“Gifts and Faithfulness”

(Matthew 25:14-30)

Series: God’s Fulfilled Promise [on screen]

Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD

First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida

September 20, 2020

The Passage

Matthew 25:14-20

14 “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey. He called his own servants and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent, depending on each one’s ability. Then he went on a journey. Immediately 16 the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. 17 In the same way the man with two earned two more. 18 But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

19 “After a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I’ve earned five more talents.’

21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’

22 “The man with two talents also approached. He said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I’ve earned two more talents.’

23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’

24 “The man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a harsh man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’

26 “His master replied to him, ‘You evil, lazy servant! If you knew that I reap where I haven’t sown and gather where I haven’t scattered, 27 then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and I would have received my money back with interest when I returned.

28 “‘So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 30 And throw this good-for-nothing servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Introductory Comments:

There have been some great investments made throughout history. In fact, if I had a time machine and could go back in time I could be your pastor and not take a salary. Also, our church would never need to do a financial campaign again. 

John Gray invested $10,500 in the stock of Ford Motor Company in 1903. [show picture on screen] When Ford bought the stock back in 1919, the stock was worth a whopping $26.25 million. Asa Candler bought the recipe for Coca-Cola from John Pemberton for $2,300 in 1891. [show picture on screen] Candler then sold the same recipe in 1923 for $25 million! Peter Thiel, one of the original investors for Facebook, invested $500,000 in the company in 2005. [show picture on screen]His return was 800 times the initial investment, as he sold all 25 million shares of Facebook for $400 million in 2012.

You see, history is full of people who made both profitable and devastating investments. The truth is, money can be managed well and it can be managed poorly. A faithful Christian will be a good steward of the money that God has given him or her. However, there are things in life that are much more important than money, and we are to be good stewards of those things as well. 

Today, we’ll be looking at the parable of the talents and we’ll learn what Jesus is teaching us when it comes to managing that which He has entrusted to us. 

Let’s pray together before we study this passage, and ask God to speak to us. 

(prayer)

Before we get into three truths that we will discover from the passage, let’s look at the