The Servant Jesus Called Wicked and Lazy [Eschatology Matters]

0:00Will people go to hell if they don't share the gospel with the lost around them? This is Pastor Brian Gunter as we continue our study in the Olivet Discourse found in Matthew chapters 24 and 25 as the Lord Jesus teaches us about the end times. Today we're continuing in Matthew chapter 25 verse 14 and we're going to look from verse 14 through verse 30. This text is called the parable of the talents. Now as I explained the text, I personally do explain what a talent was in the first century when this text was written. A talent was a very large amount of money. It was equivalent to 20 years of wages for a common laborer in the ancient world. So a talent was something similar to, it's hard to quantify, but it's something similar to about a million dollars in today's money in the United States of America. Now you will see estimates saying that a talent was more

1:02or less than that, but it's close to about a million dollars. And in the parable we're going to see a master in trust five two and one talent two. These servants as he goes out on a journey, one servant will receive five talents, one two talents and another one talent. And that's the amount of money that these servants are to invest while the master is away. And just as people today invest money in the stock market and in banks and in businesses and various other things. So two in the ancient world people would invest money. And anytime you invest money, you expect a return on your investment. Now there's a risk to investing money. Obviously you can lose part or even all of your money when you make an investment, but generally you expect a return on your money. That's what you're aiming for. And that's what we see in this parable. Matthew 25 verse 14, the Lord Jesus says, for it, meaning the kingdom of heaven, will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants

2:04and entrusted to them his property to one he gave five talents to another two talents and to another one talent to each according to his ability. And then he went away. Now it's interesting that Jesus says here in verse 15 that the reason he gave five to and one talent to the three different servants is because it was according to their ability. So the servant who was entrusted with five talents was an unusually productive servant. The master really trusted him. So he entrusted again, what today might be the equivalent of something like five million dollars and told him to invest that in expectation of a return. There was another servant that he gave two talents, which is still a large amount of money. And this was probably a servant who was more usual in his productivity. But the servant who gets one talent, we already know there's a problem with this servant because the master trusts him and trusts him with the least amount of money. He only is given one talent. Still a million dollars in today's money is a lot of money, but it's nothing like what the other

3:08servants were entrusted with. Continuing, we read in verse 16, he who had received the five talents went at once. Notice he's very persistent and he's very quick to act on the master's orders. He went at once and traded with them and he made five talents more. Now just stop right there. If you invest your money and you get a 100% return, if you double your money, that's an incredibly good investment. Now we don't know how long the money is invested in the parable and that's not really that important. We're just told that it was a long time. We'll see in the following verses. But nonetheless, this is an excellent, excellent return on investment to literally double your money. Verse 17, so also he who had two talents made two talents more. Now the second servant also gets a 100% return on the investment, but he was entrusted with a smaller amount to begin with. And so it's

4:08still an excellent return, the same percentage return, but not quite as much money due to the initial investment. But look at verse 18, but he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now why would you dig a hole in the ground and bury money? Because you think this is one of the safest things that you can do with money. Now this money would have been in gold or silver and so unlike dollar bills, it wouldn't decay. But nonetheless, by burying the money in the ground, you're trying to avoid risk. And also as we'll see later in the parable, you're being lazy. You're not doing the work to try to get a return on investment. You know returns on investments don't happen automatically. Someone somewhere has to be doing work to produce that return. If you invest money in a business, those at that business must work hard or you will not get a return on your investment. And so not only is this servant trying to avoid risk, he's also being lazy by burying the money and literally doing nothing afterward. Verse 19,

5:10now after a long time, so we don't know how long, it could have been years and to get on 100% return from the first two servants, I would imagine that this is a very long time, maybe several years. Now after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he, who had received the five talents, came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, master, you delivered to me five talents. Here, I have made five talents more. And as you would expect, in verse 21, the master is very, very pleased. His master said to him, well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. Now of course, in the parable, this settling accounts with the master is a parallel to the day of judgment. And so the idea is on the day of judgment, people will come before our master, the

6:12Lord Jesus. And if we produce this kind of return in his investment in us, then he will be very pleased with us. Now I just want to pause here and ask the question, what is this parallel to in our world? As we see the parable explain later, this will be made more clear, but the point is, is God has entrusted every one of us with certain abilities. Again, I play on words, a pun, I could say, He has entrusted us with certain talents, not meaning an amount of money, but rather abilities that He gives us. And the point is, is we are to take these gifts and we are to use them for the kingdom of heaven. And the main thing that we are to be doing in this world, while Christ is away, soon to return to this earth that He created, we are to be proclaiming the gospel to the ends of the earth. We are to be sharing the gospel with the loss. And that's the primary idea of the return on investment in the parable. The point is, is that Christians are to produce other Christians. We are to go out and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ so that more will come into the kingdom.

7:16And that is what it means to hear the Master say, well done, good and faithful servant. Continuing, we read in verse 22, he also, and he also, who had the two talents, came forward saying, Master, you delivered to me two talents. Here, I have made two talents more. And his Master said to him, well done, good and faithful servant, you've been faithful over a little, I will set you over much, enter into the joy of your Master. The things take a turn in verse 24. The first two servants did very well and they received the Master's commendation and they entered into the joy of his kingdom. But the third servant is very different. Verse 24, he also, who had received the one talent, came forward saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not so, and gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the

8:19ground. Here, you have what is yours. Now, first off, the third servant, questions the Master's own character. And sadly, we see people do this with God today. One of the things that I see so often is people will come to the Scriptures and they will read something in the Bible that offends them, something that goes against the grain of our culture. And that's really the entire Bible that goes against the way our culture and the world thinks. And so they will see things and they will begin to question it or say, that can't be true or I wouldn't worship a God like that. They say things like that. That's the attitude of this third servant. The first thing is is he kind of thinks that his Master isn't a good guy to begin with. And since in the parable, the Master is parallel to the Lord Jesus, that you can understand from the very start just how wicked this servant's attitude is toward his Master. Not only does he question the Master's character, he says, I didn't lose your money. I was afraid that if I lost your money, that you would punish me.

9:21So I buried your money and now I've dug it back up and here it is, returned to you in full. How does the Master respond? Let's see, verse 26, but his Master answered him, you wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reate where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed, then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers. And at my coming notice, this is parallel to the paracia, the second coming of Christ. And at my coming, I should have received what was my own with interest. I expected a return on my investment, the Master says to the third servant. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. And you think about this, this makes sense. If you were to invest a million dollars with someone and after several years, you've got no return on your investment now in today's world due to inflation, you would have

10:24lost money. It wasn't quite the same in the ancient world. They didn't have the kind of runaway inflation that we tend to have today in world economies. But nonetheless, as you consider this, the third servant, I mean, the Master could have done this himself. He could have buried the money himself. The third servant didn't do anything for the Master. In fact, he wasted the opportunity to get a return on the investment. And the Master is furious with this lazy servant. He says in verse 27, then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers. I mean, you could have at least put it in a savings account and got a nominal rate of return. I could have gotten a little bit back for my investment. I've got nothing back. And so indeed, the Master is furious with this wicked, lazy servant. He says in verse 28, take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents. My point here is this, if you were investing money, say with different investment bankers or in different retirement accounts and things like that. And one place you

11:26invest your money gives you a huge return. And another place gives you no return at all. And you see this consistently over time. After some time, you're going to begin to think, maybe I should just move more of my money over here with this guy or in this account where it's producing a return. It's a natural and reasonable way to think. And so the Master says, take the one talent from the servant who gave me no return and give it to that really faithful servant who gave me a 100% return on five talents, which is to say, it's not about how much God entrusts you with and gifts and abilities in this life. You are still expected to serve him all the same. So many people say, well, I'm not called to be a pastor. I'm not even called to be a Deacon or I can't serve in that role. And you might say to yourself, well, I can't be as useful for God's kingdom nonsense. Nonsense. God put you on this earth to serve him faithfully. And he expects a return on the investment that he has entrusted to you. And you will one day stand before him like these three

12:30servants. And you will give a reckoning and you will give an account for what you've done with the days that he has entrusted to you on this earth. And he expects there to be people who have come into the kingdom of God because of your witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so this is what happens. Verse 29, Jesus says, for to everyone who has more will be given and he will have an abundance. That is, if you are faithful in the investment that God has given you in this life, in the afterlife, in heaven, you will receive an even greater abundance and an even greater reward. But he says in the second half of verse 29, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But what do you mean, even what he has will be taken away? He explains it in verse 30. And casts the worthless servant into the outer darkness in that place where there will be weeping

13:32and gnashing of teeth. We heard about this place at the end of chapter 24 verse 51. This is where the hypocrites go in the place where they will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is hell, eternal suffering for sin where God inflicts his wrath upon the unrepentant sinner forever in a real place called hell. And so what Jesus says here is that, look, I entrust certain things to you. And if you give me no return on that investment, this is where you end up. So let's answer the question. Will those who do not share the gospel with the loss will they go to hell? The answer is yes, they will. The parable clearly says so in verse 30. Now, do they go to hell because they didn't share the gospel with the loss? Well, no, that's really the wrong way of looking at it. I am saying, and the parable is saying, that those who don't share their faith will go to hell, but the reason they go to hell is because they never were a true servant of the master to begin with.

14:33They are wicked and lazy servants. No matter what they call themselves, no matter if they pretend to be true servants of the master, they're not. Again, I remind you of the quote from Charles Haddon's Spurgeon. He said that there are really just two types of Christians, missionaries, and imposter. And Spurgeon's point was, is that true Christians naturally share their faith. It's a part of our very redeemed, regenerate nature. If you say you love the Lord Jesus and you don't tell anyone about him, do you really love him? If you believe that this gospel is the only message that can save men and women's souls, and they have what is the equivalent of spiritual cancer, and it is terminal, and it will destroy their soul, but you have the cure. You have the gospel of Jesus Christ. You have the only message that can possibly save their soul. And you don't share that message with them. Then the question is, do you really love them if you don't share the

15:33only message that can save their soul? And do you really love Christ? If he was willing to live a perfect, sinless life, go to the cross of Calvary, die, rise from the dead, and he's coming back one day in order to save men and women's souls. And you don't even bother to tell people about the extent that Jesus has gone to to provide such a great salvation. Then you don't love lost people, and you don't love Jesus no matter how much you profess otherwise. The reality is, those who don't share their faith will go to hell because they're not Christians to begin with. Thank you for your time and attention today. Next week, we're going to complete our series in the Olivet Discourse as we look at the final text, the sheep in the goat judgment. Thank you. rockwallbibles.com