forward saying, master, you delivered to me two talents. Here I have made two talents more. His master said to him, well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a little.

I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. He also, who had received the one talent, came forward saying, master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.

But his master answered him, you wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away and cast the worthless servant into outer darkness.

In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is God's word. Three principles for being faithful. As Jesus teaches, his disciples notice first of all in verse 14, for it will be like a man. What is it?

It points back to the context of the chapter. We have to go all the way back to the beginning of chapter 24, which is where the beginning of what is called the Olivet discourse takes place. What sets it all up? It's a question from the disciples. Look at Matthew 24, verse three, as he sat on the Mount of Olives.

That's why we call it the olivet discourse. As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, tell us, when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming in the end of the age? Why were they asking him about the future and the last days and his return? Why were they asking this? Well, here's what had happened.

As they were leaving. They'd been teaching in the temple all day long, Jesus had. And as they were leaving late that evening and they were walking out of the city, the disciples were going, look how beautiful the building. Oh Jesus, look at how beautiful the temple is. As the sun is just on that side, setting on it.

You see how it gleams? And they're just admiring the beauty of Jerusalem. I've been there. It is. It's beautiful.

It's beautiful. I've sat on the Mount of Olives and read this passage and thought about it. You can see, see, the Mount of olives is actually just almost equal, but maybe a little higher than the temple mount. And in between is the Kidron valley. So you have to walk down from the eastern gate, then up the Mount of olives, and you can see all of Jerusalem.

So they're sitting there, and he says to them, look, not 1 st will remain on top of another on that temple. You think that's something? It's all coming down. And they were like, they ask, well, tell us, when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming? So they got a lot of questions, right?

And so now, chapter 24 25, he's answering those questions. What's coming? That's where the parable of the talents falls. Here's what he's saying. The master is about to leave.

In the meantime, I'm going to entrust some things to you, and I want you to use them for me. That's the parable. That's the setup. That's why he's answering the question they're asking. Here's the first principle.

That's what it is. For the kingdom of heaven will be like a man. That's what it is. It's the kingdom of heaven. Recognize God's ownership.

This is the first principle. Recognize God's ownership.

Notice some things in verse 14. It is the kingdom of heaven. The man going on a journey is the master representing Jesus, who called his servants. His servants. They belong to him.

He called them. Has Jesus called you? If he's called you and you've answered the call, you belong to him. You're his. You no longer belong to yourself.

You belong to him. He called his servants and entrusted the word entrusted, literally in the Greek, it means from one hand to another. It passed from the master's hands to their hands, without any go between. He gave it to them. You see, all of us have gifts and talents and abilities that no one gave us but the Lord.

The Lord gave it to you. The Lord gave it to you. The Lord gave it to you. You're his. If you've said yes, you're his servants.

He's called you and he's entrusted to you. What his property. Doesn't say their property. It's his property. Who are you?

You're his. What about your stuff? That's his, too. That's what this is about. See, here's one of the problems for us as we wait for Christ's return.

Who does this stuff belong to? That's the first principle that we have to get right before we can live a life seeking Christ's goal for us. Which is what? Be faithful with what I entrusted to you. How are we going to be faithful if we don't recognize who's the owner?

This is the first. This is the difficulty for us. This is really the source of sin, is about ownership. Remember what God told Adam and Eve said, look, I have made everything for you. It's perfect.

Everything's yours. There's just one place I'm going to test your faithfulness. Don't eat of this one tree. That's the only rule. Everything else, it's perfect.

It's yours. And I love you. And I made all of this for you. I flung the stars into space. I hung the moon like the garden.

Everything's perfect for you.

And what happened? They were like, I got to have that. I want that. And so they took that which did not belong to them. And that's the fall of man, right?

And it's still in us. It's still in us. This desire to have and to own and control. I want to be God. That's the temptation that he gave Adam and Eve.

If you eat it, you'll be like God. You'll have knowledge and wisdom like God. You can take that. That's what we want. We want to be God.

We want to be in charge. I belong to me, and this is my stuff. That's how we think we're born. That way. You got kids?

Kind of. Get it with us. The youngest grandchild that we currently have at the combs, in the Combs clan is Ryder. It's my son Stephen's youngest, Ryder. He just recently started walking.

He was born with a full head of hair. We had to take him to the barber, like on the 8th. Know, like in the Bible. In the Bible, they're circumcised. On the 8th day, we had to circumcise his hair.

On the 8th day, I had to cut his hair. He's had like, five haircuts at the barber shop. The kid's got a great head of hair. He's got these little dimpled fists. And he loves me.

He loves his papa. He sees me, man. He will leave his mama to come to me. Caroline, is that not true? Are you back there.

He loves his popball. Now, we keep him. I say we. Robin keeps him on Thursdays and she'll put him in the high chair and she'll put, like, cheerios or something in the high chair. And he doesn't eat them like this.

He gets his hands full and he gets this handful and he eats them like that, right there like that because he's afraid that Papa might get one of them. I don't know why he thinks this, other than the fact that I do try to get them. They'd be sitting there and I'll try to get his cheerios. And so he can't just leave them laying there. I might get them.

So he gets them all and he tries to hang on to them. And he looks at me like, now try. So I do. And you cannot get them little dimpled, fat fingers like you get that one up and that one goes back down. And then you don't really want to eat it because his hands are all wet where he's been salivating all over him.

But I'm his papa, so I eat them anyway. And he looks at me like, I can't believe that you ate my Cheerio. He looks at his grandma and he looks at her like, papa took my cheerio. Like that. He doesn't realize he didn't work for them Cheerios.

Those are not his cheerios. I bought those Cheerios. They belong to me. That high chair he's sitting in, that's my high chair. I bought that.

In fact, he wouldn't even be here if I hadn't. Of me and his mama. I think she had a lot to do with it, too, come to think of it. Giving birth to Stephen, who's his father. He wouldn't even be here.

He owes everything to me. He's trying to keep them Cheerios from me.

What is that about him? It's in all of us, friends. It's in all of us. It's in all of us. We all want to keep our Cheerios.

And our little fat, dimpled fingers. We shake our fist at God like that right there. Come on. Come on. Let go.

Who's the owner? Who's the owner? Who's the owner? His servants, his property. And he gives to them one, five talents, another two and another one.

Now, what's a talent? It's a measurement of weight. Used in those days to weigh copper or silver or gold. And in a way, it was a denomination of money. As a result, it was about 75 pounds.

In modern measurement, that's heavy. A talent. If it were a talent of gold, it would represent about 6000 danari. A daari was a daily wage. 6000 days of wages, which would be equivalent of 16 and a half years of wages.

Now, I looked it up to see what the average american household income is. The US Census Bureau. 2014 was the most recent I could find. $73,000 per year. The average American.

Some of you are sitting there going, bummer. I'm not there. Others are. Yeah, that's. I'm above that.

I don't know where you are. It doesn't matter. It's the average. We live in eastern North Carolina. By the way, the income average in eastern North Carolina is below the national average.

It's one of the reasons it's harder to plant churches in eastern North Carolina. You have to be more patient, more persevering, and you have to work harder at it. But people out here need the gospel just like they do everywhere else. Amen. And we have to be more sacrificial as a result, because it is harder soil out here and people are in greater need.

But 73,000, let's just say it's 73,000 times 16 and a half. That's one talent. Did you see how I got there? 6000 Danari, 6000 days, 16 and a half years. If we took a talent of gold today, that'd be $1.2 million.

So the master gave one $6,000,000.01, $3 million. And the third $1.2 million. That changes this parable, doesn't it? The wealthy, wealthy master generously entrusted much wealth to his servants. Okay, try and get this story in our minds then.

This is all in verse 14. And then it says, then he went away. Verse 14. Then he went away. Here you go.

Here you go. Here you go. Like that. Then he went away. This master is surely generous with his stuff.

He's been away now for 2000 years. But he's coming again. He's coming again. He went away. The first move for us is to recognize do we belong to Jesus?

The first decision for us this morning is, do you answer the call of Jesus? Have you answered the call to be his servant? Then having answered the call, do you recognize now? You no longer belong to yourself. But as the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, you've been bought with a price.

You belong to Jesus. And not only that, but really everything belongs to God. Anyway. He made it. It's his.

Think about it. He spoke it all into existence. He's the creator. We're the creature. He made us.

He made everything. Look what it says in psalm 24 one. The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all its people, belong to him. Do you recognize God's ownership? This is a central issue.

There's no way to be faithful without recognizing who owns everything. God, you're the owner. If you'll make that move in your heart right now and say, I give you my life, it really belongs to you, but I tried to take it back. I was born with this sin nature that says, I want to be the owner, but I'm giving it to you. That's really the idea, I think, of coming to Christ is recognizing that I surrender my life to you.

And surrendering my life to you includes your stuff. It includes all that you are and all that you have. So it means not only do we recognize God's ownership, but we are called to faithful stewardship. God's the owner. I'm the steward.

God's the owner. I'm the steward. So then we read in one Corinthians four, two. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they may be found faithful. What's a steward?

A steward is a manager. Before I was a pastor, by the way, I'm a steward of this church. I'm the under shepherd. Jesus is the senior pastor. I work for him.

So I'm a steward of this church under him. Before that, I was a district manager for a drugstore chain, 20 stores in eastern North Carolina. That's what transferred me to Wilson from Roanoke, Virginia. I came down here as a steward, a district steward, a district manager of drug stores. And for twelve years I ran drugstores.

They told us, treat it like you own it. But they didn't want you to take it home without paying for it. They wanted you to treat the store like you owned it because they wanted you to take responsibility and be accountable and run it well. But at the same time, they didn't want you to forget. Yeah.

The stockholders own this company. You're an employee. You're a steward. Stewardship is recognized. Here's what John Maxwell writes about stewardship.

He says stewardship is utilizing God given abilities to manage God given resources to accomplish God ordained results. You're his servant. It's his stuff. Use it where he wants you to use it. What does this mean?

What does this mean? This means that every spending decision is a spiritual decision. Uhoh. I heard somebody say, uhoh. I felt that too.

I felt like when I was studying, I was like, uh oh, next time you're standing in line at the Walmart. Now, listen, I used to design this stuff. I helped run retail drugstores for years. You know that section where you're waiting in line to pay? And on both sides, it's got candy bars and magazines and all that stuff.

All that stuff right there. If you're in the retail business, that's called the impulse section. They mark that stuff up higher than anything else in the store. They know you're captured waiting in line there, and you'll go, you know what? I think I need that.

And probably, ooh, what's that about? I need that magazine. I need that. And then you bought everything else on sale, but they made all their money on you right there in the impulse section. Impulse?

But every spending decision, if it's God's money, is a spiritual decision. Now, sometimes I buy stuff for the church. If I buy something for the church, I have to turn in the receipt to the financial secretary. If I don't, she will say, Pastor Gary, I see here that you bought this, but you never did turn in your receipt. And I'm like, oh, my goodness, where's that receipt at?

And I have to give an account to the church because then the church has to give an account to the trustees that you appoint. And I work here, and I have to turn in receipts because I can't just buy something in the impulse section and say, you know what? I just felt like spending some of the church's money for that pack of gum. It makes sense when I know it's the church's money. But now this other money, that's my money.

Unless it's God's money. Then do you see how it changes the way you think? Every spending decision becomes a spiritual decision. That doesn't mean because God wants you to have food and clothing and housing. He wants you to have transportation.

He loves you. He gave you everything that you have. But he wants you to think about what he wants before you spend it.

Why? Because it's his. Because it's his. Every spending decision is a spiritual decision. Read the gospels.

Jesus talks more about money than he does about heaven or hell. Why is that? Because there's something about money that reveals the human heart, the way you spend your money. Ron Blue, who writes a lot about christian stewardship, he says, you can't fake stewardship. Your checkbook reveals all that you really believe about stewardship.

Now, by the way, millennials, young people, a checkbook is this old thing that the older people let one of them explain it to you. Anyway, your checkbook reveals all that you really believe about stewardship. A life story could be written from a checkbook. It reflects your goals, priorities, convictions, relationships, and even the use of your time. A person who has been a Christian for even a short while, they might be able to fake prayer.

They might be able to fake Bible study or evangelism. They can go to church and so on, but they can't fake what their checkbook reveals. You tell a lot about a person from their two books, from their checkbook and their date book. How they spend their time, how they spend their money. You tell a lot about a person, no matter what they claim to be.

Have you answered the call to be his servant, his steward? And if so, have you surrendered and said, I'm yours and sows all my stuff? Parents, here's a tough one. Have you given your kids to God? Some of you are like, he can have them.

Not talking about when you're in that state of mind.

I've had people judge those who've answered the call to be a missionary in our church and say, I can't believe that they're taking their little kids to go live in that foreign country. I would never do that, Lord. Something could happen to them. And if I overhear one of you say that when one of our families says yes to Jesus, you better watch out. That family has given their children to Jesus and they're safer there.

They're more in the center of God's will. He'll take care of them. They're answering God's call. You give your kids to Jesus. Give them back.

You're a steward. They don't belong to you, they belong to him. You tell them about who the Lord is and you surrender them back. You hold them loosely. Not like that.

You hold them like that so they can grow up to be like Jesus. Give them your spouse, give him your house. I like how that rhymed. Give him your spouse, give him your house. Give him.

I can't think of any more like that. Give him your car. Give him your stuff. Then when your car breaks down, you say, Jesus, you need to fix your car. Your car's broke down.

I don't know what you're going to do about it. Helps with worry, by the way. You get that anxiety. You get a little worried, how am I going to pay for this? It's God's.

It really does kind of help. Like God. I don't know what you're going to do about this. Make him the owner. And one of the reasons that believers tithe.

You know what a tithe is? It's giving 10% of your income back to God. You're not giving it to the church. The church is his local representation of his body. And so you bring the tithe into the storehouse.

It says in the book of Malachi, the storehouse, I believe, is the local church. But 10% of your income. Now, why do you do that? It's because only 10% belongs to God, right? Wrong.

It's because it all belongs to God. And the 10% is you by faith, saying, I believe it's all yours. And I'm giving back this percentage to show my belief that I'm not holding it with my little dimpled fingers, but I'm holding it like this. Here you go, God. So tithing is an exercise of faithfulness.

Now, I know some of you are mad at me right now, and that's okay. I'm just preaching God's word. And some of you are going to say, yeah, but isn't that old Testament law? Yeah, you're right. And we're set free from the law in the New Testament.

So now we can just sin all we want to, right, wrong, wrong. So tithing was a principle, and now in the New Testament, it should be the minimum, because we recognize that everything belongs to God. It's a starting place. Lord, let this church get serious about being generous so that we surrender all that we have to God so that we can reach this city, this county, eastern North Carolina, with the gospel. And we can't do it unless people are all in.

Are you all in here? I am, Lord. All I am and all that I have, it's yours. I know some of you are mad at me. The people that get mad at me are the people that are not tithing.

The people that are are like, yes, Jesus, yes, I'm all yours. If you're mad at me right now, you're mad at God. I'm just telling you what he says. Use what I've given you. That's the second principle, principle of usefulness.

Recognize God's ownership. Understand God's principle of usefulness. Look at verse 29. I'm going to jump all the way down because Jesus kind of pauses and gives a principle. He's actually given it to his servants, but especially to the one who dug a hole, to the one he gave one.

Verse 29 says, for to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. So the has has not is about usefulness. Notice the new living translation gets at this a little bit new living translation. Same verse.

To those who use well what they are given. See that? Just think about that. In the newly that has. Has the sense of usefulness.

To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do, nothing, even what little they have, will be taken away. So, this is the principle. You know this principle? You've heard this before.

Use it or lose it. Use it or lose it.

You want to get a bicep, you got to use it. You want a bigger bicep, you got to use it. Now, some of you, I'm jealous, because some of you guys are just born with the genetics, and you do one curl, and you have a big bicep. I don't know what the genetics I got, but I'm like a string with a knot tied in the middle. My arms and my legs are the string.

And you can figure out where the knot is, man, right here, right? And my grandfather, my father, my grandfather, and all those men before me, apparently, were built the same way. And so we can do all kind of curls. We get stronger, but we don't get impressive. Glad my wife loves me, anyway.

Use it or lose it. Use it or lose it. You want friends? Be friendly. So, friendship, you want wealth?

Invest. Don't spend. Invest. You want to build something up? Work.

Work with your time. Invest. Pour out. Give. The Old testament says, cast your bread upon the waters.

Put your stuff at risk.

When we're talking about talent here, remember I said it's a measurement of weight. It usually has to do with money. Certainly Jesus had money in mind, because he said to this one, you should have at least put it in the bank and got my money. Some interest. So, we know he's talking about money, but I think he left it.

He didn't say gold, silver or. Or copper. Because he wanted to leave it a little bit vague. So then we could say he might be talking about time, talent, or treasure. So, your time, we all say, why don't have enough time?

We got the same amount of time that everybody else does. Why don't have enough talent? Well, some of you got five, some of you got two. And some of you got one. God's not saying, ooh, you're the best one, and you're not quite as good.

He's not going to say that because he made you. What is he looking for? He's not looking for the results. He's looking for. Are you using what I gave you?

Have you ever seen parents and grandparents. I was talking about Ryder a minute ago. But this is true for all my grandkids and all my kids. Have you ever seen them? When the little one finally takes the first step?

Now, by the way, I'm walking right now, and none of you are applauding. I mean, I'm up here. And if you knew how bad my knees were, you'd say, like, man, he's getting it done up there. Nobody's applauding. My wife never gets up and goes, that's beautiful, honey.

Are you walking great? She never does that. She does occasionally say, why are you getting up so slow? She does say that occasionally. Nobody applauds me for walking.

But, boy, the first time one of those grandkids walked, we all turned. I mean, like, whoa. And the kid falls down because it scares them. You're like, scares the kid to death. What is that they're using?

They're taking the first step. We love them. We don't care. We're not sitting there going, if you were really good, you'd be jumping and running by now. Like, I'm telling you, that's nothing like what I can do.

No, we're like, you can do it. You. That's how God is. He loves you. He made you use what he gave you.

Take the first step. Take the first step. Take the first step. Take the first step. And then the second step, sow it.

Put it out there. Put it at risk. And then it grows. Then it increases.

Don't dig a hole and bury it. Use it. Look at the contrast between the faithful steward and the slothful steward. I'm going to go fast, but hopefully we can pop this up on the screen and help you fill in those blanks. Especially you type A's who cannot leave a blank unfilled.

It'll kill you. So we're going to try to get them filled for you. But notice the faithful servant. Faithful steward, verse 16. It says, he went at once.

In other words, he had a sense of urgency, a sense of initiative. The minute the master gave it to him, he went at once and invested it. But then, look at the slothful servant. He dug a hole in the ground. Verse 18.

He had no initiative, no sense of urgency. You know what? He probably thought to himself? I'll put it back there. Maybe I'll get to it later.

Then he forgot about it. The faithful steward, verse 16. It says, he traded with what the master had entrusted. In other words, he worked with it. He put it at risk.

He put it out there. He could have lost some of it. But he wasn't afraid, because he knows the master in a certain way, and he knows that the master didn't give it to him to hang on to it. He gave it to him to use. He didn't give it to him just for himself.

He gave it to him to pour out. But not the slothful servant says, verse 18, verse 25, he hid his talent. In other words, he put no work or no effort into it. The faithful steward. Verse 16 says, he made more.

In other words, he increased, he grew. The slothful servant, slothful steward. Verse 24. He says of the Lord, he says, I knew you to be hard. In other words, he was full of excuses for why he didn't use what God had given him.

Verse 21 and 23. The faithful steward, the Lord said, you're good. You're a good manager. But to the slothful, he says, I was afraid. In other words, he was fearful, not faithful.

Fearful, not faithful. Fearful, not faithful. How many of us? You're not faithful because you're fearful. I don't know if I have enough for me.

I'm afraid somebody will laugh at me. I'm not good enough. Take that baby step. The Lord will applaud. Don't care about the others.

The faithful steward, he was faithful. Verse 21, verse 23. He was reliable, he was dependable. But the slothful servant was wicked and worthless. He was a bad manager.

He was a bad steward. The faithful steward was faithful over a little. Verse 21 and verse 23. In other words, he does the little things. He does the little things.

I remember when I first started working after I graduated from college, I went to see my uncle, and he was the vice president of the bank of Virginia at the time. And I went to see him and graduated. You know, any vice for me? I'm going to work for this corporation. He says, son, you do whatever they tell you to do.

If they say sweep, you be the best guy sweeping. If they say clean the toilet, you clean the toilet. Because if you'll work hard and you'll do the little things, they'll promote you. And he was right. He was right.

He was right. Do the little things. Do the little things. But what about the slothful servant? Well, it says, he was slothful.

Verse 26. He was lazy, unambitious. He was a slacker. Have you seen that commercial on TV? I hate this commercial because it's so blue.

It's like a sloth hanging on this thing, drawing a line like that. I'm like, man, they put that thing on the TV all the time. He was like a sloth. And then finally, the faithful servant got promoted. The Lord said, I'm going to set you over much.

You were faithful over a little. I'm going to set you over much. But what about the slothful servant? He lost it all. He got fired.

He's going to take it all away. So that's the contrast between these two servants. Here's what God wants. He wants you to be like a river, not a reservoir. Like a river, not a reservoir.

How many of you seen me do this? One hand open to God, one hand open to others, like a river. Let it flow to you and through you to others. You can dam it up on either end. One is, you can try to say, I'm the owner, and you can shake your fist at God.

Then you won't have any of his entrusting worth poured out to you because you haven't received it. But if you receive him and say, okay, but then it can. Just like that. And then you're not pouring it out, he can't give you anymore until you. So you got to be like this.

You got to be like a river, not a reservoir. Right. Luke, chapter six. Jesus said this, give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over will be put into your lap.

For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. So get yourself a bucket. Stop using a thimble. Get a bucket. As you pour it out, it'll be poured out to you like a river, not a reservoir.

First, Peter. It says this as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's very grace. Andrew Murray, the author and speaker, wrote this. He says, the world asks, what does a man own? Christ asks, how does he use it?

The principle of use. The principle of use. I've read a story. It may be legend, but it sounds like something that may have happened in Britain. During World War II, Britain faced a critical shortage of silver, and Winston Churchill, the prime minister, was looking for silver, and he put out the word where they could find it.

And they found out. They discovered that the churches were filled with sterling silver saints. And so Churchill put out the word to the churches. He says, well, I think it's time to put the saints into circulation. Well, I agree with that.

I think it's time that we saints get into circulation. Get out there and circulate. Get out there. Be useful. Stop just standing like a statue in the church.

Get out there. Are you putting your stuff into circulation. Can you sing? Can you play an instrument? Well, yeah.

Have you told anybody? We need you. Can you teach? By the way, I don't know what's going on here, but you people are bringing a bunch of kids in this place. I need to look out in the parking lot.

I'm always in here working. I don't know what you all driving, but I'm thinking some of you are driving a bus. We got like three kids to every family. Some of you are bringing in five and six. I don't know what's going on.

We need some help teaching them because they learn better than you. We need more teachers. They're more open minded than you. We need some good teachers. Can you teach?

After the first service, I was just kind of asking people, what's God given you? And a person met me in the lobby. It was the first time visitor. They introduced themselves and they said to me, they pulled me in close, and he says, by the way, I'm really good at HVAC. And I'm like, you shouldn't have told me.

Don't you all want to know who's good at HVAC? You want to know a doctor, a dentist, an auto mechanic, and somebody good. I mean, don't you have a list like that? He heard the message, first time visitor. Let me tell you what I'm good at, what God's made me good at.

What are you good at? Are you using it for the kingdom of heaven? Number three, live for God's approval. Live for God's approval. Notice, verse 19.

It says, after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. Do you believe that Jesus is coming again? It's been 2000 years. He's been gone a long time. But someday, according to this parable, he's going to come and settle accounts.

He settled accounts with them. To the first two, the ones who had invested their life. He said, well done. Oh, my goodness. Don't you want to hear that?

Oh, my goodness. Don't you want to hear the Lord Jesus look you in the eyes? I want to hear Gary, well done. Well done. He's not going to judge me based on my results.

He's going to judge me. Did I use what he gave me? Did I pour it out? Or did I leave a whole bunch of it in the tank? As we get older, I'm getting older.

Some of you are getting older with me. When we first planned the church 26 years ago, I was about the oldest guy in the church and I was 33. We attracted all these teenagers and 20 somethings. And a lot of you have stayed with us. And now you're 50 somethings and 60 somethings along with me, right?

And you start thinking things like this. And I know you think it because I think it sometimes, too. I've done my due. It's time for the young people to pick up the slack. I used to teach.

I used to serve. I used to do this. I'm going to step back a little bit and leave room for the young people.

What you going to say to the master when he comes back and says, what'd you do with what I gave you? Now you're burying it in the backyard? I already did it.

How do I know that I'm supposed to still be using it? You might ask. Well, here's the quick answer. Are you still here? If you're still here and he hadn't called you home, then you're still supposed to be investing what he entrusted to you.

Some of you are so filled with godly wisdom because you've been a believer for a long time. Don't hide your light under a bushel. We're living for God's approval. We want to hear well done. What does he say to these faithful servants?

First of all, he gives them his approval. He says, well done, good and faithful servant. I want to hear that. I want to hear that. I'm a firstborn of four kids.

Man. I love approval. I've made the mistake through the years of seeking man's approval. But no longer. I don't seek the world's approval.

I want to hear God. I want to hear the applause of one. I want to hear Jesus say, well done. Well done. The second reward that he gives is promotion.

You've been faithful over a little. I'm going to set you over much. He promotes faithful over the things he's entrusted to you down here. Someday in glory, someday in the future, he's going to put you over much. You'll be over the angels.

Don't say, when that person that you love passes away. Well, he got his wings. That would be a demotion. I'm talking about a promotion. The Bible says that the saints will judge the angels.

You're part of the body of Christ. You're not going to become an angel. You're a saint. And then finally it says God's celebration. He gave him approval.

He gave him a promotion. He gave him a celebration. Enter into the joy of your master. We're getting ready to have a banquet. We're getting ready to have a party.

But then what does he say to the slothful servant? First of all, let's notice how the slothful servant gave his report. Master, I knew you were hard. He thought the master was hard. He didn't recognize he was full of grace.

He thought God was mean.

And he said, God, you have unfair expectations. You reap where you do not sow. And I knew that.

And so I was afraid, and I hid what you gave me. That sounds just like the garden of Eden, where they hid from God. After what he had given them, they went and hid. Why are you hiding? That's what sin does.

It makes us afraid. It makes us hide. It gives us. The slothful servant had a wrong view of God's character, a wrong view of God's justice, and a wrong view of God's expectation. He just wanted him to receive it and use it, and he buried it.

You know, in a way, he might be talking about Jesus here. What'd you do with Jesus? We're Americans. We've all heard the gospel. It's everywhere.

There's somebody preaching on every radio station. Did you bury it, or did you claim it as your own? Did you decide to be one of his servants? What does he say to him? Who gives this report?

What does the master say to the slothful servant? He says, you're wicked. You're slothful or lazy. He says you're dishonest because he says, you knew that I was hard. He's being a little bit sarcastic here.

He's not agreeing with him. Well, then you should have done this. You should have put it in the bank. So he's accusing him of being a dishonest person. He says, you're worthless.

And so he takes his talent from him and gives it to the one with ten. He says, cast this one out into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. And this is an ongoing description of a place of eternal destiny for the ones who are far from God and have never received Jesus. A place of eternal existence called hell.

Called hell. That's what he's saying. This servant was not his, because if he would have been his, he would have been faith full.

We keep reading. How do we know what the meaning of the parable is? Because he tells us. We keep reading. It says, when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another. As a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep on his right, but he'll put the goats on his left. And then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who are blessed by the father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison, you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drinking? When did we see you, a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?

And when did we see you stick or imprison and visit you? The king went to him. Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. Yes. What is he talking about here?

He's saying, if you're really mine, if you're really part of the flock of sheep, because the goats and the sheep mixed together, but in the end of time, he's going to separate the counterfeit. The people who were playing like they were Christians, they were pretending they're just hanging out at the church, but they were really goats. But the real sheep are the ones that are going to pour it out. And you are the ones who fed the hungry, visited the sick. You're the ones who were the church.

That's when you did it for me. But then he turns to the ones on the left and it says, then he will say to these, depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me naked, you did not clothe me, sick and imprisoned, you did not visit me. Then they will answer, saying, lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick in prison did not minister you.

Then you answer them, saying, truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to the one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment and the righteous unto eternal life.

Are you faithful? If you're a follower of Jesus, you'll be faithful, and you'll seek God's approval and not man's. Galatians 110 Paul says, for am I now seeking the approval of man or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Are you seeking God's approval? Who's the owner? God. What's his principle of the stuff he's given us? Use it or lose it.

Pour it out, put it at risk. Who do we serve? Whose approval do we seek? Not man's, not the world's, the Father's. The approval of the one.

The most important gift of all, the greatest treasure that he's given us, is Jesus. What will you do with that? Will you bury that message? Or will you sow it first in your heart and then in the hearts of others? Let's pray.

Lord, thank you for Jesus.

Thank you for the message of the gospel, the good news that we can be yours. Really, we always have been yours. You made us. But we tried to be our own master, our own owner, our own God. I'm praying for the one right now that's in this room right now.

And the Holy Spirit is stirring your heart. And you want to surrender your life to Jesus. You can do that right now, right where you are. That's the Holy Spirit calling you. He's calling you to be his servant.

Will you say yes? That's your part, to say yes. How do you do that? Just right now, praying a prayer of faith, believing in your heart. Dear Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.

I believe that you did, that you were raised from the dead on the third day and that you live today. I believe that. Would you come into my life, forgive me of my sin. Make me the person you want me to be? I give you my life.

I give you my all. I want you to be my master. I want to be your servant. If you'll pray that prayer in your heart, believing, then today you begin a new journey of saying yes to Jesus being his follower, his servant, his steward. Others are here today, and the Holy Spirit's convicted you in so many ways.

Would you right now repent and say, forgive me for those places where I've been holding back, those places where I've hid or been afraid or accused you, Lord, wrongly, of being unfair, that you gave her more than me or him more than me, instead of just using what you gave me. Lord, forgive me and help me today to give all I am and all I have back to you. In Jesus name, amen.