176: Mick Roberts - Good, Faithful, or Unprofitable

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

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   Welcome to Good Christadelphian Talks. I'm Levi. And I'm Chris. And I'm Brian. Thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our daily news feed. We post a new episode at the start of each week with a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you're about to listen to.

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   And now, let's talk more about this week's talk. This week's talk is by Brother Mick Roberts. It's called Good and Faithful or Unprofitable. It was the fourth class at the Toronto Fraternal in 2011, which is a great event. Hundreds of brothers and sisters attend this joint fraternal. And he, this is, well, this session is the last in the Saturday night, you can tell from the class.

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   He does a fantastic job kind of exploring the parable of the talents and talking about really the real-life application. And I found that's what I liked about this class was it's well-studied but focused on how we need to, how we need to think, how we should focus on our work and the effort and the work that goes into following our Lord.

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   And because, because that is, I think, one of the great lessons of the talents is not, you know, you're given one, two, or five talents. And then we find out what you do with those talents. And I really appreciated this talk. So this was a suggestion from a brother and thanks to him.

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   And we also really, really appreciate these suggestions and emails when we get them. Please send in a talk that you think we should feature on the show. And here is Good and Faithful or Unprofitable by Brother Mick Roberts. Well, good evening, brothers and sisters.

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   I can see why you enjoy this weekend. I can see why you enjoy coming together at this time of the year. To spend some time in each other's company like this is great. And we've really enjoyed this opportunity of spending time with you. Those of you who were here this afternoon, you're probably near the back.

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   You're probably feeling sleepy. But I hope you two will listen up to what we're going to talk about. Because it really connects with some of the things we were talking about this afternoon. For the adults who weren't here this afternoon, we spoke and looked into issues surrounding the Lord Jesus Christ's return. That it's really going to happen.

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   Thoughts about when. Thoughts about watching. And we're going to see some connections here. So if you can bear with me, you young people who I know have already had two classes today. There's some connections here which I think you might find of interest.

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   Our theme has been around servants. And it's no surprise when we come to the teaching of the Lord Jesus, we're going to find a lot about servants. An awful lot. An awful lot about servants. And we're going to focus our attention in particular on the passage that we've read. And a similar passage, a similar parable that Jesus gave.

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    To draw some lessons, to draw some exhortation for us. Because it's about lessons from these servants. Whether they were real and literal. Or whether they're here given to us in a parable form. And the parables we're going to look at are these parables of the pounds and the talents. So we're on familiar territory.

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    We're not dealing with anything here that is so new to us. We say, where's he going to take us and what's this all about? This is familiar territory. But right now, this weekend, we're wearing a pair of glasses, as it were, with lenses that say, lessons for me as a servant of Christ.

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    And we're going to try and find some things here that may spark and enliven us in our discipleship. From these familiar passages, which we know so well. We've taught them, no doubt, to our children. Probably without looking at our scriptures open, we could recount fairly accurately even the detail of what's in these parables.

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    Even the detail is probably quite familiar. But it doesn't necessarily mean it's struck home and it's requiring us to do anything any different. Or sparking any different chains of thoughts of how we ought to be in our discipleship. So that's where we want to go. That's what we're trying to do in our time together.

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    It's also interesting, and why I wanted us to look at the two parables, which have some obvious similarities, but also some obvious differences. And it maybe fits with the general idea that as Jesus spoke his parables and gave his teaching over those three or so years, that quite often he would perhaps give a theme, give a thought, and he would vary it sometimes.

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    And in the gospel accounts, we are used to the different gospel writers giving us subtle variations in what seems to be the same story or the same incident. So if it's a literal incident, whether it's Jesus feeding at 5,000 or whether it's Jesus walking on the water, we're used to seeing some subtle differences.

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    And the same applies too sometimes in some of the parables that he taught. So when we put these things together, we can sometimes see extra things. And some subtle variations that maybe, just because they're different, just highlight another chain of thought for us when we bring them side by side. So whether it's the parable of the soil and the sower, or the parable of the talons, or the pounds.

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    And that's where we're going to be to find our lessons for the servants. And sometimes it can be that these variations maybe reflect that Jesus was holding on to something that was particular at that location where he was. Maybe it was to do with some sort of local event, something about the nature of the place that he was, or the people, or the history of the location.

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    That as a really good teller of parables, a good engaging teacher, he would pick on events and situations and circumstances and make it relevant to his audience. So I think we can see some of that in these two parables, which I say have similarities and also which have differences. But the context that we're going to get, first of all, you're going to need to be, I guess putting a marker would be really good, to have a marker in a couple of places where we're going to be flitting backwards and forwards.

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    So I'm going to guess that your Bible is already open at Matthew, because that's where we've had our reading, at Matthew 25. And we're also going to be using the parable, which is set out for us in Luke 19. So you might want to put a marker in between the two, a bit of paper or something, because we're going to be flitting a little bit between these two.

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    Because these are the two parables that we're going to look at, and from which we're going to draw, hopefully, some lessons from these servants in these parables. Okay, so if you've marked up where we're going to be in Luke, you've got your Bible open in Matthew 25.

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    We know where the parable begins at verse 14. But what we so often need to do in order to really get a sense of how this parable fits in with what Jesus is teaching, is to look around what else has been said before, what else has gone on before. So, young people, you'll know where we were this afternoon.

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    We were looking in Matthew 24 and spending a bit of time there, as well as Luke 21. But in Matthew 24, we know if you just cast your eyes perhaps across the page to the latter part of Matthew 24, we've got the teaching that Jesus gave about his return. And about the fact that he would come at a day, verse 36, and an hour that no one would know, not even the angels of heaven.

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    And how two would be there. One would be taken and another left. So he's giving this teaching of a suddenness of return and of judgment, of acceptance and of rejection. That's what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 24. And he really homes in on the issue of servants. Look down in verse 45.

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    And here's the key phrase for us. Who then is a faithful and wise servant? Whom his master has made ruler over his household to give them food in due season. So who are the faithful and wise servants? Well, this is of interest to us, brothers and sisters, because this is what we're wanting to be.

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    Faithful and wise servants. Who are providing. Who, in verse 46, are blessed. Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Surely, I say to you, he will make him ruler over all his goods. Now, we can see the connections and the echoes with the parables that we know we're going to be looking at.

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    But what it's doing, it's conveying that whilst that parable is a parable, it's clearly got some links with the reality of when Jesus comes. Because he's talking about wise and faithful servants, and he's talking about them being rewarded for their faithful service in their discipleship. It also goes on, if that evil servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming.

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    Well, young people, we looked at the idea this afternoon, the letter of Peter, where they will come in the last day, scoffers walking after their own lesson saying, well, where is he? All things have continued since the beginning of creation. And Jesus is echoing the same thought here in what he's saying, that there'll be some who will say he delays.

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    And as a result of that attitude of mind, his conduct takes a turn for the worse. And he begins to mix with the wrong sort. And his conduct really does not beget that of a faithful and wise servant. And the master of that servant will come on a day when he's not looking for him.

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    That's a sobering thought. That there'll be some who know that the master will come one day. But they'll decide, they'll make bad choices. Brother Tim has said in his prayer, help us to make good choices. But there'll be some servants who will make bad choices and will be in the wrong company and will beat their fellow servants and eat and drink with the drunkards.

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    Well, that fits again with Peter. Those who are lovers of their own selves. So there's a context for us. Faithful and wise servants. And of course, as we start chapter 25, we've got the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, which again conveys the idea of a sudden coming and a point of judgment.

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    A situation where there is a mixture of those who have done the right thing and those who have done the wrong thing. So this kind of accumulating, this lesson that Jesus is giving us, that there will be those who know, but who make wrong choices. There will be servants who get it right and servants who get it wrong.

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    All those virgins knew that the bridegroom would come, but only 50% of them did the right thing. So that's all the context that's leading up to a situation now where we encounter this parable that we're going to focus on.

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    What do we find then at verse 14? For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.

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    It's a parable, brothers and sisters, that Jesus is giving for servants who need to know how they ought to behave when the master isn't around. That's the gist of it. How do the servants behave when the master isn't around? How do the servants make use of the things that they've been given in order to serve their master with wisdom and faithfulness?

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    This is a parable for us. We're waiting for the master and we want to know how can we be wise and faithful and how do we use the things that we've been entrusted with whilst we wait. It's a parable for all time. It was a parable for the people of this generation that Jesus is speaking to and for all generations.

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    It's a parable for brothers and sisters in Canada and in the UK of all ages. How do we serve wisely and faithfully whilst the master is away having been entrusted with great things? So it's for us. In fact, if we just flip over to our parallel in Luke 19,

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    verse 11, as they heard these things, he spoke another parable because he was near to Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. So again, we get this insight that we feel when we put these two parables together that the point is being made that there were those who thought that the kingdom was going to be instantly provided by the Lord Jesus and he gave this parable because it was indeed talking of him leaving them for a period.

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    So this idea of him going into a far country, if you're going to go to a far country, that can be in location terms, it's a long way away. Well, Jesus after his resurrection was going to go into heaven or it could be a far country in the sense of a time period that Jesus is going to be travelling a long time, as it were, before you see him again.

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    Certainly for the people of this generation, the idea of going to a far country would mean a long time. That's what it would mean. And they thought the kingdom was going to be now. So Jesus gives a parable. It's not now.

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    And here's a story about what happens when a master leaves and entrusts his servants with goods and he leaves them for a far country to be wise and to be faithful. Here's what you do. That's the context, brothers and sisters. That's the context. And there's some interesting subtleties when you look at the two parables together.

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    So let's keep going back in again. If we go back to our Matthew 25, we've clearly got a theme which is core and the same in both of the parables. But we're told in verse 14 the kingdom of heaven is like a man travelling to a far country. The parable of the pounds or the miners depending on what translation you have says in Luke 19 and at verse 12 therefore he said a certain noble man went into a far country.

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    Is it significant? A noble man status but a man a man a human being a man a noble man and there's also something interesting in the difference of what they are given. They're clearly given something of value. The Matthew 25 passage talks about calling his own servants. That's interesting. Calling his own servants.

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    Have we been called brothers and sisters? Called? And having been called have we received? So the parable is about calling servants servants and delivering his goods to them. So it's the things that the master himself has which he gives. The nobleman the man's own things which he gives to these individuals. But what has the Lord given us brothers and sisters?

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    What has he given personally of his goods to us? Well there's so much that we can't begin to count the riches of the master that he's given to us. But he's given us his word his teaching he's given us his life. He's given us so much. He's given us his goods.

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    In the Luke reading the man is going to go to a far country and return and it says he called. It just says he called his servants.

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    So this calling brothers and sisters and this delivering of goods and this sharing. And we know that the sharing is different. We know that we read in Matthew when we read the talents there is a difference in what's given. To the one he gave five to another he gave two to another he gave one to each according to his own ability.

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    When we look at the parable of the pounds we read that he called ten of his servants. Does that mean there were others who weren't called? He called ten of his servants. Is that a representative group in some way? Is there any symbology or pattern here in the fact that ten are being called?

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    But interestingly they are all given the same. So here's a difference. They're in one given a variety according to ability in another they are given the same. The master the nobleman goes to a far country he returns he assesses the work he passes judgment he rewards or he punishes. That's the gist of it.

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    We know it. We know it well. If you just open again at the Luke passage I wonder whether we have here some allusion of the Lord Jesus to events which were of the day and generation in which he was talking at least regarding relatively recent history. And maybe you've read this sometimes and puzzled a little bit when you've read it through.

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    some of the language doesn't necessarily fit so easily. We wonder what it might be about. If we look in the Luke 19 when the pounds are delivered it says in verse 14 his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him saying we will not have this man to reign over us. So he goes into a kingdom to claim it for himself to receive a kingdom and to return it tells us in verse 12 and then we've got verse 14 the citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him saying we will not have this man to reign over us.

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    Well according to the history brethren and sisters the Jewish history Herod the great son Archelaus part of this family we might say a noble man that's maybe why we've got the phrase there when we look in the Luke account he was a noble man and he was given the kingdom effectively he was handed to him by his father Herod the great and the historians talk of him being a violent and an evil man who reigned for ten years and according to Josephus among the various incidents that he was responsible for was the killing of 3,000 Jews in Jerusalem he was so feared and so hated that he decided in fact that he would go to Rome and as it were get his validation for him to be appointed and anointed as the ruler to receive the kingdom and the blessing of the Roman Empire and according to the historians he went to Rome and the Jews were so fearful that he was going to be appointed that they sent a delegation of some 50 elders that they might persuade the authorities not to give him the kingdom he was hated he was feared and it may be that the Lord Jesus is alluding and bringing to their mind an incident which they perhaps would have been aware of it's interesting that you know typical of the Roman Empire and the Roman governors at the time there's always claims and counter claims about who would be the ruler and apparently among their own family among Herod's own family there were various claims it wasn't just the elders who turned up to make a deputation but in

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    the end he was appointed and he came back and he ruled with fear and of course we read back at the beginning of Matthew there was that time remember when Jesus having been born they were frightened for their life and they had to hide and there was concern because of this man Archelaus and this is holding up for us the difference that you get between a great and good ruler and the kind of man that you might find that the world had to offer in Archelaus and he was near Jerusalem where these things had happened where 3,000 Jews had been killed what a contrast to the loving master that Jesus is the ruler that we want for and anxiously wait for to put all things right the one that brings life and not death so this difference that we've identified in what it was that people were given whether there was a variety or whether it was all the same this idea of being given different amounts if you just turn with me to Romans 12 as servants when the goods are divided up we are indeed given some different things Romans 12 and verse 3 for I say through the grace given to me to everyone who is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith so there's a humility of mind here being spoken about a good servant mind you don't think of yourself as being important 4 verse 4 as we have many members in one body but all members do

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    not have the same function so we being many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given us let us use them in prophecy in prophecy let us prophesy in proportion to our faith or ministry let's use it in our ministering he who teaches in teaching he who exhorts in exhortation he who gives with liberality he who leads with diligence he who shows mercy with cheerfulness and I guess we could take all of those attributes brothers and sisters and say well isn't that the kind of thing that you want from servants those who do those who give their best with liberality those who work with diligence those who work with cheerfulness and we've all been given something different the Lord as it were distributed the goods and we know sometimes when we talk to each other we might say that we have we can feel and sense as we talk differences in the challenges that we're dealing with in our measure of faith in our understanding and comprehension of scripture in our ability to be patient with each other and our ability to love and care for each other we're different we have different abilities and different gifts and just as in the parable there are different things that we have but the message is the same whatever you've been given use it whatever you've got use it brilliantly for the master whatever it is whether it's one or five or ten you use it to the best of your ability for your master brothers and sisters for all of us do we wake up in our service

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    for the Lord and say whatever I've got to do today for the Lord I'm going to do it brilliantly I never forget being greatly impressed when I saw Muhammad Ali ! interviewed and those of you who are old enough to know Muhammad Ali and if you ever heard him interviewed you knew that he wouldn't fit with the description of the most humble man that ever lived but one thing which I remember which made a real impression on me I remember as a as a young boy even it probably was watching him being interviewed and he always made a great claim about being the greatest didn't he I am the greatest I won't do an Ali shuffle for you up here right now but that's what he did he talked about being the greatest and I remember him being challenged by an interviewer and said well what would you have done if you weren't a boxer and he said it doesn't matter what I would have done I would have been the greatest if I would have been a garbage man I'd have been the greatest garbage man and I thought well there is something here about this chap which makes me think boastful blah blah blah blah and so on but there's also something which I think we can take to heart that says whatever it is that you're going to do there's a it's a good scriptural principle isn't it do it with all your heart it's like whatever we're going to do for the Lord to I want to be if I'm going to keep door at the meeting on Sunday I want to be the best doorkeeper

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    not because I want people to say you're the best doorkeeper but I want to do it the best that I can so that I can really show and serve my brethren and sisters when they come in on a Sunday that I really care about the job that I've got whatever it is if I'm going to speak can I can I can I speak the best that I can for the Lord not because I want to be praised by men but because I'm doing work for the Lord if I've got one or three or five or ten talents it doesn't matter how do I use it to serve the Lord as best as I can or if it's one talent or one pound as it is in the in the Luke account the parable of the pounds well maybe that's speaking to us about the one baptism the one faith the one master in that sense you could say we've all got exactly the same we're united in that we've all got that one hope so I think when we put these two parables together we get a nice blend of both ideas we're united in that one hope and yet we come with differences and we're required to use those differences in the master's service Luke 19 now I think here in the authorised version I think the phrase says occupy you may have different versions in the New King James that I'm reading from it says in verse 13 he called ten of his servants and delivered to them ten miners or ten pounds and he said to them do business till I come

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    now I I thought this was great when I thought about this do business till I come so servants of the master are we doing business when you think about doing business business what what does that conjure up for you those people who have their own business and there are some in this room I'm sure what's it like when you are doing business your livelihood how hard do you work how driven are you how many opportunities do you take do you ever switch off when you think about those who do business maybe you get an image of the stock exchanges around the world where they are buying and selling and doing business with passion and energy and drive and commitment they want to get their voice heard they want to get the deal done they want to make the contact they're doing business maybe they're doing business loudly and visibly maybe they're doing business quietly almost out of sight but quietly getting on with business making connections making the relationships making the links laying the foundations building the plans but when you think of the idea of doing business brothers and sisters then this isn't a passive situation when the master says to the servants in the parable do business do we imagine him sort of saying right guys there's the talents there's the pounds just do some business or does he say to them okay I'm entrusting you with my goods these are my goods do business I'm going to be away in a far country I'm coming back do business it's what he's saying to us brothers and sisters do business it's interesting there's a

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    little phrase at the end of 1st Timothy 6 with a bit of a link here and I'll just read it it's just one verse if you want to turn to it 1 Timothy 6 and verse 20 where Paul says to Timothy command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy let them do good that they be rich in good works ready to give willing to share storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time will come that they may lay hold on eternal life oh Timothy here's the verse guard what was committed to your trust and some translations and I think back in the original it conveys the idea of being trained banker guarding what you've been entrusted with make sure it does something use what you've been given guard what was committed to your trust use it do business and I guess when we think about the idea of using business maybe you think of the idea of entrepreneurs the kind of people who are dropped into another country with just a cell phone and a few thousand dollars and they're going to start up a business and they're going to make things happen and you know we were in some of your bookstores in the city the other day and I'm always drawn to the business section and you've always got plenty of books how to make a million the secrets of success make your million from real estate you know and the people on the front always look

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    really happy and really well dressed and you think yeah I want to be like that guy he looks really good he's going to tell me if I read that book how I can make a million it doesn't tell you about all the dedication and the effort and the creativity the analysis and the preparation that's required but it's got a good front cover brethren sisters if you want a book to know how to make a million how to make a million where would you go here's the book here's the book if all of these people who have made a million I think they make half of it by you buying their book that's how they make their money but you want to read about people who are successful successful who go from perhaps humble beginnings who make a million so that I can be like that and I can make a million well here's all the authors you need to read Paul Peter Jude James they all begin their books their letters with a servant a bond servant they've written the book about how to make a million as it were how to do business for the master they've written the book it might not be a million of pounds it might be a million converts it might be a thousand who listen and turn because of the things that they have done or the apostle Paul imagine buying that book how to make it with the apostle Paul and you open it up and it tells you that here's his CV and here's all the things that he had and he gave it all up

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    for Christ because he counted it as being worthless these are role models these are copies of people who we can learn from brothers and sisters and ultimately of course we copy the Lord Jesus the supreme servant who took on the form of a servant the one who was a boy was about his father's business and that's what all servants are required to do servants who are about business for the master see opportunities and it's been great brothers and sisters back in the UK there's a real energy and interest around the 400 anniversary of the authorised version and so brethren and sisters have seen an opportunity how can we bring to life the wonderful story of how the scriptures have been handed down so that people can read in English God's word how can we bring this story to life and share with them the miracle of how God has preserved this book through the ages and so brethren of different abilities with different talents have come together and worked and in a way they're celebrating the work of those servants through the ages who gave their life to preserve scripture so that we can read God's word in our hands I guess not just in England but also in Canada faithful servants and servants have come together having seen opportunities so brothers and sisters if we could just apply the energy and talent that we've got that we sometimes bring to our jobs or our commercial endeavours if we could apply I was going to say the same but isn't it worth more to serving the master I just wonder what we could do if we

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    really and truly applied ourselves with all the energy that we have and if we do it we've got a warning brothers and sisters if you're in that Luke there just turn back a chapter or so to Luke 17 just a little parable down at verse 7 and which of you having a servant ploughing or tending sheep and again just pausing a moment a servant that you have that's ploughing or tending sheep just wondering whether this is a little picture of the typical Jew at work in their agricultural world ploughing or looking after the sheep and say to him when he has come in from the field come at once and sit down to eat will he not rather say to him okay you've been out doing that work now you've come in here prepare something for my supper and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk you're answerable to me says the master in the parable you may have been out there doing one job but there is more to do for me and then afterwards you will eat and drink does he thank that servant because he did these things that were commanded of him I think not says Jesus so likewise you when you've done all those things which you are commanded say we are unprofitable servants we have done what was our duty to do now maybe Jesus is particularly alluding to the religious leaders of the day maybe he's hinting at the likes of those Pharisees and scribes who liked the uppermost seats who liked the praises of men who thought that they had done enough and could

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    just take the plaudits because they knew the law oh you've been out serving oh come in says the master oh yeah you just sit down no says Jesus you have to go on doing and giving and serving me and even when you've done everything that I've asked for you have to accept that you are unprofitable servants you're only doing what's your duty to do that idea of serving continually it conveys the idea of going on serving you just don't stop and that's what we are required to do brethren and sisters so in Luke 19 when they're called to give account verse 20 well we have reading up to verse 20 let's let's go in a few verses earlier when they come he wanted to know how much every man had gained by trading by doing business what have you done with what I've given you the Lord Jesus has given us his life he's given us his teaching what have you done with it have you used it have you done business in the parable what have they done here's the first master your miner has heard ten miners he said to him well done good you are faithful in a very little remember we saw the context faithful and wise servants wise virgins taking action being prepared well done good you are faithful in this little that I've given you in relative terms it's a little because of the abundance that the master has in store ultimately for those who love him and serve him faithfully and there's reward of ruling over the cities it's that sobering thought when verse 21 verse 20 rather

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    the man comes saying master here's what you gave me I've kept it I've put it away in a handkerchief how ironic a handkerchief or a sweat rag so if you're working hard and you're breaking out in the sweat you've got to get that rag out and wipe your brow this servant hasn't exactly broken in sweat no wonder he could keep the handkerchief and wrap it and hide it it maybe links back does it to the time of the children of Israel coming into the land with the sin of taking and hiding in the tent those things which had been stolen right in the midst of the tent we read right in the midst of a life hiding things thinking the master wouldn't know and wasn't interested a servant who doesn't use what he has been given he didn't know his master really I feared you because you're an austere man you collect what he didn't deposit and reap what he did not sow you are all powerful and because you're all powerful I was frightened and he said to him out of your own mouth I will judge you you wicked servant that's interesting isn't it not lazy or complacent wicked servant that's that's the charge it's wicked not to use what's been given to you is this parable teaching us if you knew I was an austere man you knew that I was all powerful why then didn't you make some effort use your initiative and at least bring about some sort of return by putting it in the bank you didn't think it through you don't really know me well that's the inference

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    for me and of course the Lord Jesus says that when he speaks to the people about helping others if you've done it for them you've done it for me when I come there'll be some who I'll say I'm sorry you might be saying Lord Lord but I don't know you and you don't really know me either it's interesting the exchange that happens down in verse 24 he said to those that stood by him take the minus from him and give it to him that has ten and again on the surface we might think well that seems unreasonable and that seems unfair well who are you to argue who am I to argue with the decision and the choices made by the all powerful master almighty God himself will choose whether it's Saul or whether it's David whether it's Israel whether it's Gentile whether it's Jacob whether it's Esau but it's interesting in the parable whether you've got it in brackets in your Bible it's in brackets in mine it says in verse 25 in brackets Lord have you got it wrong he's already got a lot and it's in brackets and we don't know whether that was the people in the audience as it were when Jesus told the story were they so engaged that they got caught up in the story and said Lord hang on you must get the story wrong or was it in the story that Jesus was telling that he told it this way that this is how the other people reacted that sometimes the judgments of almighty God may seem unfair or unreasonable in the eyes of the world

64. 48:11

    men judge how men judge and God judges how he judges you see it's not for us to make that decision it's the all powerful master and in both parables this idea of bringing at least some interest if you'd have done nothing more than put it in the bank there had at least been some interest and the Greek word conveys the idea of offspring offspring we might think you know ecclesial fruit it might have borne something if you had used your initiative but the Lord is not happy with those who don't show that initiative and use what they've got as for the faithful well done good faithful you acted with wisdom you used of your ability you recognized that you had all been given something which was important and you used it so brethren and sisters parables we know well what have you and what have I been entrusted with with a few things given now but the blessings if we use these things faithfully and with wisdom as we serve one master do we recognize that they are indeed the things that we've been given the Lord's and not our own so whatever it is that we've been given brothers and sisters our salaries our homes our backyards our cars whatever it is it's not really ours the Lord's delivered the goods into our hands and he says use them do business so how are we using them brothers and sisters our talents our pounds our goals how are we using them in the master's service and we get that picture of pleasure on the master's face the sense of abundance is there Matthew Matthew's

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    record gives it for us in Matthew 25 and at verse 29 for to everyone who has more will be given and he will have abundance if you know there's the books how to make a million how to make an abundance how to make an abundance for the Lord is to use what we've been given now in his service with wisdom with faithfulness with diligence with dedication withholding nothing back and by contrast there is weeping and gnashing of teeth slay before me those enemies there's the judgment as awkward as it seems when we read it the compassion and the love of God contains also the justice and judgment of his law and of his word it couldn't be more stark could it an abundance or nothing determined by the way of servants we use what has been given to us so brethren and sisters we're servants we're part of Abraham's household we've come from a far country because we knew it was hopeless and we needed Joshua we needed protection we needed the salvation made possible by being part by being grafted in and we love our master and if we love our master brethren and sisters if we are wise and faithful servants by God's grace let's do business let's do his business whilst it's still today thank you for listening to the good christadelphian talks podcast we hope this talk helped you in your walk if you would like to hear more please subscribe for new episodes and leave a review an apple podcast or whichever service you are using to help more people find the show when they search for it if you

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    enjoyed this particular talk please share it with someone who you think might enjoy it as well for show notes on the talk you just listened to visit our show page at anchor.fm slash gct or check the show notes section of your podcast player please share your thoughts on the talk from this week on our facebook or instagram pages where we are at good christadelphian talks on twitter where we are at gct underscore podcast or leave a comment on our youtube channel where these talks are posted as well if you know of a great talk we want to know about it too send a suggestion to our email at good christadelphian talks at gmail.com or message us on any of our social media accounts thank you for listening god bless and talk to you next week

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