We're going to preach tonight there in Matthew chapter 25, we're going to be coming back
there a little bit later in the sermon.
But if you want to turn over to Ephesians chapter 4, keep something in Matthew 25, we'll
come back, but go over to Ephesians chapter 4, we want to preach a sermon entitled Attitude
and Opportunity, Attitude and Opportunity.
And we see there in Matthew chapter 25, where he of course is a famous parable about the
talents, right?
Where he's talking about how he gives to one five talents, another two talents, and to
the last one talent.
And we probably, most of us understand what a talent is, but a lot of times people want
to misinterpret that and say, oh, these are the gifts that God gives you.
And there's some truth that I suppose, but really I think what we need to understand
is that talent is something that's of worth, basically is that.
That it is something that has value.
If we were to go back in the scripture and look at what that talent is in the Bible,
it's really a measure of currency.
If you go to Exodus 38, you'll see that the gold was measured in talents, the silver was
measured in talents, the brass was measured in talents when they were building the tabernacle.
So a talent in the Bible is something that has worth to it, something that has merit,
something that God is giving to us that has value, and it's not something that should
be squandered or wasted, but as we saw in the parable, it's something that should be
put to use and actually bring a return, it should be profitable, it should be invested.
But it's a measure of currency, and in this parable, the lord of the parable is giving
his servants something of worth, not just because he likes them, not just because he's
saying, oh, you earned this, and I just want to be nice to you.
Right?
He's giving them this talent because he's expecting that these servants would put it
to use, and what he's doing is he's giving those servants an opportunity.
You could say he's giving them a great deal of responsibility, and we'll talk about that
in a minute, but what he's really doing when you think about it is he's giving them a great
opportunity when he gives them these talents.
And I want to preach this tonight because I've been thinking about the fact that the
lord has given all of us something of value.
You know, I don't care if it's five talents or two or one, we've all got something to
work with.
We've all got something that we can put to work for the lord and bring a return.
God has given us all an ability to serve him and do something for the lord, to whatever
degree that is, and I've been thinking about this a little bit more lately just because
of the fact that it feels like and is true that this church has kind of gone to another
level and I don't want to say that in a braggadocious way or because I'm trying to make myself into
something, but because of the fact that I am living here, that I have committed to coming
down here and leading this church and being here.
I know for myself I'm thinking, okay, next level, let's take it to the next level.
All these things that we've been wanting to do and thinking about doing, let's do them.
That's what I'm here for, right?
That would be true of anybody that came down here.
If it was me, another man, whoever, anybody that came down to take this thing by the horns
and really go with it, it's not necessarily the person.
I understand that.
We all understand that.
That's why I've been thinking about this because I feel like in a way we've kind of been a
two-talent church for a long time and not that that's a bad thing.
We've had two talents given to us.
There was a lot we could do, but now it feels like we've kind of moved over into this transition
a little bit to now where we're a five-talent church, where now God has given us a little
bit more and said, here's some more opportunity.
He's given us more opportunity because, again, these talents, yeah, there's something of
worth.
There's something that God expects us to do something with, but we have to understand
you can look at that in one of two ways.
You can say, well, what a burden.
God expects something out of me, or you can look at it this way, that God has given us
a great opportunity.
I really feel like that's where we're at in this church.
We're ready to start doing some things.
We have a door open before us.
We have a great opportunity to go out and serve God like we never have before.
So the Lord has given us all something of value, whether it's as a church or as individuals.
We have to understand that he's expecting us to do something with it, meaning this,
that we have to have the right attitude.
It's great to have the opportunity, but if you don't have the right attitude, that opportunity
is going to be missed.
That attitude, or excuse me, that opportunity is going to go by the wayside.
We're going to miss out on that, right?
And what I want to start out this evening is just talking about the fact that we all
have different abilities, and the Bible teaches this.
We all have a different number of talents given to each one of us, basically saying
this.
Not everyone in the room has the same opportunity that the other person has, and that's just
because of life, you know, circumstances, the roles we play in life, so on and so forth.
And there's nothing wrong with that.
That's not a bad thing.
That's a good thing, okay?
But look there in Ephesians chapter four, verse four, it says this, there is one body
and one spirit, even as you're all called the one hope of your calling.
So no matter what our ability is, no matter what opportunity has been given to us, it's
all pointed in the same end.
It's all the same means to the same end, okay?
We might have different abilities, we might have more or less opportunity than somebody,
but it's all pointed at the same goal, right?
Because there's one body, one spirit, even as you're all called and you're calling, one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through
all and in you all.
But verse seven, unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift
of Christ, wherefore he saith when he ascended up on high and he led a captivity captive
and gave gifts unto men.
So God has bestowed gifts upon men, upon the local New Testament church.
We're gonna see a little bit more about that here in a minute.
And it says there in verse 11, Ephesians four, and he gave some apostles and some prophets
and some evangelists and some pastors and some teachers for what?
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of Christ.
Now those people in that list, you would probably say they have been given more talent.
As far, I'm not saying in terms of ability.
I'm not saying talent as in some inherent God-given ability.
I'm saying as they've been given more opportunity.
They've been given a greater talent, okay?
Why?
To do something with it, right?
It's also, there's a responsibility that comes with that.
These gifts, these abilities, it's not that they're better or worse than makes that person
better or worse.
It just simply means that they're different, that we all have different roles to play in
the local church and we all just need to make sure we're doing our part.
Whether we're somebody that God has only given the one talent to, our responsibility
is smaller as far as the work of Christ and everything else and everything regarding to
that.
Or we're two.
Maybe we have more opportunity than some people.
Or maybe we've been given five talents, which is we have a great opportunity to do great
works for God and to spearhead things, okay?
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, 1 Corinthians chapter 12, because he talks about this.
He goes on about the fact that God has given gifts unto men.
We read the parable where God's given one guy five.
He's given another guy two talents.
He's given another guy one talent.
And all he's looking for is that when those servants are given that opportunity, that
they do something with it, that they take something that God has given that is of value
and they invest it and they bring a return back to their Lord.
That's what's important.
People sometimes they get so caught up in the amount that they've been given, right?
They say, well, it's only one talent.
Wasn't that the guy's problem in the parable?
No, it's just one talent.
He's not going to mind if I just bury it after all.
I'm not the guy that got five talents.
Yeah, the guy with five talents better do something with what he's been given.
And he should.
But that's an attitude that sometimes we can get.
We say, well, I'm not the pastor.
What if I got that?
Well, I'm not an apostle.
So what does it matter?
We don't want to let that attitude creep into our hearts and our minds.
We want to understand that no matter what opportunity God has given to us, we need to
use it to our fullest capacity.
Because here's the thing, the parable is just a parable.
And it's not like you've been given two talents, that's all you ever have.
In life, the way it really works is that when we are faithful in that which is another man's,
God will give us that which is our own.
If we've been faithful in little, then God will make us faithful in much.
That's how it works in the Christian life.
But let's look here in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
Again, so if we were one, five, two talents, doesn't matter, it's what we're doing with
it.
What is our attitude like with the opportunity that we've been given?
It says in verse 1, now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
He wants them to understand this.
Look at verse 4.
We're going to kind of jump over a lot of this.
We could really take the time to read the whole thing, but it says in verse 4, now there
are diversities of gifts.
There's diversities of gifts, meaning some people have some gifts and some people don't.
But the same spirit, again, it's all the same goal.
It's all the same end.
And there are differences of administrations.
There's people that are going to have different levels of authority, people that are going
to take care of different administrations.
About the same Lord.
Ultimately, God is the supreme boss that we're all accountable to.
And there are diversity of operations.
These are all different.
Not everyone's going to have the same role to play.
Not everyone's going to have the same amount of talent to invest.
But we'll see here later that we all have the same opportunity to do great things for
God, no matter what we've been given.
But it is the same God which work with in all, all in all, excuse me, verse 7, but the
manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to profit with all.
So at the end of the day, we've all got the spirit.
And what are we to do with that spirit?
To profit.
We've all been given at least one talent.
Isn't that the parable?
One guy had five, one guy had two, one guy had one, but they all had at least one, didn't
they?
And they all had, and God had the same intention behind every talent that he gave out to those
people.
Every opportunity to become profitable.
Let's jump down to verse 11.
So he talks about those different gifts, right?
For the sake of time, we're going to jump to verse 11.
But all these, these different gifts he talks about, worketh that one and the selfsame spirit
dividing to every man severally as he will.
For as the body is one and hath many members, all the members of that one body being many
are one body, so also is Christ.
So he starts to go into this analogy of the local church being likened unto a physical
body.
And he says in verse 14, for the body is not one member, but many.
The body isn't just a giant foot, right?
Body has two feet, two hands, two arms, two legs.
It says there in verse 15, if the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of
the body, is it therefore not of the body?
You could probably see the foot saying that.
I'm stuck in a shoe all day.
No one sees me, unless you live in Arizona where you can wear sandals, right?
Sometimes it gets smelly down here.
No one pays that much attention to me.
I'm not front and center.
I'm not at eye level.
No one really sees me.
No one ever walks up to so-and-so and says, nice feet.
They talk about, oh, did you get a haircut, whatever.
That's where the compliments come, right?
You can see the foot saying, well, I'm not the hand.
The hand gets to do all this work.
It's shaking everybody else's hand.
It gets to do all this.
It's writing all these important things.
It's signing these checks.
It's doing this.
It's doing that.
All I'm doing is carrying this big dope around, right?
You could see why the foot might say that to the hand and get bitter about it.
But does that mean it's not important?
It's just that the foot has a bad attitude, right?
It's just that guy with the one talent says, well, I only got one talent.
Why didn't I get five?
Well, look what you do with one.
Look what you did with one.
Why would God give you five, right?
And if the ears shall say, because I'm not the eye, am I not the body?
Same thing, right?
Same attitude.
If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
He's saying, look, we have to have all these different members because they all make up
the whole.
They're all important because they make up the whole.
If the whole body were an eye, wherewith were the hearing?
If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
Verse 18.
But now God has set members, every one of them, in the body as it hath pleased him.
So why does so-and-so get to do that?
Or why does so-and-so get to be this or do that?
Or why do I get that saying, well, because it pleased God.
Why do I have to be the foot?
Because it pleased God.
Because he said, that pleases me that you're the foot.
And if we had the right attitude, what we would say is, I'm going to be the best foot
there is.
No one's going to be a better foot than me.
You know?
And I'm talking right foot.
You could fight it out with the left foot.
That would be the right attitude, to embrace the role that God has given us.
The guy that had one parable, and we'll see in another parable about talents later, you
can do a lot with one.
I mean, what was keeping the guy back from one, with one talent, doing more than what
the guy had with five?
He started out behind, didn't he?
But if he had worked hard, if he had been diligent, if he had been wise, he probably
could have come back with even more than the guy that got five, if he really worked at
it.
But, you know, no matter what, you're not going to get anything if you take the one
thing God has given you and bury it in the ground.
You're never going to accomplish anything.
You're just going to be dead weight on the body if all you think is, I'm just a foot.
And then we're like this, always dragging this foot around.
I start to think, well, maybe we should amputate.
Why don't you just get gangrene?
He says God pleased to put him there.
God is pleased.
He put him there as it pleased him.
Verse 19, if they were all one member, where were the body?
But now there are many members, yet one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee, nor the head to the feet, I
have no need of you.
Nay, much more, those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary.
See that's how the bad attitude comes.
That's how the foot gets the bad attitude, because he just says, well, I'm just a foot.
And he says, well, the body must not value me very much.
But the truth is, what the Bible's showing us, is that those that we would think, oh,
it's not that important, are all the more important.
I probably should have fact checked this, but I've been told that if you even lost a
pinky toe, you have to learn how to walk a little bit differently, don't you?
Think about it.
We don't think about it, but it's down there, and we're used to walking around on that
old pinky toe all the time, and we don't even think about it.
The body's learned right where that pinky's got to land every time, and how much pressure
can be put on it, so we don't fall over.
And if we lost that pinky toe, I'm not saying we'd be crippled, but we would notice.
And it would be a while before we got back to not thinking about the pinky toe anymore.
You get one little sliver on the end of your pinky, that's all you think about until that
thing's out of there.
The pinky toe disappears.
No one notices until it's gone.
But it's important, isn't it?
I mean, it's, ah, it's just a pinky toe.
Well, cut yours off.
We'll see how you feel about that pinky toe once it's gone.
And look, that's the way, and again, he's likening the church under this body.
And we should never look at somebody and say, well, he's a pinky toe at best.
Well, she's, you know, she's that middle toe, right, the one that's a little crooked.
It's got a little fungus on it, ah, I'm kidding, I'll stop.
Right?
It's not that important.
That's the wrong attitude to have.
Look, the body, the members themselves can have that attitude about themselves, can't
they?
The foot can say, oh, I'm just a foot, but he goes on and says, don't let the eye say
to the hand, I have no need of you.
We shouldn't get this puffed up attitude either.
Well, I'm a five-talent Christian, how many talents did you get?
I don't hang out in a sock all day, I'm up on the head.
I'm looking around, you know?
That's not, that's not an attitude we want to get either, right?
This bad attitude can affect the other members too, right?
That's what he's kind of showing us here.
In verse 23, and those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, upon
these we bestow a more abundant honor, and our uncommonly parts have more abundant comeliness.
For our commonly parts have no need, but God hath tempered the body together, having given
more abundant honor to that which lacked.
You know, God's saying, I know you're just the foot, and you're not very comely, you're
not very attractive, you're not what's considered beautiful, right?
But the Bible says because of that, God gives that more honor, right?
He's willing to make up that which lacks, and to esteem it very highly.
For what reason?
Verse 25, that there should be no schism in the body, but the member should have the same
care one for another.
We should care for the members of the body.
No matter what level they're at in their Christian life, no matter what role they're playing
in the local church, we should care for every member.
Right now, I think our church has a lot of unity in it.
I feel like our church has never had more unity than it does right now.
And that's great.
And you know what?
Enjoy that, and keep that going as long as you can.
But you know what, there's always that possibility that we might not be so unified, if we're
not careful.
I mean, the Bible talks a lot about, and Paul and Peter and others, they warn a lot about
endeavoring to keep the spirit of unity and the bond of peace, something you have to work
at, right?
Something we have to make sure that we're on point about.
And God doesn't want any schism in the body.
And the way we're going to make sure that doesn't happen is by what?
By making sure we don't look down on somebody else who we think isn't as important in the
local church.
They're all important.
Everybody's important.
And I'm telling you, the one talent guy can do more than the five talent guy, if he has
the right attitude.
Because it's not just about opportunity, it's about attitude.
He says in verse 27, now ye are the body of the Christ, and members in particular.
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers,
and after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
So he actually gives a kind of a, I don't want to say hierarchy or a pecking order,
but he definitely puts things in order of, it seems like a priority, right?
He's saying apostles, prophets, teachers, then gifts of healing, and then helps, and
then governments, and then diversities of tongues, are all apostles, are all prophets,
are all teachers, are all workers of miracles, have all the gifts of healing, do all speak
with tongues, do all interpret?
The answer's no.
Not everyone's going to have the same gift as somebody else.
Not everybody's going to play the same role.
Not everyone's going to have five talents to invest.
Not everyone's going to have two, but we all have at least one.
He says in verse 31, but covet earnestly the best gifts.
You know, we shouldn't get so hung up on these things, and yet I will show you a more
excellent way, and of course we know 1 Corinthians 13 where he goes into charity, and he talks
about how, you know, if you have all these things and have not charity, you know, you're
as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.
It's worthless.
It's pointless.
Without charity, none of that even matters, okay?
But when I'm starting out, and really this is just kind of an introduction, it's just
showing us that some people have more opportunity than others, don't they?
Some people have more opportunity than others, and it's not because they're better.
It's just because sometimes that's the way life works out.
That's just the way circumstances are.
We're not all going to have the same opportunities as everybody else, and that can't be helped,
but if you are, if you kept something there, go into Matthew chapter 25, what really matters
is our attitude.
So why is it that some people have more opportunity than others?
Well, a lot of it's based on ability, right?
A lot of it is, you know, there is that.
God gives more opportunity to other people because they have the ability to do something
with it.
We're not all going to have the same ability, not necessarily because we don't have the
same, you know, aptitude, but maybe just life hasn't given us.
We're just held back by pasts or something like that, okay, circumstances.
I mean, that's what it says here, Matthew 25 verse 14, for the kingdom of heaven is
a man traveling into a far country, right?
Jesus went to heaven, he traveled in a far country, who called his own servants and delivered
unto them his goods, right?
That's what he did when he ascended.
And unto one he gave five talents, unto another two, unto another one, to every man according
to his what?
Several ability.
You can handle five.
I'm going to give you five.
You can handle two.
You get two.
You get one.
Here you go.
And it's based upon ability.
And it's not a matter of someone being better than somebody else.
It's not that at all.
It's just simply because of circumstance a lot of times.
It's simply determined by what we are capable of doing, okay?
Now the point I want to really drive home here is this, is that, and this is something
to consider, you know, this is, you know, if we're the one talent guy, if we're the
foot, you know, and we're getting angry at the face or whatever, you know, you need
to understand this, that the greater the talent, the more that's been given, the greater the
responsibility.
The more accountability is there.
Go to Luke chapter 12.
Luke chapter 12.
You don't have to keep anything in Matthew.
We're done there.
Go to Luke chapter 12.
The greater the talent, the greater the responsibility.
Bible says in James 3, my brethren, be not many masters knowing that we shall receive
the greater condemnation.
Masters talking about teachers right there, instructors.
There's a more responsibility that we're going to receive the greater condemnation, right?
We're going to be held to a higher accountability.
Luke chapter 12, Luke verse 42, and the Lord said, who then is that faithful and wise servant
whom the Lord shall make ruler over his own household?
Luke chapter 12 verse 42, to give them their portion of meat in their due season, blessed
is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing.
Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
So again, this goes back to this idea, it's what are you doing with what you've been given?
What kind of attitude do you have about the opportunity that's been given to you?
Are we just saying, well, it's not that important?
No, it is important.
And if we want more, if we want to rule over all that he hath, then we have to make sure
that we're found doing what's expected of us, right?
He says in verse 45, but if that servant say in his heart, my Lord delay at this coming
and shall begin to beat the men servants and maid servants and to eat and to drink and
to be drunken.
I mean, he's treating his coworkers poorly.
He's just going in the fridge and just helping himself to whatever.
The Lord of that servant, verse 46, will come in a day when he looketh not for him.
He's going to get relaxed.
He's going to say, ah, he's been gone so long, he's probably never coming back.
What does it matter what I do with what's been given me?
What does it matter how I treat this responsibility that's been given me?
Well, it says he's going to come back in a day if you look not for him.
And what?
When he's not aware and will cut him and sunder and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
Now, I'm not saying that, you know, people, again, it's parable, you can't, we don't want
to develop doctrine out of this, but there's a principle there that the servant who just
wastes the opportunity to have, he's going to have his portion with the, with the unbelievers.
Another parable he says he's going to appoint them with the portion of the hypocrites.
There's going to be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Meaning this, that you're going to have the same inheritance as them.
Or I should guess I should say it like this.
You're going to have the same amount of rewards.
None.
Which is zero, right?
The unbelievers have no rewards.
None.
They have nothing to look forward, they don't, they don't even have heaven to look forward
to at all.
So if we mistreat the responsibility that's been given us, you know, you have about the
same amount of reward as an unbeliever, okay?
Verse 47, and that servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself, neither
did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
Say, well, I want to do more, you know, I want God to give me more.
Okay?
God gives us opportunity, what are we doing with it?
If we know his will and we don't do what we're supposed to, we're going to be beaten with
many stripes.
Why?
Because of the fact that the greater the responsibility, the greater the accountability that's been
given to us.
But he that knew not and did not and did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with
few stripes.
And here's the principle, for unto whosoever much is given of him shall much be required.
To whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
So if we want to do more for the Lord, if we want a greater responsibility, say, well,
I've got this one talent, but you know what, I think I could handle two, that we need to
make sure we're being faithful with the one talent God has given unto us.
Meaning this, we have to have the right attitude with the opportunity that has been given us.
And we're talking about this in spiritual terms, we're talking about serving the Lord,
but you could really apply this across the board.
You could apply this with your job.
We want the promotion, we want to make more money, we want our boss to acknowledge us.
But we can't show up on time.
We're always calling in, we're never willing to go do extra.
We always have a bad attitude when we're there.
Well, why would he want to give us more responsibility if we're not performing well with what he's
already given us?
The point is this, is that attitude, not ability, is what determines the level of reward.
This is what I want us to understand, I think we kind of looked at the fact that some of
us are given more talents than others, some of us are given more opportunity to do greater
things for God than others, and we talked about that's because of a lot of times just
because of circumstance, so on and so forth.
But we should never, we need to understand this also, is that it's the attitude and not
the ability that determines the reward.
Because the guy with five talents could just as easily blow it as the guy with one.
The guy with one talent could outwork the guy with five and have more if he had the
right attitude.
Are you in Luke?
Go to Luke 19, Luke 19.
Because he gives another parable about this, he gives another parable about distributing
talents and pounds, he talks about this again.
Where he's giving out something of value, where he's giving his servants something of
worth and expecting them to do something with it.
He says in Luke 19 verse 12, he said, therefore, a certain nobleman went into a far country
to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.
Sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it?
And he called his 10 servants, so he's got 10 guys, right, and he delivered them 10 pounds.
So now you got 10 guys, he's got 10 pounds and he's giving it to them.
So what does that mean?
Every guy's got one pound.
In this parable, everyone's starting out with the same amount.
The last one, one guy got five, another guy got two, another guy at one.
Everyone according to his several ability.
And there's a lot we can learn from that, talk about it.
Now we have to understand that it's attitude more than opportunity that matters.
Opportunity is important, some of us are going to just have more opportunity to others, but
if we have the right attitude, we could do even more.
Because here, everyone has the same amount.
Everyone's starting out at the same level, right?
They all have one pound.
And he gave them 10 pounds and said, occupy till I come, but his citizens hated him and
sent a message after him saying, we will not have this man to reign over us.
And it came to pass that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he commanded
these servants to be called unto him to whom he had given the money that he might know
how much every man had gained by trading.
So it wasn't that he left them this pound, this money for safekeeping, he wanted to say,
hey, what'd you do with it?
How much have you gained?
Let's have a report.
And you know, this is a parable, but this is something that's actually going to happen
to us.
Did you know that we're all going to stand before Christ one day and give an account
for the things on our body, whether good or evil?
I'm not talking about sin.
We're talking about, we're going to give a report for what did you do for Christ on earth?
What did you accomplish for his glory?
What did you do for the kingdom of God while you were there?
What did you do with the spirit of God that was in your heart?
What did you do with the Bible that you were able to read every day?
What did you do with the opportunities at your local church to go out and serve God?
What did you do with all that?
Let's have a report.
And it's not going to be a report given to me, it's not going to be a report given to
somebody else in the church, it's going to be a report that you give to the Lord.
And that's something we need to really let sink in in our Christian lives and really
affect us.
Because this is a parable, but he's alluding onto a spiritual truth, a reality.
He said there that he wanted to know what every man had gained by trading, verse 16.
Then the first came saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained 10 pounds.
That must have felt pretty good.
That guy must have been like first in line, right?
He was the first one called, he must have been like, stand this side, I can't wait to
tell him.
That's the guy I want to be.
Not the guys in the back like, maybe he'll forget, is it closing time yet?
You know, when you've done, you know, you've messed up, it's time to turn to that report
at school or whatever, teachers collecting all the papers, like, oh, I got to use the
bathroom.
Right?
I want to be this guy, the guy who can't wait, just out of my way.
I got 10 pounds.
And he said unto him, well, thou good servant, because thou has been faithful in very little,
have thou authority over 10 cities.
Now why does he use that analogy?
Why does he say have authority over 10 cities?
Because again, this is alluding to the judgment seat of Christ, where God is going to give
authority to his servants, literally over cities, I believe that.
That's what the Bible says, we shall rule and reign with Christ upon the earth for a
thousand years.
We're going to rule and reign with him.
I believe some people are going to get, we're going to get literal cities.
He's going to say, you're in charge of this area, you're in charge of this area, you're
in charge of this area, and there's a whole lot to that, right?
Verse 18, then the second came saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.
I'm sure he felt pretty good about that too.
And he said, likewise to him, be thou also over five cities.
He didn't say, well, why don't you have 10?
Didn't you hear the last guy?
He had 10, what's your excuse?
He was just happy that he did something with it.
Like he said to the guy with two pounds, he was just happy, oh, your pound has gained
two pounds.
All he did was double it.
And he said, good, good job, enter into the joy of thy Lord.
Oh, he had one, he got five, great job.
He was just looking for us to do something with it.
I mean, the guy with 10, I mean, that's 10 times the amount he left him with, that's
a huge increase.
And five is big too.
And another came, verse 20, and said, Lord, here is thy pound, which I have laid up in
a napkin.
I'm sorry, what?
You did what with it?
Oh, I put it in a napkin.
Okay, why?
Well, because I knew you were an austere man, you know, reaping where thou hast not sown.
And I was afraid.
I mean, what was this guy thinking?
What do you think was going to happen?
Well, I was afraid to do anything with it, because you might be mad if I lost it or something.
Oh, okay.
But isn't that how a lot of Christians are today?
They've got the pound, man, if they could just get two, if they could just get another
one, God would say, well done.
Well, we always think, oh, well, if I can't get 10, then I might as well not even try.
If I can't be the guy who gets 10 pounds, well, I might as well just quit.
God just wants you to do something with what you have.
You know, whether it's big or small, do something with it.
Have the right attitude about the opportunity that God has given you to serve him and to
bring something to him when he returns.
And that's not a fairy tale.
I think sometimes we think that's some distant thing that's just never going to happen.
That's going to happen.
You are going to give this account.
And you're not going to be able to just go, well, it's his fault.
Well, here it is.
You know, I laid it up in a napkin.
So many Christians, they're like, that's what they're putting, they're taking that light
and they're just putting it right under a bushel, and they just want to, you know, hide
and not do anything with it.
The opportunity is wasted, right?
And a lot of times this opportunity is wasted because of a lack of faithfulness.
It's a lack of faithfulness to doing the Lord's will, right?
So the point of the message tonight is this.
Take advantage of the opportunity you have to serve the Lord.
And don't get so hung up on, am I going to be able to do as much as so and so?
Well, I don't know, I'm never going to be able to go on that missions trip.
I'm not going to Africa.
Must be nice.
Ten talent guys.
I'm never going to get up behind the pulpit and preach.
Must be nice.
That's the wrong attitude.
That's the foot going, I'm not the hand.
It's the wrong attitude.
And what's going to end up happening is you're going to waste the opportunity that you do
have.
Well, I could go soul winning once a week.
Well, I could come to church and be faithful to church.
I could raise my family for the Lord.
I could teach my kids the Bible.
I could honor my parents.
Think all the things you can do.
Think all the opportunities you do have.
You know, maybe you're not going to go on some great excursion.
Maybe you're not going to go set the whole world on fire for Christ.
Maybe we're not going to have 100,000 subscribers on YouTube.
In fact, I guarantee it.
So what?
What can we do?
Maybe we're not going to knock every door in the entire contiguous North American continent.
We can knock them all in Pima County.
We can knock them all in the city of Tucson.
What do you think what God would say about that?
Oh, you only knock the doors of two million people?
That's it?
Why don't you go to New York?
Why don't you go to the Big Apple and knock those doors?
No, God's going to say, well done.
Why?
Because you did something.
You had the right attitude.
And you did something with the opportunity that God gave you.
So take an opportunity to serve the Lord.
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 3.
And say, well, I'm going to heaven and that's all I care about.
You know, I don't do this for rewards.
You know, I said that once to a preacher and he never let me forget it.
I heard his son get up and preach it the other day and he brought it up.
I don't know if he was referring to me.
He didn't mention you my name.
But I said, I remember when I said that to your dad, where I said, well, I'm not doing
it for rewards.
And he walked away and then he thought about it.
I could tell he was thinking about it.
And then he came back and he said, well, I do do it for rewards.
And you know, and I've thought about that a lot.
You know what?
I'm in it for the rewards too.
Let me just go in.
All right, you're more spiritual than me, I guess.
But let me just go ahead and tell you something.
I'm in it for the rewards.
You want five cities?
I want 10.
Ultimately all I want to hear is well done.
Hearing those words are worth more than anything.
But if I want to hear those words, you know what I can't do is go in a napkin and not
do anything with it and get a bad attitude.
What I need to do is go, let me, whatever amount this is, let me at least double it.
And then I'll hear those words.
And that's the one guy who was given one talent.
If he just, every other guy in Matthew 25, all he did was double it.
The guy went from five to 10.
The guy went from, what was it, two to four.
Was it four?
Yeah, was it five?
I don't know.
The point is this, that you got to do something with it and not just hide it.
And if you'll just do that, well done, thou good and faithful servant.
And that's why I'm in it.
Otherwise, let's just go home.
You guys can read your Bible on your own.
You can pray on your own.
You can sing on your own.
We can stop printing these bulletins with these soul winning times.
I can quit counting numbers, try and encourage people to go soul winning, and going soul
winning, leading soul winning.
But you know what?
There is a reward, isn't there?
And that's why I'm in it.
And Jesus said, behold, I come quickly.
It'll be here before you know it.
It's going to go like that.
And one day, whoa, I'm standing in front of the presence of God.
Hello.
I come quickly, he said, and my reward is with me.
He's not coming empty handed.
My reward is with me to give to every man, regardless of what he did with the opportunity
I gave him.
No.
To give every man according as his work shall be.
You're there in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 10.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 3 verse 10, according to the grace of God which is given
unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon.
But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon.
Look, the foundation has been laid.
You've been given at least that one talent.
You need to take heed what you're going to do with it, that opportunity.
Take heed how you build thereon.
For other foundation can no man lay that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,
stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it, that it shall
be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
Now this is kind of cryptic, and I've heard a lot of preaching on it.
I'm still not entirely sure how this is going to play out, but he is referring here to,
I believe, when God is going to try and reward us for our works, right?
And he says here that God is going to try our works by fire, and I believe that fire
there is the word of God, and he's going to say, look at what you did with your life.
And again, not sin, you know, there's that false teaching out there.
God's not going to bring up sin.
That's not what wood, hay, and stubble is, right?
Look, are wood, hay, and stubble useful things?
They are.
You can do a lot with wood, right?
You can feed animals with hay, stubble, I don't know, but there's got to be some kind of,
you could put it in the mud to make mortar, I don't know, but it's there, okay?
It's less useful, but it's still something that we, these are just the
pursuits that we all, these are the responsibilities that we all have.
We all have wood, hay, and stubble.
We all have bills to pay.
You think God's going to reward you for paying your bills?
Oh, good job.
You paid your taxes on time.
That's wood.
There's some works that are just, we're all going to have, wood, hay, and stubble.
But is everybody going to have silver, gold, silver, and precious stones?
We're not.
You know, a lot of, I've heard this preached different ways, and people have said, you know,
the silver is your faithfulness to the word of God, your submission to the word of God.
You know, how submitted you were to the word of God, because often silver is the price
of submission in the Bible, or it's the cost of somebody else being brought
under the authority of another, right?
You can study that out.
The precious stones are the souls that we save, so on and so forth.
Not everybody has that, right?
And God's going to reveal it that day, and I don't think this is going to be a private meeting.
I don't think God's going to call us into his office, and it's going to be a job review.
I think we're all going to see what so-and-so did or didn't do.
Man, look how he came out.
You know, there's probably going to be a lot of people that we weren't expecting,
they're going to walk by with a lot more rewards than we are.
Like, really?
I didn't even, I had no idea.
I had no idea.
There's probably going to be a lot of, you know, housewives, mothers,
that have a whole lot of reward, more rewards than a lot of preachers.
I've heard that, and I believe that, especially after some of the preachers I've met.
Just kidding, but not really, because there's some bums out there.
And there's a lot of housewives that are, got a lot of silver, don't they?
They're submitting the word of God.
They're fulfilling their roles.
And they're not getting all the accolades in this life, but I tell you what,
on that day, they're going to walk by and look at that preacher's wheelbarrow,
and whatever rewards he's got, go, hmm.
He's going, man, I wish I'd have been a housewife.
But God, we're all going to see it, I believe that, because the day shall declare it.
It's going to declare it, right?
If any man's work abide, which he hath built thereon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but
he himself shall be saved, so as by fire.
Go to 1 Corinthians 4, 1 Corinthians 4.
Take advantage of the opportunity to serve the Lord.
Have the right attitude about it, because of the fact that that day is coming.
The reward really is there.
There really is going to be a day of accounting with the Lord.
He is going to come and inspect and say, what did you do with what I gave you?
The Bible says, so then every one of us shall give a count of himself to God.
Romans chapter 14.
And we think, that's the unsaved.
Yeah, the unsaved, the great white throne judgment,
are going to be, the books are going to be open, and they're going to be judged.
We understand that.
But let's not get this attitude that just because we're Christian,
somehow we're off the hook.
Well, I'm saved, and God's just never going to judge me about anything.
No, he that knew his Lord's will and did it not shall be beaten with many stripes.
We're even more accountable, because we have the Spirit of God.
We're saved.
We can do great things for God.
We have the word of God.
We also should give account of ourselves to God.
And we understand, again, not that we're going to be condemned and sent to hell.
But whether or not we're going to receive any eternal rewards and glory.
1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 5, look there.
Therefore, judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who will bring to
light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart.
And then shall every man have praise of God.
Now, I want you to really think about what this is saying here.
Because again, we get this attitude of saying, well, I'm not in it for rewards.
You know, I don't need gold, silver, or precious stones.
I don't need to be over ten or five cities or whatever.
That, to me, that sounds a lot of work.
I'm just going to want to hang out in New Jerusalem and chat up the saints.
I just want to get to know, I'm just going to be in heaven, and I'm glad enough for that.
But what about the praise of God?
Because look at there, it says, then every man shall have praise of God.
Not every man is going to praise God.
Every man shall have the praise of God.
I mean, isn't that worth it?
I mean, the rewards aside, you know what I really want?
Is for God to say, well done, thou good and faithful servant.
Enter thou in the joy of the Lord.
And if I could just hear that, that's all I need to hear.
That's a reward enough for me.
Every man shall have praise of God after what?
He brings to light the hidden things of darkness.
After what?
After he makes manifest the counsels of the heart.
After he tries our works and we give an accounting of ourselves to God for what we
did on this earth, what our attitude was like about the opportunity that was given us.
That's when we have praise of God.
The praise of God is not just automatic.
Well, I'm glad you're here.
Enter thou in the joy of the Lord.
I'm so glad you made it.
That's not it.
It's well, yeah, I'm glad you're here.
You know, you couldn't do anything about it anyway.
You got saved.
You couldn't go to hell if you wanted to.
Go ahead, go on in.
But no praise.
No well done.
That'd be a heavy day, wouldn't it?
Watching everybody else.
Well done, good job.
Here's this crown.
Here's that crown.
Here's these rewards.
Look at your mansion.
I made it extra big because of everything you were willing to do.
You can go be over there and say, wow, look at everything they got.
What do we got?
And I've used this illustration many times, a pile of ashes.
Cuz all our works just burned up and there was nothing left over.
And all I got are these lousy ashes.
And on top of that, God just kind of looked at me and went, he did what?
Or more like, you didn't do?
It's more about what we didn't do than what we did, right?
Look, I wanna have praise of God that day.
And I'll take the rewards too.
So the question is this, what are you willing to exchange for the praise of God?
What are you willing to exchange to not hear those words?
Well done, thou good and faithful servant.
Is it your Sunday afternoon?
Is it some hobby?
Look, and I'm not against hobbies.
I should probably get one.
I think I'll take a bird watching.
I'm serious.
But I'm not gonna let it get in the way of serving God.
Maybe it's a job.
I'm not gonna let it get in the way of serving God.
Well, it's pretty easy for me to say at this point.
But look, it's only been two years as deacon and it hasn't always been that way.
And all those years leading up to this,
I never let my job get in the way of serving God, okay?
What are you gonna exchange for it?
You know, you answer that question, if that's an issue tonight.
You know what it is.
If that's the case with you, God's probably already put it on your mind.
God's probably already told you tonight, this is what you're going to give in
exchange for hearing me say, well done.
We have to ask ourselves, is it worth it?
The answer is no, the answer is no.
And the stark reality that we all need to face is that
we've all been given opportunity, right?
We all have the opportunity.
All of these have that one pound in life.
And we could do something with it if we had the right attitude.
But failure is an option.
There's a great sermon title.
Failure is an option.
Oftentimes we hear leaders say, failure is not an option.
Actually it is.
And people do it all the time.
We can miss out an opportunity.
You know, I think of one character we probably all know, Demas, right?
Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.
Wouldn't that be great to have your name written down in the word of God,
alongside of guys like Luke, the beloved physician?
Paul wrote the, he wrote their salute,
the Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus.
Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellow laborers.
What made these guys so great?
They were fellow laborers, right?
They were about the work of God, they were doing the work of God.
And this is Paul writing.
Man, I'd love to have, come on, we all like to know,
we all like to have somebody,
we like to hear our name called out sometimes, don't we?
Brother so-and-so, we like that.
There's nothing wrong with that, to be acknowledged, to be recognized.
That's what's going on here.
Paul's calling out some names.
Epaphras, Brother Corbin, put your name in there.
You tell me you wouldn't want it in there?
Demas was in there, wasn't he?
Demas had a lot of opportunity to serve God.
Demas was right there rubbing elbows with the Apostle Paul.
You want to talk about somebody who's given a multitude of talents.
You want to talk about somebody who's given a great opportunity.
I mean, he's there with Timothy, Silas.
How did Timothy turn out?
I'd say pretty good.
Titus, turned out pretty good.
Silas, turned out pretty good.
They did something with their opportunity, right?
They had the right attitude.
How did it turn out for Demas?
We all know.
When I brought up his name, you didn't think of these verses, did you?
You didn't think of what I just read.
You thought of 2 Timothy 4, didn't you?
For Demas hath forsaken me.
Demas hath forsaken me.
Failure's an option in the Christian life.
God can give you an opportunity, and you can blow it.
And you'll give an account to God for that opportunity that you missed, right?
What caused Demas to forsake, or excuse me, what caused him to blow his opportunity?
What caused him to forsake Paul, to leave the work of God and say,
it's not important, having loved this present world.
It's the thing of this world so often.
That's the parable, right?
Of the seed that was sown among the thorny ground.
The thorns, which were the cares and the desires of this life and
the riches of this life, choke the word and become unfruitful.
It's the cares of this world, it's the love of this world that is gonna cost so
many people a great reward in heaven.
So all they'll have to show is, well, I still have the one talent you gave me.
I did nothing with it.
I missed my opportunity.
Why?
Because they didn't have ability?
No, because they had the wrong priorities in life.
Demas has forsaken me.
And you know, we say, well, I'm still saved, still going to heaven.
But failure is an option, and failure has consequences.
Those works are burned.
The praise of God is not found.
The words well done are not spoken.
That only happens once.
You only have one chance to hear those words, and then it's over.
You have this one life, is appointed a man once to die, and then the judgment.
It's only gonna happen once.
And I don't care who you are, or what you might think it's like on this side of
eternity, if that's you, and you get there, and those words aren't spoken,
all those works are burned up, and you have no reward, you'll regret it.
On that day, you'll regret it then.
You'll hang your head then.
You'll be ashamed of all those missed opportunities then.
1 John chapter 2, we'll close here, it says this in verse 28.
Now now, little children, abide in him, abide in him.
Stay faithful, get involved, stay faithful.
Why? That when he shall appear, and he's coming, and he shall appear, my friend,
we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him and his coming.
Look, I don't want you to work for God, and serve God, and do something for
God for me.
Look, I'm gonna work and serve God, and I'm gonna be just fine.
I'm gonna turn out, everything's gonna be okay with me.
I hope I'm not boasting myself, I'm gonna stay faithful,
that's my plan, to serve God.
I'm gonna get that, that's my goal, I'm trying to get those rewards.
I want you to do it for yourself, so that you cannot be ashamed before him at his coming.
Not to impress me, or the church, or anybody like that, so
that when Christ returns, you can hear those words, and not be ashamed.
You know what, the inverse then is true.
This means that there's gonna be some people that don't abide in him.
There's gonna be some people that when he does appear,
are not going to have confidence.
And that they are going to hang their heads in shame at his coming.
There's gonna be some Christians that are just like, man, I really blew it.
What was I thinking?
And then we'll see, was it all worth it then?
Was all those things that we gave in exchange for that worth it then?
So you can kind of see how, yeah, opportunity, we all have it, but
attitude is what's important.
It's attitude and opportunity.
Attitude really is everything.
We all have opportunity.
Some of us have more than others.
But without the right attitude, it's all for naught.
I don't care how great your opportunity is,
if you don't have the right attitude, it's gonna come to naught.
I don't care how little your opportunity is to serve God,
if you have the right attitude, you can do great things for God.
Those guys all started out with one.
One guy came back with ten.
Let's get that attitude.
He was the first, get out of the way.
I'm first in line.
I've got a report to give to God.
We all have different opportunities based on our abilities, I understand that.
But here's the thing, through a proper attitude,
we can all capitalize on that opportunity.
You gotta have the opportunity and you gotta have the right attitude.
Let's go ahead and pray.