085: Glen Wright - You Have the Talent

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   Welcome to the Good Christadelphian Talks podcast. I'm Levi. And I'm Chris. Thank you so much for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help each one of us get the Bible in our daily news feed. We post at the start of each week for you to listen with a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you're about to hear. And now let's hear more about this week's talk. Our class this week is by Brother Glenn Wright from Melbourne, Australia. This is an absolutely excellent class on the parable of the talents. The title is You Have the Talent.

2. 0:58

   Brother Glenn presented this class at the International CYC, which is a pretty cool thing that's happening organized on Facebook. And it's a Zoom call with CYCers from all over the world, mostly like the States and Australia because of the time. And so you'll hear that this is just the audio portion of Brother Glenn giving that presentation on Zoom. He distills the parable of the talents in such a good way, kind of walking through it, doing a great study, but talking about how our discipleship needs to be motivated by love and not fear and focused on gain and not preservation.

3. 1:50

   And those two phrases really struck home with me. And I think he supports that through the study of Matthew 25. There's many, many good points in this class, and he is a really excellent and easy to listen to presenter. I really enjoyed this. I'm very excited to share it. If you or you know someone who would be more, who would be interested in the information on the International CYC Zoom class, it is every Friday at five, I think it's five or 530 Pacific time. And, and I'd be happy you can get in touch with us. We'd be happy to, to put you in touch with the people who organize, organize that.

4. 2:29

   But in the meantime, here is the class which anyone, anyone would enjoy from Brother Glenn Wright. You are the talent. No worries. Thanks very much. I hope everyone can hear me. All right. I've let it join you from Australia this morning. It's a beautiful, it's a pretty beautiful morning down here. It's a little overcast, but it's not too bad. You'll have to forgive perhaps what I look like. I finished work at three o'clock this morning. And if some of this doesn't make sense for you, you might know why.

5. 3:10

   And there's another thing too, in this house right now, there is four children. And they're all behaving very, very well. But this place is like a minefield. It could pop at any moment. So if you hear any kids or see me having to sort of do some ninja stuff, don't worry about it, it's just me keeping the kids under control for the next half an hour or so. Okay. So we just had that reading of the parable of the talents. It's quite a dramatic story, isn't it? And I've chosen to look at this just briefly.

6. 3:46

   And for me, just so that you're where I am at the moment, this is a bit of a journey for me, this idea of talents and the whole conversation, this whole conversation about what am I actually doing has started because of this virus, this lockdown thing. And I don't want to dwell on that too much because we're all obviously very aware of it and living the restrictions at the moment.

7. 4:13

   But for me, once I was sort of forced into a lockdown and isolation circumstance, excuse me, I began to think to myself, well, I've got this time, right? I've got time now to do something. What is it that I'm doing? So I sort of started making a list of all the things that I tend to be busy with. And there are a lot of things. I sort of had this long list of places that I would go from here to there. And whether it's with the boys, I'm busy with the boys, you know, or the kids, or I'm busy with Chrissy, or we're at the meeting here. And then, of course, she's thrown at work six days a week. And it's very, very busy. And of course, a lot of this has taken away. And I started looking at how am I profitably using my time? And there's a huge conversation here. It's really about how you use your time, what's profitable out of that, and how you measure that profit too, whether that's for you, or maybe running an exercise in your life where you look and say, well, how many of the things that I'm truly passionate and driven about and use my talents for are for me, or they are for God, as we just heard in that meditation, about living your life every single day for Jesus Christ? How many of the things that you're doing with what you're good at are for him? And this spare time has given me a lot of cause to stop and think about what I do with my talents, and how does that relate to both my passion, and how does it relate to me serving God?

8. 5:56

   Because quite often we can use perhaps our talents for ourselves. And this story really sort of sheds a bit of light on a few of these things. Now, we're going to go through it sort of verse by verse approximately. It won't be comprehensive. And by all means, if there's things that you understand about this parable, send them to me. I'm sort of working, this is a rolling journey for me to sort of go through this idea of talents and use of those in the service of God. So I'm really interested to hear everyone's opinion, if they have one, if you want to email or something like that, and we can get some dialogue around it, because I think it's important we talk about these things. And let's face it, we've all got plenty of time at the moment. So that's sort of where this conversation for me has come from.

9. 6:47

   And there's a couple of things out of this that I'd like to challenge you to think about afterwards, right? Think about the idea of gain or preservation. So this story is about those two things. It's about two men that presented gain back to their master when he returned. And there's about a man that went down the preservation road. Gain and preservation. So he has buried, as we know, we're going to see in this story, and he's put it away. He says, well, I'm going to preserve that. But it hasn't actually brought anything forth, anything useful for the master, has it? Whereas the others are about gain. We have gained more for you. We have put these things into action for you. So think about, in respect to some of the things you're good at, whether it's your talent, right? Think about whether you are driven for gain for the master, right? To furthering God and his purpose and the message out there, or whether it's about preservation, whether it's about, you know what, I'm going to take that, just put it away. There's one little thing that might make a difference as we go along.

10. 8:01

    The other thing, too, is clearly this has to be about what you know of God. The way you look and understand God will determine the outcome of this story in your life. No more clearer than that. 100% it will. Because this man, the one that puts his talent in the ground, the one that goes for preservation of his God-given talents, he professes to know God. He says, I know you, master, right? I actually know you. And did he know it? Well, no, he didn't. We're going to see that a bit later.

11. 8:41

    So just think about how well and what image we have of our God in our lives. So that's that one. Sorry, just one moment. Yeah, you wouldn't believe it. Someone's knocking on the door. I'll sort them out later. Okay.

12. 9:26

    Oh, yeah. That better? Sorry, guys. All good. It's all right. We're holding them together over here. Don't worry. All right. I'm not sure where I got to, but Matthew chapter 25, verse 14 is where we're going to start. Okay. So if you want to open up, we're going to start Matthew 25, verse 14, work through verse by verse, and just pull some of the themes out. If you've got questions or you've got input, by all means, write them down at the end. We can talk about them or you can send them to me or anything.

13. 10:10

    I'd love to hear some people's feedback on some of the things contained in here. So Matthew 25, verse 14, it says, For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who call his own servants and deliver unto them his goods. By the way, I'm using King James, but I will break it down into easier to understand language as we go through.

14. 10:40

    So he's travelling into a far country and calls his own servants, delivers them his goods. There's a couple of phrases in there which we need to sort of identify that couch and seat this story. And obviously we know that Matthew 25, this is right before the Lord will shortly be crucified, won't he?

15. 10:58

    So this is sort of right at the end. He puts in here the parable of the virgins and the parable of the talents, right? And this is all about watching and hanging on to what he is leaving behind for them and putting it to good use. This is like a warning here in Matthew 25 for them.

16. 11:16

    So the first word I want you to see is called in verse 14. You see that? It says, This kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country who called his own servants, right? So called his servants. So you've got to understand that the context of this story takes place inside the calling.

17. 11:39

    This is not people that don't know the master or do they? So we think. But they are familiar to the master, right? So this is within the house. We have been called of God, haven't we? All of us have been called by God. If you want to put a quote in, you put in 2 Timothy 1 and verse 9 next to that.

18. 12:05

    I'm going to read you 2 Timothy 1 verse 9. You have a listen to this. I think this verse is fascinating. It says, Who have saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works. But, so why have you been called? But according to his own purpose, it says.

19. 12:29

    To his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. So you have been called, right, to a purpose. And what is that purpose? It's God's purpose which is carried out in Jesus Christ. And it says, from when? How long has this calling been on the cards for you?

20. 12:50

    Do you know how long it's been? Before the world began. And we're probably familiar with that verse in 1 John that says that God loved us before we even were. Right? So from a very long time ago, this calling and this moment that has been described here in verse 14 has been prescribed for you and for I.

21. 13:14

    We are called not to our own purpose but to his. So this sets the story because the master now calls these servants for his purpose. That's what it's there for. It's for his purpose. And how do you know that? Because he delivers, it says in verse 14, unto them what? He delivers them his goods.

22. 13:40

    So his servants called for his purpose and he delivers to them his goods. This story is about him. This is about him. Right? Really interesting that we sort of get these basics around it. You see how the story can change if we don't maybe lay that little foundation at the beginning. So we emphasise that this is about him.

23. 14:10

    In fact, there's another parable which I won't run through. But you would remember the story of the parable of the barns. You remember that guy? Right? So he had the parable of the barns and he stands there and he says, oh, looks around his fields. He says, what am I going to do with all my stuff?

24. 14:25

    I'll tell you what I know I'm going to do. I'm going to pull down the barn that I've got and I'm going to build something bigger. And he gets carried away in running around and heaping up all of his possessions. Right? And when you follow this story through, he actually says in Luke 12, he says, what will I do with my fruit?

25. 14:45

    And the fruit is the hard work of all his labors. He says, what am I going to do with my fruit? And then as he goes through this conversation, he goes, I know I'm going to build a place for my fruits and my goods. So there's a progression of thought there. It no longer becomes about the fruit that he's garnishing out of the fields, but also the goods.

26. 15:07

    Right? He's starting to invest his money into this life. And the progression of thought is he starts thinking, well, what am I going to do with everything God gives me? Then he goes, well, with everything God gives me and the things that I want, the goods, I need to build a bigger barn.

27. 15:24

    And, you know, that story ends up and it says, now, he said in verse 19 of Luke 12, he says, now I'm going to take some time off because I have much goods laid up in my barn. There's no fruit to be seen. And we might think, well, what does that even matter?

28. 15:43

    Right? Here's a man who's obviously talented. We're talking about talents. And there he is, he's out in his field and he's reaping and everything else. Well, when we talk in Matthew 25 about this being his goods, him delivering unto us who he has called, the whole thing being about him. Do you know how this parable of the barn starts?

29. 16:03

    It says, the ground brought forth plentifully. And do you know who owns the ground? I'm not sure if you've checked lately, but it's still the same person. He owns it, doesn't it? That entire story, every bit of success that that man enjoyed came from one place, the ground belongs to him. Same principle here.

30. 16:29

    He called us for his purpose, not our own, and delivered his goods to us. So in verse 15, it says, and he gave five, unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one. Every man, according to his several ability, and straightway took his journey. Now, this is where, this is always great for discussion.

31. 16:55

    Maybe afterwards you want to talk amongst yourselves about why five, two, and one. Why didn't everyone get the same amount of talent? I think it's a bit unfair, right? You're going to meet people, and you would already know people, exceptionally talented people. You know those people you meet where it's almost like there's nothing they can't do?

32. 17:17

    Pretty frustrating to be around sometimes. It's like, what can't this girl or guy do? My goodness, you know? And there we are. I feel like, you know, you get handed the two or the one. Well, there's a couple of things we need to just remember inside of this. We won't go too far in here, but just remember this.

33. 17:36

    Number one, you need to know it's inside that verse that every person got one. You've got to remember that. I know that's a simple little thing. You know, true knowledge and understanding of the fact that every person has been given a talent, that understanding will tie you through if the Lord remains away.

34. 18:00

    I'm not kidding you. It will. Because you go through moments and ups and downs in your life, and sometimes you feel you don't have maybe a great motivation about you, a great self-esteem. You look around and think, well, what can I do? And this is sort of part of this conversation at the moment with isolation.

35. 18:17

    But you're sitting there, perhaps in your room or your lounge room. It's nighttime, daytime, wherever you are. And after, you know, the first few weeks, it's kind of a novel idea, isn't it? Being locked away and everything else. Two months later, this is not novel, right? We're now sort of sitting here thinking, well, what can I do?

36. 18:37

    And in fact, now that I've got restrictions on me, what am I good at? What can I take and offer my young people, my meeting, my family, my brothers and sisters? How is it that I can pull together what my calling is and God's purpose in me now from these restrictions? So it's important to remember that every servant here, all three of them received one.

37. 19:02

    We all have received something of God. We absolutely have. Now, why five, two, and one? Well, I don't know any significance behind the numbers. Perhaps there is, but I'm not aware of it. But what I am aware of is a couple of words in here that we need to just highlight, perhaps. The one is to every man according to his several ability, right?

38. 19:28

    Now, he knows these servants. Remember we said that this master knows these servants. So if he knows these servants, and we read that quote that said that God knew you from the foundation of the world and all those sorts of things. When you start thinking about that, this man knows his servants and their abilities.

39. 19:51

    If we look and place ourselves in this story, God knows you and your abilities. He created you, right? And he knows what he... When you look at this entire story, this is about a return on an investment. So the master is giving them a talent, and he's looking to gain from it, isn't it?

40. 20:13

    Not have it preserved. He's capable of preserving it himself. He's looking to gain on that investment, and he does from those two. So when he looks at us and he's going to give us these abilities and these talents, he's going to apportion them in the right place in order to get the most return on that investment.

41. 20:33

    So for example, I'm not a businessman. I'm a carpenter by trade, right? So if you give me a couple of bits of wood, I'll make you a lovely table, and that's great. You'll get a return on what you give me. No point in giving me millions of dollars to invest in the stock market.

42. 20:51

    I'm not going to make you money. I'm going to lose you money, right? I will lose you money because I don't understand it. So if you put yourself in the master's shoes and you had these talents, and interestingly enough, they say a talent is probably worth about $1,000, for example. Let's use that.

43. 21:10

    It was a form of weight. It was used as well. A talent was the heaviest sort of weight that an average man could carry. So it was used to weigh things and all that sort of stuff. But if you think, if this was your money and you wanted to make sure that your goods were looked after and the investment you made kept progressing and people were making money for you so that when you came back, you could pick up where you left off, you would think long and hard about where you put it, would you?

44. 21:43

    You would absolutely do that. And that's what he's done here. He has given to every man according to his several abilities. And the point is, I guess we are going to meet people that have more abilities than others. It is a fact of life, isn't it? Whether it's in your career, whether it's at university, college or the like, or in the ecclesia as well, we will meet those people.

45. 22:08

    And we do. And we're blessed to have exceptionally talented people in various areas. But the point is that we all have a talent. We were all given one from God. And it's about finding what that talent is, which we'll chat about a little later. So, and off he goes on his journey. And look, we know the story in verse 16.

46. 22:31

    He that had the five, he went and traded the same, it says, and made another five talents. Very clever person. In verse 17, and likewise, he that received two, he'd also gained the other two. So he has done the same thing. But he that received one went and digged in the earth, it says, and hid his Lord's money.

47. 22:54

    So he, this chap with the five goes off and makes five, right? It's quite interesting when you start thinking about success. We would look at that verse and suggest that that is massive success, isn't it? Because he has literally doubled what he's been given. And you can watch some of these people. I know one or two from work.

48. 23:19

    And even in the meeting, there's some pretty clever people that I know. And everything that they do, they've got the Midas touch. You know, they've got these abilities in certain areas, whether it be business or they're well-spoken. And they're sort of magnetic individuals. And then, and they seem to be able to have success with every single part of their lives.

49. 23:41

    They're really, really amazing people. And it got me to thinking, well, how do I measure success? Because I know how the world measures success. And that's in the form of money, first and foremost, isn't it? And popularity, but primarily a good indication of someone's success is in the financial means, isn't it? But what if we were to stop and think about how does God measure that success?

50. 24:12

    If I asked you, how does God measure success? Is there somewhere where you would be able to take me? Because you've got to remember what was his definition of success at the end. The master said, the Lord of the house said, well done, good and what? Faithful servant. You want to know the currency he trades in?

51. 24:33

    That's the one, isn't it? So if God measures success in that sense by our faith, where would we go to perhaps have a look at that? I don't know if your mind's ticking away or thinking maybe James. But that's where my mind went in James because James chapter 2 and verse 14 uses even some of those typical words.

52. 25:01

    What does it profit? In verse 16, he says, what does it profit? Right. So James is talking in language that the Jews understood this first century ecclesia. They understood this language. Well, they're talking about he steps into the air world and says, I know you know about money. I know that it makes all sorts of sense to you.

53. 25:21

    So he says, let me put it like this. What does it profit, my brethren? Though a man say he has faith and has not works, can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked or destitute of food, and one of you saying to them, depart in peace, be warmed and filled, notwithstanding, you give not those things which are needed to the body.

54. 25:40

    What does it profit? He said, what good is it? He said, even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. So we see faith driven works here by the first two servants that are mentioned. They received the five talents and it says, and went and traded the same. And likewise, he that had received the two gained also another two.

55. 26:06

    In fact, there's great interest in one word in there in verse 16. You see that word went. That word went literally means to traverse or travel.

56. 26:20

    Why do we bring that up? Because in verse 18, he that received one, he also went. But guess what? Different word. It's a different word. There's two different words there. That word in verse 18, for he that received one, it says that word and went, that word went is to depart aside or behind.

57. 26:43

    There is two fundamentally different directions. These people go in, in the first instance. These two that go off and demonstrate their faith by action, demonstrate their faith by action. They go out and it is rewarded in that they gain another five talents and another two. This man, though, demonstrates what a lack of faith.

58. 27:10

    Now, a little later on, you'll see that he's described as being a lazy person. He's a lazy person, but he's not too lazy enough to be able to go and dig it in the ground. And off he goes and he digs it in the ground, but he's in entirely the wrong direction. It means to depart aside or behind.

59. 27:27

    So you can imagine as the three men are there and the talents are laid out in front of them. The master says, here you go, according to your abilities. And now I must go on a long journey because he's going to be away a long time. It says that in verse 19. He's away a long time.

60. 27:44

    So he lays it all out and off he goes. And literally, now that we've explored into this, you can see the first two, one with five talents, one with two, they pick them up and they go that way. And the one with one goes that way. That's what the words tell us, don't they?

61. 28:02

    One traverses or travels, they're in action, moving forward. The other one departs aside or behind. And look what he does. He that received one went and he digged it in the earth. He digged it in the earth. Well, that word dig there is a very, very interesting word. It occurs three times in the Bible.

62. 28:27

    Here is one of them. The other two places both speak of the same thing. Matthew chapter 21 and verse 33 and Mark 12 and verse 1. And those of those references have to do with the same exercise. And you won't believe what it is. It is digging a wine press. That this is all about digging of a wine press.

63. 28:55

    In fact, if I turn that one of them up at least, Matthew 21, verse 33, a few pages back. Where are we here? Yeah. So there was a certain householder which planted a vineyard and hedged it round about and digged. A wine press in it. Mark 12, verse 1 tells you the same thing.

64. 29:20

    Now, I find this sort of thing incredibly interesting because you might say, well, he's just going to dig in the earth, it says, and he's going to hide or hid, hid away his Lord's money. The word hid there means to conceal away. Right? So he's going to conceal it away. This is his plan.

65. 29:42

    To dig in the earth and conceal away. Did you notice the expression there in verse 18? Whose money? His Lord's money. Just another little reinforcement that that talent belongs to God in your life and mine. And this man's decided to preserve it and stick it in the ground. And he has digged, it says in the text there.

66. 30:09

    The word dig means to burrow. Right? So it actually means to burrow. And so if we look at where else it's used, we get these two opposing ideas. And you just follow it through. There is a man that is going to, has a God-given talent. And he watches his two co-servants go this way.

67. 30:30

    And he himself goes off to the side. Why? Because not only is he lazy, but he's got a picture of his master in his mind already, which we know what that is. He's a hard man, remember? And he's unfair. That's how he looks at his master. So he decides to go this way.

68. 30:48

    And he goes out and he burrows in the earth. Right? He burrows in the earth and puts it down there. Now you take the other mention of this word digged. And what is it? It's a vineyard. Now, why does the keeper of the vineyard burrow in the earth? You know why he does it?

69. 31:14

    He digs himself a wine press. He digs himself a place to make and store his wine, doesn't he? He digs it and stores it down there. And if you've ever been to a cellar or you have a cellar in your house, you'll know the best place to keep it is at that ambient temperature.

70. 31:35

    Right? So that's where you, he is going to dig down there and create himself a place to press those grapes and to put them in barrels, preserve them up and put them in the ground. See that the dramatic difference between the two men is that one is burying his talent directly in the ground and covering it over because he doesn't want to do anything with it.

71. 31:57

    He's too lazy. The other is burying the fruits of his labors with his talent. And there is gain for God, isn't there? You see that there is gain for the master because he's taken his talent. He's gone out there and he's had to plant the vineyard. He's had to tend to the vineyard and he's stayed up late during the night, harvesting those grapes and he's takes it down into the wine press and he presses it.

72. 32:25

    And now he's burrowed down there and he's got a place to store up the gain for the master. When he gets back in time, you see the point, the difference between the two, one put it in the ground, not doing anything with it. The other one put the result of his talents in the ground.

73. 32:43

    He burrowed in there and they digged that wine press. Interesting too, that they put the, the Lord puts the reference in there to the earth. Well, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? That's where he's digging, but I always love those little references. He digged in the earth. What did Colossians three verse one to five say, which we won't have time to turn up, but you set your mind on things above, right?

74. 33:10

    Not on things on earth. We're not off here in that sense. Are we, you don't want to invest your time here. Look what he's done. He's taken God given talent and stuck it in the ground. I mean, it beggars belief. Why would you do that? And this is the point. And he drives it home in that verse.

75. 33:29

    He received, you see the highlighting words there. He received, hid his Lord's money. Didn't even belong to him anyway, did it? It's his Lord's money. So after a long time, the Lord of those servants comes and reckoneth with them after a long time. It's important phrase to keep in, in mind, you know, when it comes to our talents and working out what we're good at and how we're going to use them, we often feel like we've got to sort of do it straight away.

76. 34:06

    Talent takes a long time to either acknowledge and procure. And in this story, time is mentioned twice. I think it's really important because the worst thing we can do as young people is put pressure on ourselves. We're not here to have to be good at everything. This stuff takes time. The story tells you that there is time.

77. 34:32

    Now we don't know how much time we could be right in the middle of the event that triggers the return of Christ. We might never have another class. I mean, that is fascinating. So in that respect, yeah, we might not have a lot of time, but you think in terms of, if this is not the return of the Lord Jesus Christ right now, we can sit now and use this week and next week and perhaps the next month, if the lockdown continues, wherever you are to say, well, what am I going to do when I get out of here?

78. 35:07

    What difference am I going to make? What passions have I got in my life that I can use my talents in that are going to drive and further my faith and spiritual relationship with my master? How is it going to impact the way that I look at the master of the house? And so there is time after a long time, the Lord of those servants comes and reckons with them.

79. 35:34

    The day of reckoning is here. And so he that had received five talents came and says, and brought other five talents saying, Lord, you gave me five talents. I have gained beside them five talents more. There's the transaction. And that is what the master was looking for. But he gave him according to his ability.

80. 35:55

    He had high expectations of that servant. Why? Because he was capable of them. And it's like us. If you find yourself with a number of talents and there are people out there and you think, you know what? I'm actually good at three or four or five or six things. Well, that is fantastic.

81. 36:11

    It comes with a huge amount of responsibility. As is demonstrated here, you might have the talent, but the responsibility comes as well. And so he says, I have gained five more talents and look at the response. In verse 21, he says, well done. Well done. They are good and faithful servant. And they're the two requirements.

82. 36:36

    Isn't he's a good man, but also faithful. He was in action. As we saw in James, faith is capable of practical demonstration. Right? All sustainable faith is capable of practical demonstration. Meaning at the point that it matters most, we can demonstrate physically what we believe, what we are driven to do. That's what this man did.

83. 37:04

    He took the God given talents that he had and practically demonstrated his faith in the master. And now he has regained for the master and given back. And now he gets his reward. Well done. Now good and faithful servant. There has been faithful over a few things. I will make the ruler over many things.

84. 37:24

    Enter there into the joy of the Lord. Look at the difference between the two. Right? Look at the difference where, where he starts in that conversation and where he ends. He starts as a servant. And now he's a ruler. Right? That is amazing. Isn't he starts as a servant and now he is a ruler.

85. 37:42

    Well done. Now good and faithful servant. There has been faithful over a few things. That word few means puny. Quite an interesting word, isn't it? It means just puny. Just a few little things that you were faithful over. But in comparison to that, I will make you a ruler over many things. He says.

86. 38:05

    Look, I want to just quickly give you a quote for that expression. Well done. That is a huge accolade, isn't it? From the master. In 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 18.

87. 38:22

    I've got this right. 2 Corinthians 10 and verse 18. It says. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. Isn't that a great verse? It's not whom the man that commends himself or woman that commends himself, but it's who the Lord commends. Right now. I find that really interesting.

88. 38:53

    You know why? Because I have the ability to commend myself. Do you? I'm pretty good at that at times. I think, Oh, you know what? I actually did a really good job with that. And that can, you can get a little carried away. Can't you? Because in, in being talented at one or two things, and you know what they are in your life in, in being a talented individual, at times we can forget to, we forget the origins of that talent.

89. 39:19

    Don't we? That they are God given talents and we can get carried away in our own abilities. And yet that verse says that the commendation that we are looking for is the very one that he got. Well done. Thou good and faithful servant. Who's that from? That's from his law. That's where we need our commendation from, isn't it?

90. 39:42

    And he says, I will make thee a ruler over many things, enter into the joy of thy Lord. The joy. Well, what about the joy? Where, where does the word joy take you in your mind? Does anyone have a quote for that? And think of the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you think about where we might want to go with that?

91. 40:04

    And if you're thinking, because we can't all have that discussion, if you're thinking Hebrews chapter 12, you would be right. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse two, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

92. 40:28

    His joy was to be with his father, wasn't it? That's what drove his life every single day through those exceptionally difficult times, through the worst week that any person has ever had to endure. It was the joy of being with the father that drove him. And that is the same joy that this servant, right, who is now going to be made a ruler over many things, is being invited into.

93. 40:54

    It's that time of eternity with the father. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. You imagine how he felt after applying himself diligently with his talents. And it's not easy. It takes time, isn't it? And we often look at talented people and think, well, they can just go along and touch this and it turns to gold.

94. 41:14

    They can just turn up there and suddenly open a new business and it just works. They come into the meeting and they seem to know all the right things to say. And it's just easy. But we don't appreciate the hundreds or thousands of hours behind, these things that take these talents that people have that, that are invested in it.

95. 41:35

    And if anyone here is a musical, I'm not very musical at all, but I'll tell you what, if there's an instrument I wish I could play, it would be the piano. I absolutely love it. And watching someone play the piano fascinates me because I don't understand how, I don't understand how they can do it.

96. 41:52

    Like they can control. And if I can play with one hand, Mary had a little lamb or something. There you want, if I have to put the other hand in there and start making it sounds good, I'm useless, useless at it. And then I watch someone come along. And you know what? If I think of a person, I'm thinking of someone right now, they're a very quiet person.

97. 42:10

    She's very quiet person. And if it wasn't for just, you know, the odd hello here or there at the meeting, you might miss her. You might miss her. But I'll tell you what, everyone knows she's there when she sits down at the piano and she starts to play. And that is a talent.

98. 42:29

    And if that was her only talent and it's not, but if it was her only talent, I can tell you, we all recognize that. It is absolutely amazing as what, what she can do with her talent. So he says here, I will make you rule over many things, enter into that joy. And he does the same thing for the second chap who has made another two talents.

99. 42:54

    And then along comes the last one. Verse 24. You have a look. Then when he, he, which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that there are hard men reaping where there has not sown and gathered where there has not strawed. I was afraid. And when it hit the talent in the earth, low, here is low.

100. 43:19

     There thou hast, that is not. What an interesting response. You know, right here, he says that, that expression, I knew thee. Well, right at the very beginning, we know that it's the master that first knows them. We saw that because he gives to every man, what did he, according to his ability, according to his capabilities, he gives them the talent.

101. 43:46

     See what the problem here is the way that this servant looks at his master because he has looked at his master. And in the very first instance, it has caused him to go that way. When the other servants went that way, it then moved him to dig in the earth and bury that talent to preserve it rather than invest for, for a game.

102. 44:07

     Right? Right. Right. Rather than put those talents to good use. He doesn't do that. Does he? He doesn't do that. He does not have that view of his master. And it forces him down this track. You can see it. And now he says, he's the one that comes and says, I knew thee.

103. 44:27

     Do you know the interesting difference between him and the other two? The other two come and they produce what it is that they have gained for their Lord. They come and they don't sort of put up this huge argument and have to explain themselves. It's very visible. What they have produced five times and two times as much.

104. 44:51

     This man has to explain himself. He says, you can see him coming and he coming to the Lord. And he says, Lord, I need to explain myself here. I know you. Right? Just, just hear me out here. I know what you're like. You ever had someone do that to you? Don't you wait with his pricked up when someone does that?

105. 45:11

     Oh, this will be good. You know me, do you? I want to hear what you know of me. No, no, please tell me about myself. That's effectively what he's going to try and do here. Right? He's going to come along and says, no, no, now I know you. And I know you're a hard man.

106. 45:27

     Well, hang on a sec. He has delivered unto his servants, his goods. He has given the talents. He has given another two talents. He's given another one talent. He says, and when, when he comes back, he, and, and speaks with the first man, he gives him rulership. Right? This man, this master is about giving.

107. 45:53

     He's about, he is a compassionate master, isn't he? From what we know. And yet he says, I knew that you were a hard man. Right? Reaping where there has not sown and gathering where you have not stored. And I was afraid. You see, the way he looked at the master drove his emotional state and his emotional default position when he came and he looked and thought of his master was fear.

108. 46:22

     He was afraid. It says in verse 25, I was afraid and look what his fear drove him to do. He admits it himself. I was afraid and I went and I hid your talent in the earth. Here, you have it back. I went and dug it up because I found out you're coming home and I was just as afraid.

109. 46:43

     So here, it's back here now. You can, you can take it. Fear driven faith. Those verses there tell you that fear driven faith is deadly, isn't it? Now that's not to say having a fear and respect of God is not healthy. Of course, we're told that, but not to the point. Do you think God wants you to recognize only one side of his character so much so that it drives you to a point to not actually produce anything of gain for him?

110. 47:12

     I don't think he works. I don't think he wants that. In fact, if we were all really sat down and, and asked ourselves that question, it seems, it seems kind of stupid, doesn't it? We would think no way in the world would God work like that. Well, do you know what? Here is a servant that says he professes to know the master.

111. 47:28

     And after a long period of time, it drove him to do it. Right? That's, that's a, that's a bit scary, isn't it? And it actually drove him to be, that fear drove him to hide his tongue in the earth and to produce nothing else. We couldn't speak long enough about the importance of how we view our father in heaven.

112. 47:51

     We could not possibly speak long enough about it. And that's a challenge. And I guess if we want to take away from this little conversation here, why don't we stop and think not only how am I using my talents and, and passion driven service, right? As we read of the Lord Jesus Christ for the joy, for the passion that was set before him.

113. 48:14

     That's why he endured those things for you. And for me, so in terms of using our talents, let's think about the, the passion and the, the exercises and the things that we get into with those talents and producing the gain, all driven by the way we look at the master. Because the way we look at God and his son and what he has done for us and everything that has been achieved there in that plan, that will, that will provide the, the emotional foundation on which you are brought into action.

114. 48:48

     action. You are going to be brought into action. Just like this man was not brought to action because he was fear driven. And yet these other two men seem to understand something completely different about their, their master, the master of the house. They truly knew the master of the house, didn't they? Because they were faithful to him and they were pushed into action around those things.

115. 49:14

     And I guess that's the challenge for us. Maybe today or tonight, wherever it is for you in the world right now, to have a, a slight moment of meditation to say, well, how do I view God and his son from what platform? Do I look at him through fear, right? Do I operate daily out of fear?

116. 49:34

     And, am I worried about what he's going to do when, when he returns? Or do I, with a respect and a reverence, look so much forward to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, so much forward to him bringing together his plan, right? Is that how I view him so that I can't wait to get in that joy?

117. 49:56

     And not only that, because I know that joy of being able to be with our heavenly father and his son is, is promised to us because that is the case, then I'm going to get in action now. I'm not going to bury in the ground, what God given talent I have in my life.

118. 50:14

     What I'm going to do is I'm going to apply myself. Even though I recognize it might be difficult and long, I'm going to apply myself as much as I possibly can between now and whether it's next week, next month or next year, no matter what, out of this isolation, out of this huge world moment we're experiencing, I'm going to end up.

119. 50:38

     And what do I, from what lens do I look at God and what does that motivate and drive me to do with the talents that he has given me? That would be the challenge because we know the response. Verse 26, says the Lord answered and said unto him, you wicked and slothful servant.

120. 50:59

     He says he's a lazy servant, wicked and lazy. And if we had time, I'd take you to Proverbs chapter 26. You go and read Proverbs chapter 26. It's fascinating when it talks about the lazy, lazy servant. In fact, I can tell you, it says the slothful man says there is a line in the way.

121. 51:20

     A line is in the streets. As the door turns upon its hinges. So the slothful upon his bed, the slothful hardest, his hand in his bosom. It grieves him to bring it again to his mouth. How's that for a description of a slothful person? So he says there's a line in the way, a line in the streets.

122. 51:41

     In other words, you look out his window and he'll look for any excuse. In fact, he'll take the smallest excuse and he'll blow it up to be so big in his own mind that he won't go out and get started. Right? He says there's always a reason that this lazy person won't get started.

123. 51:58

     As the door turns upon its hinges, so does the slothful upon his bed. That's hilarious. Right? That's Solomon's observation of what a lazy person is like. You imagine the door just going open, close, open, close like this. And you see the slothful person. You might know one. They just roll from one side of their bed to the other.

124. 52:19

     And it's the afternoon. In fact, I've got a 15 year old in a room over there. It is now quarter to 12 on Saturday. And the slothful little sloth is not out of bed yet. So after, in about five minutes, when we finish, I'm going to march in there and he is going to get up.

125. 52:39

     I can assure you. So I've got one in there, the door that turns upon its hinges. And the last example, the slothful hides his hand in his bosom. Now what that is a reference to is probably someone who doesn't finish anything. Right? They'll start and they won't quite finish. You know how lazy this guy is in Proverbs?

126. 53:00

     He can't be bothered to finish eating. It says, It grieves him to bring his hand to his mouth. Right? This is the sort of sloth that is being described there. So if we came back and we looked at this response from the Lord of their house, it says, Thou wicked, and you've got the picture now, slothful person.

127. 53:23

     Thou knewest that I reap where I sow not and gather where I was not stored. If you knew that, right? And if that was actually correct, he says, if what you know was correct, in verse 27, he said, you would have at least taken my money and put my money to the exchanges or the bankers.

128. 53:44

     Right? Literally means go and invest it. So he says, if your view of me, because you remember, now the master of the house is calling him to account now, because you remember how he started the conversation. I know you. Whoa, whoa, just hang on a sec. I know what you're like. You're a hard and you're an unfair individual.

129. 54:06

     That's what he's saying. And the Lord says, well, hang on a sec. If your view of me is actually correct, then thou orders, therefore, to have put the money in the bank. the very smallest thing that that should have driven you to do with your opinion of me is to take that money and go and invest it in someone else.

130. 54:29

     Go and invest it in someone else so that at my coming, I should have received mine own with usury. Right? With interest on it. Now, that's interesting because, and that to the people listening to the Lord tell this story, that would have got their ears straight up because you couldn't charge your fellow brother usury or interest.

131. 54:54

     And we still don't. But as a measure and a rule, we don't either. And we shouldn't. But you could, Leviticus says, you could charge a stranger usury on the money that you lent them. Right? And so this would have got them all really listening. But this, this man in the house says, you could have at least put it in the bank.

132. 55:16

     That's how slothful you were. You couldn't be bothered getting up out of your bed that you turn on like a door, walking down the street and putting the talent in the bank. So at least I'd make some money out of a stranger. Right? That banker could get it for me. No, I should have received mine with own, with usury says, take therefore the talent from him and give it unto him, which has 10 talents.

133. 55:41

     Right? For unto everyone that is, that hath shall be given and, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away, even that which he has and cast ye, the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. And there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth. It's a dramatic end to that story, isn't it?

134. 56:02

     It really is. But I guess if we take anything out of today's discussion, let's maybe resolve to number one, have a look at how I view the master. Because as you just saw, as we tied it up at the end, the entire action of this man with one talent was driven by the way he looked at the master of the house.

135. 56:23

     And I guess let's, let's resolve to, to maybe sit down and have that discussion as, as I've been. And it's not concluded yet. Like I'm sort of working through it and say, well, what am I good at? And if I understand what I'm good at, what am I passionate about? And do those things align?

136. 56:40

     Like, am I actually engaged in passion driven service? Right? Sustainable faith. And these sorts of phrases are jumping into my mind and often it's around what I'm doing. So I'm, I'm sort of evaluating whether I'm engaged in passion driven service. I'm using my talents and above all is what I'm doing about gain or preservation.

137. 57:07

     Is it about sticking it in the ground and just waiting this thing out? Or even in a very dark time, like it is for the whole world at the moment, am I putting what God has given to me and has certainly given to you? Are you and I, are we putting these things into action so that when, and very soon, master's going to come back.

138. 57:30

     I mean, very soon. It could be this week, right? It could be this week and he wants to come back and we want to be able to have some gain, right? Just like that man that dug the wine press. We want to be able to go down there and pull out the fruit of our labors and demonstrate what we have done with our talents for him.

139. 57:47

     And I'll tell you what, when he sees that from all of us, even if it's so small with one talent, if he sees that gain on what he has invested in us, well, we know where we're headed, don't we? It's the joy. And what is the joy, but to be with the father for eternity.

140. 58:04

     It's exciting, exciting stuff. um, I hope maybe that's provided some, uh, something to discuss and, and a little bit of, um, spiritual food for.

141. 58:22

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142. 58:45

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143. 59:07

     Thank you for listening. God bless and talk to you next week.