The Parable of the
Talents

 The Parable of the Talents:

Matthew 25.14-30

“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The "imagination" is a whole world inside the mind...

Parables are powerful "word-pictures" that are meant to be engrafted into our thinking...as mental pictures do control our thought-life. That's where the "imagination" gets involved. The imagination allows mental exploration of the past, present, future. It is the ability to see pictures and images in the "movie theater" of the mind. The imagination is the "workshop" of the human mind. It is the only thing in the world we have complete control over. That's why GOD takes great interest of what goes on there, and judges what we allow to grow there - Genesis 6.5

What GOD gives us is "required" to be put into use...

The overwhelming message of this parable on the talents/abilities is -  1. Every gift, talent or ability is precious in the sight of GOD 2. The one-talent recipient did not "understand" that receiving required activation, not burial... 3. It is not in our human capacity to know who or which people have one, two, or three talents...to be able to identify them as such is out of our capacity They must be used They are given to be used It is better to use and fail, than to bury what GOD gives us Risk and failure is common and can be corrected and overcome Not using what GOD gives us is inexcusable Trying gets GOD's approval Hiding the working potential, gets GOD's wrath

Of the three servants, two were prepared to invest their talents. One was not.

The one-talent servant was not prepared to take the risk and trade his gifting.

There are millions who have "buried" their GOD-given opportunity for increase and fruitfulness and what abilities they have received to invest lie dormant. Nothing can grow until it is put out there into the marketplace...

Songs are not sung, prisoners not visited, children not fed, some are naked -not clothed when they could be, hungry - but not fed...all because of fear of failure!

Why do people bury their contribution, their gift, their unique ability? They become afraid of :

• rejection
• insecurity
• lack of leadership
• pride
• lack of direction
• want to stay in their "comfort zone."
• afraid of "failure"

Burying the gift, ability, opportunity is failure. Begin today - look for your assignment, and do not allow anybody, or anything stop you. The only one who truly has the power to stop you - is yourself, nobody else!

Use what GOD has given you - get it out there, so it can multiply. And one more thing - God does NOT expect a one-talent to multiply to a three, or two increase, or fruitfulness. Just doubling it got the same response...

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant, in whom I am well pleased."       Matthew 12.18

Don't let anyone hold you back from starting the race! We must get out of the gate in order to win -

Luke 21.1-4 "While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.” Only GOD knows who is using, or hiding their talents. We cannot judge what we have no inside knowledge of. Nothing is too small to activate... How about just "two mites", or "one cup of cold water?" Matthew 10.42 Where do we get to judge what only GOD sees and has the inside story on?

Fatal results for non-users Neglect the ability, or gift GOD gave to be used Hide it - you lose it Let fear of failure control non-action "Take away the talent from him" and "cast him out into outer darkness..."

The one-talent servant... Failed to understand that the ultimate purpose of receiving the ability was to activate it No gift or ability is given with the option of "use it if you wish, bury it if you wish" tag on it GOD requires usage, and that requires risk of failure Failure is NOT a dead end - not using the gift, talent, or ability is Do not play it "safe" with any ability GOD gives

Some thoughts on talents or gifts...and harvest

Life is amazingly fruitful for any talent sown... Seed planted, and watered - will create and multiply. This is the way GOD has set it up... Don't depreciate your gift or ability. Put it to use, and GOD will multiply it for His purposes and our blessing and reward.

1. How did GOD decide to give the different number of giftings to each of these servants?
2. Why do you think the "I got just one" person chose to put his gift in the ground?
3. Does this word-picture tell us that there is risk involved in trying to put these GOD giftings to work?
4. Do you have any idea of what "I will put you in charge of much" means?

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