We are going to be looking a lot at 24 and 25, so it's better if you actually have your Bibles open. It is going to be up here, and so I'll give you guys a little bit of time to find it. And we're going to be reading from verses 13 to 30.

"Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour, for it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his ability, and then he went away.

He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he had five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

And 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 the five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me these five talents here, I have made five talents more.' 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.' 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.' 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.' 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 sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.

So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scatter no seed. Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.

So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness, in that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'" Let's pray together.

Father, we pray that you would help us to engage this morning in worship through your word. I pray that you would help us to apply what you would seek for us to hear and to change. And I pray that you would help us to leave this place loving Christ more, thanking Christ more, and resembling a little bit more of Jesus.

So we thank you for just the freedom to come and worship you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. If you remember, in December of last year, a theologian named R.C. Sproul, he's very famous, he passed away. And the next morning, my Facebook feeds were like, "Well done, good and faithful servant.

Well done, good and faithful servant," in regard to this man. And a few months later, Billy Graham passed away in February. Do you guys remember that day? And just on everyone, a lot of people's feeds, you also had this, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And you often see this when a really well-known or faithful man or woman of God passes away.

But is this commendation only for a Billy Graham or a R.C. Sproul? Is this something you and I will hear when we die? How about that murderer who accepts Jesus on his deathbed? Will he hear this? A drug addict who has found Christ? A former womanizer who has now been redeemed by the blood of Christ, will he hear this?

Someone who struggles all her life with doubt and depression, will she hear this? Death comes to every single one of us in this room. So when it comes, don't be surprised. But when you pass and when you stand before the judgment seat of Christ, will you hear, "Well done, my good and faithful servant," can or will this be said of you?

And this often quoted part of Scripture is something that I would like for us to kind of examine today. But in order to do this, we're going to have to actually look at all of Matthew 24 and 25. We're not going to read every single line, but there is a broader context.

And if you miss the broader context, you miss the point of this parable and you end up misapplying it. So I would like to just point our attention to Matthew 24 and 25. If you think of it as just one sermon with points, then it's easier to track along.

Matthew 21 to 28, those eight chapters take up about 30% of Matthew's account of the gospel. And about that whole section takes place in one week of Jesus' week before his crucifixion. And 24 and 25 just fall right in the middle. And this one long parable, which reads like a sermon.

And so we're going to look at this, and then we're going to be actually looking into the parable of the talents. So the focus of all of chapters 24 and 25 is on the end times, the spread of the gospel of the kingdom, and how the elect will respond to the preaching of this gospel.

I'm going to repeat that. All of chapters 24 and 25, the focus is on the preaching of the gospel in the end times and how the elect will respond to this preaching. So if you look at it as one long parable with different parts, it's easier to track along.

Now this entire section with the very well-known parables contained within are descriptive, and they're not prescriptive. And what does that mean? They are describing the things that will take place. They are not prescribing what you and I need to do to hear well done. Are you guys following me?

It's a description of what's going to happen, of how kingdom citizens will be living in light of the gospel, and not prescribing how to become a kingdom citizen. Because the how to become a kingdom citizen has been done for the previous 20 chapters. So this whole section is descriptive and not prescriptive.

And the only real application in both of these two chapters is this. Be watchful, be awake, be prepared, keep on watching, be alert, be sober, watch, pay attention, pay close attention, be alert, watch. And that's the main application for this section. So there is no do this and this and this, and you will hear well done.

So I want to kind of get that out of the way. Chapter 25 is broken up into three points, or three parables, describing how people will be living in the end. Verses 1 through 13 we know as a parable of the 10 virgins. And the point of that really is kingdom people will lead prepared lives.

And then you get to the parable of the talents, but if you look at verse 13, it's actually the last verse of the parable of the 10 virgins, and the first verse of the parable of the talents. So there is a connection there and they're all intertwined. And the parable of the talents, the main point is this, prepared lives do not all look the same.

Okay, prepared lives do not all look the same. And then verses 31 to 46, you have the parables of the goats and the sheep, the right and the left, and the point of that is prepared people inherit eternal life, unprepared people inherit internal punishment. So again, the question that we want to reflect on this morning is, will you hear well done, good and faithful servant?

And we're going to spend the bulk of our time today thinking about this question. And I want to take us into a little deeper look at the parable of talents, and I'm going to be focusing on three questions, okay? The first one is, who does a master represent? In the parable of the talents, who does a master represent?

The second, who do the servants represent? And the third, what is a talent? Okay, who do the masters represent, who do the servants represent, and what is a talent? So I want to read Matthew 24 verse 14. It's "Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and then the end will come." So who does a master represent in this parable?

Can you click it? The true Christ who will return in power, the son of man who was promised in the Old Testament, the coming Messiah who will fulfill all of God's promises, the bridegroom, the master of the house, the glorious king, they're all one and the same. So the son of man, the true Christ, the returning warrior king, he is the main character of this whole section, and he is the main character in the parable of the talents.

So in the parable of the talents, this conquering king will be returning at an hour unknown to us to settle debts and to gather what is rightfully his. So can we have a click? So it says, "Watch therefore for you know neither the day nor the hour, for it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property." If you read the scriptures cover to cover, Genesis to Revelation, there are a few conclusions you can draw about God.

And if you actually do your scripture homework, you cannot land on any other conclusions, okay? And these are some of the conclusions. The first one is God's will is perfect. Amen? God's will is perfect. The second conclusion is God makes no mistakes. Third, he wastes nothing. Fourth, he is perfectly good and he is perfectly loving.

So those four conclusions, among many, you cannot miss. First one, God's will is perfect, he makes no mistakes, he wastes nothing, and he is perfectly good and perfectly loving. And I'm going to point you to just a few sample scripture verses that help us to come to these conclusions.

"Do not be conformed to this world in the will of God, which is good and acceptable and perfect." Proverbs 16, "For the Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble." "I know that you can do all things and no purpose of yours can be thwarted." "And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good through those who are called according to his purpose." God's will is perfect.

He makes no mistakes. He wastes nothing and he is perfectly good. Now for you guys who have grown up in the church, you've heard these things before. And as I read these truths, there is no theological tension in your minds. There is no like, wait, I can't say amen to that, in your heads.

But when you hear these things, I believe that in every single one of us, there is a little bit of an emotional response, a little bit of an emotional tension. Has God really not made any mistakes? Is he perfectly good? Is his will truly perfect? Because you know what this means.

If God's will is perfect, he makes no mistakes, he wastes nothing, he's perfectly good. If that is true, that means God has not made a single mistake in your life and has ordained every detail of your life in his perfectly good and perfectly loving plan. When I hear this, there is tension in my heart.

God has not made a single mistake in your life and has ordained every detail of your life in his perfectly good and perfectly loving plan. So you may not be custom to expressing these voices, expressing these tensions, so let me help you, okay? If God's will is so perfect, why is there so much imperfection, pain, and suffering?

If God has not made a single mistake in my life, then does that mean he deliberately ordained or allowed me to blank? On purpose, does that mean he caused the death of my friend? On purpose, did he allow for my beloved young child to get a disease? There's something in us that cries out, "Either God, your will is not perfect, or you're not all that good." Naturally, you and I can grasp the idea of an all-powerful God, okay?

And this all-powerful God actually is a scary, like we get scared. Like if there's a being out there, he's all-powerful, it's a scary prospect, right? So we don't have a problem necessarily understanding all power, but the things that we see day to day actually make us doubt his goodness.

And there's tension in our hearts, and that's okay. So you can theologically agree with all of these conclusions and still have an emotional objection to these truths, especially when things in our lives actually start to unravel. And that tension actually is what causes so many people to reject the God of the Scripture.

So do not discount the realness of the tension that resides in our hearts. God's Word teaches us that the master in this parable, his will is perfect, he makes no mistakes, he wastes nothing, he is perfectly good and perfectly loving, okay? So I'm gonna get that out of the way.

And this God is the main character of all of Matthew 24 and 25. It's not the servants. But we're gonna get to the servants, okay? So who do the servants represent? The servants in this parable represent humanity in light of the preached gospel of the kingdom. Humanity in light of the preached gospel of the kingdom.

Matthew 24, 14, I had that earlier up there for you. "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and then the end will come." And I wanna introduce you to two individuals who have had the gospel of Christ preached to them.

Two individuals like you and me who have been entrusted with a number of talents, okay? So this is Milka. And I met Milka June of 2015 in Mwanza, Tanzania. She was born with the albino gene. And all over, and you guys know what albinism is, okay? All over the world, one in every 21,000 people have albinism.

They're born with this gene. But strangely enough, in Tanzania, it's one in 1,400. So there are a lot of albinos in Tanzania. And this is a problem because Tanzanians are very superstitious. So in Tanzania, if you carry an albino's gene, or an albino's bones with you, the superstition goes, "You will have good luck, evil will be warded off, and you will be prosperous." That's the superstition of someone who lives in Tanzania when you deal with someone with albinism.

And can we have the next slide? Sadly, many children born with albinism in Tanzania are kidnapped. Their hands and feet are cut off, and they're left to die. Next slide. Even more sadly, many of these kidnappings are permitted by mom and dad. Mom and dad receive money, they turn a blind eye when their child is kidnapped, the child's hands and feet are cut off, and the child and the parents are forever damaged.

And why do they do this? Because they're poor. If you look up Tanzania albino on the internet, you're going to see pictures that are much more gruesome, and that'll pain your heart, and you can read about it if there's an interest. How many talents did my friend Milka receive from the Lord?

I'm going to introduce you to another friend of mine. That's not the friend, that's just the director of the church. So last year in August, about 10 months ago, I was in Sri Lanka. And this area was very remote. It's a part of Sri Lanka that's called Batikaloa, and I took a 10-hour car ride, all local, through nothing but nothing, and I ended up on the other side of the country.

And how rural was it? The center that we went to, they showed me a building, and it used to be a kitchen. And I was like, what happened to this kitchen? She said, oh, an elephant just backed into it and knocked the whole building down. That rural. I was like, just imagining in my head, because I'm having to take care of some paperwork for this, I was like, this elephant with a big booty just went, bop, and then the thing fell down.

That's how rural it was. Wild elephants roaming the territory. Next slide. This area was in civil war until 2009. And next slide. I visited the home of a 12-year-old boy. His name is Sajanthan. He's on the left. Sajanthan is 12. Dad is 28. Mom is 26. And in your head, you're doing some math right now, right?

Mom and dad did not finish primary school. Because when they were children, war broke out. They were both taken from their families and forced into becoming child soldiers. Mom and dad have both killed with their hands. Mom and dad have both seen loved ones murdered. And they've both known the horrors of war.

At the end of these home visits, I pray with the families. And this family's prayer request, their first, I mean, it's going through an interpreter. So they said, safety for the children. And I said, okay. What do you mean? And he said, snakes and scorpions come in here all the time.

I was like, okay, paradigm shift. Safety for children, for them, meant keeping these scorpions and snakes out of the house. Different world. How many talents do you think Sajanthan was entrusted with? How many talents were his mom and dad entrusted with? Will they hear, well done? Good and faithful servant.

Now in this parable, the number is not significant. But here in this parable, we have a servant who has received five talents and a servant who has received two. And they both receive the exact same reward or commendation. Can I have the next slide? Okay. How about you guys on this side read verse 21, you guys on this side read verse 23.

Ready, go. Okay. That was so without energy, but all right. We'll do whatever. Verse 21 and 23 are 100% the same. And I believe with all my heart that if the one talent guy had faithfully invested a single talent, he too would have received the same commendation. But he doesn't.

And this is what's interesting. This is a parable. And normally in a parable, you're not supposed to scrutinize every detail because there's usually just one point in the parable. But this one talent guy is so significant that I actually thought a lot about him. We do not know why he buried his talent, but we know that he did.

But when these kinds of questions come into our heads, we can let scripture inform scripture and use our sanctified imagination. And as I thought through what could this guy possibly be thinking to bury his one talent, I came up with three conclusions. And these are all my opinions. It's not solid gold, word of God, but just follow with me.

The first reason, perhaps, he thought he had a lot of time and he was caught unaware. This is a running theme of both chapters 24 and 25. He may have thought the master's return is still a long ways away. So I have time. I'll invest later. I'll invest when I'm older.

When it's more convenient for me, I will invest my talent. And so when he's caught unaware when the master returns, he just says, "Hey, I know you're a jerk. So I hid it. I'm sorry." Possible first reason. Second reason, maybe he was jealous of the other two. This man gets five.

This man gets two. What is this? So he's probably thinking, "I'm not very happy with the talent cards that I've just been dealt." And in spite, in bitterness, maybe he buried his talent because he was unhappy with the master's perception of him. Third possible reason, he had a distorted misconception of the master that was not really based on truth.

He says in verse 24, "Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed." So he says his master is scleros, hard, like a unyielding, like un... What do you call it? Just bitter, violent, fierce. So he basically says, "Master, it's because you are a very hard man to please.

So I hid my talent. You are unfair, you are unreasonable, your demands are too great, you are too selfish, and I will not be used for your purposes." So he may have had a distorted understanding of the master. But regardless of the reason, he buries his talent. And remember, Matthew 24 through 25 is descriptive, not prescriptive.

The application is not, "Therefore, do not bury your talent." The application is not, "Hey, invest all your talent, let's pray to the kingdom of God." It's not that at all. The application is, "Your master's coming to collect. Be ready." So the whole point of this is good stewardship versus bad stewardship.

It's not about the number. It's about the response. So if the difference between hearing, "Well done," and "Cast this wicked servant into the outer darkness," is in how we steward our talents, I'm going to ask a very important question. What is a talent? And this is a question I've mulled on and mulled over the last 15 years.

What in the world, then, is a talent? If there is a correlation between our talent investing and our eternal destination, this is a very, very important question that you and I have to actually think through and come to a conclusion. Yeah? It's a very important question. First of all, the Greek word, "talanta," it just means a large sum of money.

And when you and I hear the word "talent," we often think of it as a positive thing. So it's like, "Oh, he has a lot of talents." You're not thinking that he has a lot of vices. You're thinking he has a lot of things that he can use, right?

But the word "talent" is actually a very neutral word. There is no good talent. There is no bad talent. A talent in and of itself is neutral, okay? Here, let me illustrate. Is there such a thing as a bad dollar? Can I have an image? Can I have a slide?

Take a look at both of these pictures. Which would you rather have? What if that one on the left you found in a sewer? Would you still rather have it? Yeah. There is no bad dollar, okay? So if I were to offer you a $100 bill that smells like armpit and said, "You can either have this one or this freshly minted $1 bill that smells like glory," which would you choose?

Unless you're weird, every single person here would choose the one on the left, the $100 bill, because the outer thing does not have a value in and of itself. You guys following me? A talent is neutral. What is, then, truly a biblical talent? Can I have the next slide?

Just one click. Don't go too fast. Obviously, our abilities, skills, and natural talents are included. Our money, our resources, our time, they're all included. Next one. Our privileges and our opportunities are also talents. Did you guys know that only 6% of all the world has a college degree? You are probably sitting next to somebody who has a college degree.

So say to that person, "You are the best of the best. You are elite." Oh, some of you guys actually are doing it. Thank you. 6% of the world. 40% of the world eats only once a day. If you eat more than that, you have a privilege. If you can make $45,000 per year per person in your home, you are top 1% of the world.

Have you ever flown on a plane? Because most of the world dreams to get on a plane once. There are so many things that we've been allotted, and so opportunities and privileges are also talents. Next one. Your unique characteristics that make you you. A personality is you. Is personality good or bad?

Is neutral. There is no bad personality. I'm loud. My wife is quiet. It doesn't mean I'm bad and she's good or I'm good and she's bad. What makes a personality tainted and damaged is the sin that's there behind it. A personality trait of being shy or outgoing or introverted or extroverted, those things are all neutral.

But God has uniquely created every single person in this room, every detail of his or her life uniquely. And that has been God-ordained. God's will is perfect. He makes no mistakes. Next one. Every single relationship that God has ordained in your life is also a talent. Because a lot of times we are either shaped and encouraged and built up by relationships or we have been traumatized and scarred and permanently damaged by our relationship.

But all those things too God has ordained. Next one. All of our mistakes, regrets, and failures, weaknesses, talents. Next one. Scars and traumas. Next one. Passions and interests. So what is a talent? Every single detail of your life that has been ordained by God for you to invest for his glory and to the building up of his kingdom in the light of the return of Christ, that's a talent.

I'll say it again and less fast so you guys can... A talent is every single detail of your life that has been ordained by God for you to invest for his glory and to the building up of his kingdom in light of the return of the king. That is a talent.

And I'll share with you some of my talents. I sing well, objectively. I've sung at 25 weddings and a bunch of Berean ones. Okay? I'll throw that out there. I'm good with languages. I pick up languages pretty fast. None of you are blessed by these things. Sounds like a boast, right?

Yeah, but that's objective. Okay? Privileges. I have been on an average of 55 flights a year the last six years. I've seen more hidden places in the corners of this world than most all of you. I've seen more of North Korea than South Korea. These are privileges. Unique things.

I'm a father to twins, which is becoming less and less unique, but I have twins. Okay? I am 40 years old and I still have a baby tooth. That has nothing to do with anything helpful to the kingdom of God, but that's unique. God ordained it. So the dentist actually said, "If you get into a fight, get punched in your left side of your face, because if you get punched in the right side of your face, that's like a $3,000 surgery," because the tooth is growing sideways, the adult tooth, so it never pushed it out.

So if you and I ever get into a fight, hit me here, please. All right? But that is something that is unique to me. I don't know my biological mother. My father divorced three times, twice before I was five. I went to 12 elementary schools and I've seen my father handcuffed and taken away to jail three times.

I've been badly beaten and abused, and I used to pray out of bitterness, "God, if you are real, I will never call you father because you've given me such a horrible, earthly one." And when we used to sing, "God is so good," in the back with the kids, I used to sing, "God is a peep," under my breath, because I hated this God who gave me such a bad life.

I am a pastor at Berean. I still live alongside of Pastor Peter, Mark, and Nathan. I'm a passionate advocate of orphans. I am passionate about the poor. I am passionate about the Word of God, because that alone has healed me and transformed me. I am passionate about kids who grow up in broken homes.

Those details that God has ordained in my life were all on purpose. Hallelujah. And I want to talk about, briefly, scars and traumas, passions and interests, because they are intertwined. You know what is interesting is brokenness, healing, and scars. You know, even if you're fully healed, that wound, if you got a wound, it remains sensitive.

So when someone pushes it, it hurts, even if it is healed. But the funny thing is, when God redeems and heals a scar, He turns it into a weapon. That's what I've seen. So as many of you guys know, we were China's, Berean's missionaries to China for three years, and honestly, to this day, I still don't like China all that much.

We're there, we're supposed to be there the rest of our lives. It's just a difficult place. But I was there. I was in North Korea, and the second time I was in there, in Pyongyang, I was like, "God, what am I doing here? Is there a special plan for the North Koreans that you have for me to do, to minister to them?" Nothing.

My heart was not moved. That's okay. I have a vested interest in them, but it's not my passion. Some people, you say, "North," and then they cry. But that's not me. But when I have traveled in the world and I've seen a broken child, orphans, when I go visit a home and I hear that that kid has been abused, child is, dad's in jail, there is rage.

And that rage causes me to action. And there's a point of, it's not just like, "Oh, I feel so bad for you." There's a point of holy compassion that I have with that kid because of those talents that God has given me. And when I speak into that kid's life, there is glimmers of joy.

Because when God heals, He redeems, He turns all of those things into weapons. And you know what is interesting is as I'm getting older, this is my 18th year of ministry, I'm realizing my failures and my weaknesses are doing more for kingdom building than my strengths. None of you were edified at all when I said, "I think good." Not one of you.

I have a good memory. I have memorized a lot of God's word. But that doesn't bless you. You have a desire to judge me. When I say that this is what God has given me to bless the church, you are often not blessed. But what you are often blessed by is the vulnerability, the weakness, the humility, the failures in my life.

And that's something that I've, it's just such an interesting thing. Not my sin, I'm not saying sin, but the weaknesses that I'm fighting to protect every day, that struggle, that process serves as an encouragement more than my victories I've discovered. God is more magnified in my failures than in my victories.

And every single one of you here has a talent or many. But some of you like the one talent guy because, "Oh, the Lord is not hastening in his return. I have a lot of time." Maybe burying your talent. Some who are like, "Okay, that person got dealt these hands, this hand of cards, that person got dealt this.

Why did I end up with this life? God, it's all your fault." Bury the talent. Some people because, not because they read the word of God, but because they've seen so many hypocrites of church are scarred and damaged by the church that they have a misconception of who God really is.

And a lot of times they respond by burying their talent. They blame God for their past. And you know one thing about the past, if you can't move on from the past, that might be an indicator that maybe there has not been real change in your heart. Because when God comes and transforms your life, he smashes the areas of your heart where you're naturally led to forgive and to love.

I want to share a few verses with you. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. What does that mean? In your relationships, give glory to God. In your studies, give glory to God. In your work, give glory to God.

In your marriage, give glory to God. In your failures, give glory to God. In your disease, give glory to God. In your barrenness, give glory to God. In your singleness, give glory to God. In your past, give glory to God. Are you grieving because of what God has put in front of you right now?

Give glory to God. Are you rich? Give glory to God. Are you poor? Give glory to God. Do you have weaknesses? Proclaim like Paul, "I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ might rest on me." And know that you are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

For neither death nor life nor angels or rulers or present or things to come nor powers can separate you from the love of God. I remember, as you remember, I shared with you that Matthew 24 and 25 is just one sermon. It's one long parable. You have to read it all together to correctly understand the context.

The parable of the talents, the charge is not to talent investing. Here are the main exhortations of Matthew 24, 25. Do not be misled. Do not be deceived. Recognize that he is near and at the door. Be alert. Be ready. Be ready and on the alert. Those who are ready and alert will be those who day in and day out just seek to give glory to God.

Those who are ready and alert will be those who day in and day out are seeking to give glory to God. Our main application is to be alert and awake and to find ourselves on the correct side of the gospel call. The unprepared virgins, the one talent servant, the goats on the left who have failed in every encounter with God, what do they have in common?

Can I have the next slide? So for I was hungry you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.

Then the righteous will answer him and say, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you? And then when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?

And that's the response of the righteous. But at the same time, the response of the wicked is this. Then they also will answer saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you? What do these guys all have in common?

They don't know when it is that they're meeting Christ. They're not aware that that little encounter appointed and ordained by the Lord was an opportunity for worship. So the call for you and me is not so much to do, to build, to expand. The call for you and me is just to be sober and alert to examining the realness of the fruit that is in our lives.

First Timothy 4.16, watch your life and your doctrine closely, persevere in them. And in so doing, you will save both yourself and your hearers. So the call to the parable of the talents, which is descriptive, not prescriptive, is for you just to pay attention. Because there is going to be a response to the gospel.

So serving God is not something that we try harder at. Serving God and building his kingdom is a powerful byproduct of a changed life that can only come through a changed heart. You follow me? Real talent investing can only be done through a changed heart. And the changed heart only comes through the powerful transforming work of the gospel.

Everything else is just religion. But what can change your heart is the word of God, which is living, inactive, and sharper than any double-edged sword. Amen? Now, our application should not be, "Okay, how am I going to invest my ability to sing to the glory of God to building his kingdom?

How am I going to invest the thousand dollars extra that I have to building the kingdom of God?" Those are secondary issues. The primary application is, "Am I responding to the truth of the gospel of Christ?" Because whether you know it or not, over time, you will look back in your life and you will see so much fruit.

The charge in the parable of the talents is not to invest your talents or to plan to invest your talents. And sometimes when I hear this sermon, I get a little bit like, "Mm, eh," because then it's like, "Did you read chapter 24? Did you read chapter 25, verses 1 through 13, and then 31 to 46?" The parable of the talents is a description.

So going back to my first question that I threw at everybody, "Will you hear," well done, good and faithful servant, "If you are a child of God, yes. If you, from the depths of your heart, have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you will hear, enter into the joy of your Master." The means of this entrance is a simple acceptance of Christ.

And when you accept Christ as Savior, He takes His place in your life as Lord and He starts to mess you up in a holy way. And the gospel of Jesus Christ changes and redeems and charges every talent. So it's like, I see a talent as like a power, like a fireball.

It's a whoosh, whoosh. Use your talents for the glory of God. And that's not the application, okay? For you guys who have been saved through the blood of Christ, always do your best to remember that His will is perfect. He makes no mistakes. He wastes nothing. And He is perfectly good and loving because the tests and the trials will come.

And in those tests and trials, give glory to God. Don't look forward to the next step of your life. Give glory to God here and now because that will naturally lead you to give glory to God in the next stage. Where you're at, it says in 1 Corinthians, prosper, give glory to God, bear fruit where you're at.

And in His time, He will give you more. More tools, more opportunities, more talents to give Him glory. My hope is that every single one of us works hard, not at building His kingdom, but works hard at constantly trying to disentangle ourselves from this world to focus on the saving power and the sweetness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, because everything else will fall into place if we remember how good He is.

Amen? Let us pray. Thank you, Father, for calling us to be your own. Thank you for saving us, not because of our worthiness, but because we needed saving. And as those who are saved, I pray that you would help us to be free, to be thankful, to be joy-filled, and in our thankfulness and in our joy and in our peace, would you give glory to yourself and bear much fruit.

For these things we ask in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you. - Bye.