Matthew 25:21 His Lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.
Well hello there my Friends, it’s another Friday 13, two in two months. The only other one is in November. But that’s not important, nothing to be afraid of, since it’s merely an old wives’ tale. (smile) What’s important, and what we need to be scared of is how Jesus will greet us on that big day. For all our sakes, I sincerely hope He greets us like the Bit says, ‘Welcome thou good and faithful servant,’ else crapaud smoke we pipe, meaning things will be real bad for us, if He doesn’t. Yesterday we talked about Hope, today we’ll consider Faithfulness. The dictionary defines faithful as someone loyal, constant, conscientious, trustworthy, accurate, or true believers. Now that’s how we can prove our faithfulness; by being true believers, and consequently acquiring all those other attributes too! And Jesus showed the necessity for loyal, trustworthy associates through the parable of the talents: A man of some means was about to undertake a long journey, but before he left, called his servants, gave one five talents, another two, and to another one; ‘to every man according to his several (own) ability, and straightaway took his journey.’ (Mat.25:15) Now look at how each servant used their talents. The one that got five used them to trade and made five more. The one with two did the same thing, ending up with four. ‘But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.’ (vs.18) So when the lord returned, after a long while, the servants showed how they’d used their talents. The one that received five, brought ten; ‘saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold I have gained beside them five talents more.’ (vs.20) And the lord’s reaction? He gushed: ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.’ The second servant presented two extra talents with his original two, and the lord told him the same thing. ‘Then he which hath received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strewed. And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.’ (vs.24-25) That unleashed the master’s anger. ‘Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not…Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (vs.26-30) Oh my people, that’s the fate that awaits us if at Jesus’ second coming he can’t greet us with a ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant.’ Then there’ll be much ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Now please understand what Jesus is saying here. He’s painting a big picture, emphasizing the need for us to be personally prepared and faithful until He returns. The talents aren’t necessarily money, but other skills too which have been distributed and apportioned according to our ability. So whatever skills, money or tasks we’ve been assigned, we have to use and perform to the best of our ability. The three servants weren’t expected to produce the same results, because they all had differing amounts, but they were all expected to be faithful, to perform their tasks with zeal and industry and enhance whatever was entrusted to them. The first two were successful, doubling their money. They remained faithful, did what was required of them, while the third was lazy, slothful and afraid of the master’s supposed greed, so he buried the money, didn’t make good use of it. The master felt the least he could have done was invest it with the financiers, so that it would earn interest. It seems the unfaithful servant misjudged the master’s character. He wasn’t really a hard man, he just wanted the servant to experience the joy of serving his fellow man. And that’s exactly what Jesus requires of us my Friends. He’s not a hard, merciless, greedy man, but a gentle, thoughtful caring, though strong Master, with excellent leadership qualities and great rewards for those who serve Him faithfully. Oh my people, I can’t impress upon us enough the importance of putting our god-given talents to faithful use. We all have different talents in varying amounts and been assigned various tasks. We all can’t be world-beaters, but we all can provide useful, faithful service with whatever we’ve been given. For in the long run, if we don’t fulfill our duties, what little we have will be taken away and given to those who already have plenty, because they are willing to use their abundance wisely. So please remember, it’s not how much, or what you have, but how wisely you use it. And I’ll leave us with a taste of the rewards for each course of action. ‘When the Son of man shall come in his glory…then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all the nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…Then he shall say also unto them on the left, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels…And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.’ (vs.31-34, 41,46) Yes my people, that’s what we have to look forward to. So I urgently implore us to be true, faithful, loyal believers, especially in these tough times, so that when the role is called up yonder, we’ll be numbered amongst the sheep and not the goats. Much LOVE!..I know it’s long…but nothing that has to do with the salvation of your soul and eternal life…can ever be too long…
Well hello there my Friends, it’s another Friday 13, two in two months. The only other one is in November. But that’s not important, nothing to be afraid of, since it’s merely an old wives’ tale. (smile) What’s important, and what we need to be scared of is how Jesus will greet us on that big day. For all our sakes, I sincerely hope He greets us like the Bit says, ‘Welcome thou good and faithful servant,’ else crapaud smoke we pipe, meaning things will be real bad for us, if He doesn’t. Yesterday we talked about Hope, today we’ll consider Faithfulness. The dictionary defines faithful as someone loyal, constant, conscientious, trustworthy, accurate, or true believers. Now that’s how we can prove our faithfulness; by being true believers, and consequently acquiring all those other attributes too! And Jesus showed the necessity for loyal, trustworthy associates through the parable of the talents: A man of some means was about to undertake a long journey, but before he left, called his servants, gave one five talents, another two, and to another one; ‘to every man according to his several (own) ability, and straightaway took his journey.’ (Mat.25:15) Now look at how each servant used their talents. The one that got five used them to trade and made five more. The one with two did the same thing, ending up with four. ‘But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.’ (vs.18) So when the lord returned, after a long while, the servants showed how they’d used their talents. The one that received five, brought ten; ‘saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold I have gained beside them five talents more.’ (vs.20) And the lord’s reaction? He gushed: ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.’ The second servant presented two extra talents with his original two, and the lord told him the same thing. ‘Then he which hath received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strewed. And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.’ (vs.24-25) That unleashed the master’s anger. ‘Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not…Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (vs.26-30) Oh my people, that’s the fate that awaits us if at Jesus’ second coming he can’t greet us with a ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant.’ Then there’ll be much ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Now please understand what Jesus is saying here. He’s painting a big picture, emphasizing the need for us to be personally prepared and faithful until He returns. The talents aren’t necessarily money, but other skills too which have been distributed and apportioned according to our ability. So whatever skills, money or tasks we’ve been assigned, we have to use and perform to the best of our ability. The three servants weren’t expected to produce the same results, because they all had differing amounts, but they were all expected to be faithful, to perform their tasks with zeal and industry and enhance whatever was entrusted to them. The first two were successful, doubling their money. They remained faithful, did what was required of them, while the third was lazy, slothful and afraid of the master’s supposed greed, so he buried the money, didn’t make good use of it. The master felt the least he could have done was invest it with the financiers, so that it would earn interest. It seems the unfaithful servant misjudged the master’s character. He wasn’t really a hard man, he just wanted the servant to experience the joy of serving his fellow man. And that’s exactly what Jesus requires of us my Friends. He’s not a hard, merciless, greedy man, but a gentle, thoughtful caring, though strong Master, with excellent leadership qualities and great rewards for those who serve Him faithfully. Oh my people, I can’t impress upon us enough the importance of putting our god-given talents to faithful use. We all have different talents in varying amounts and been assigned various tasks. We all can’t be world-beaters, but we all can provide useful, faithful service with whatever we’ve been given. For in the long run, if we don’t fulfill our duties, what little we have will be taken away and given to those who already have plenty, because they are willing to use their abundance wisely. So please remember, it’s not how much, or what you have, but how wisely you use it. And I’ll leave us with a taste of the rewards for each course of action. ‘When the Son of man shall come in his glory…then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all the nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…Then he shall say also unto them on the left, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels…And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.’ (vs.31-34, 41,46) Yes my people, that’s what we have to look forward to. So I urgently implore us to be true, faithful, loyal believers, especially in these tough times, so that when the role is called up yonder, we’ll be numbered amongst the sheep and not the goats. Much LOVE!..I know it’s long…but nothing that has to do with the salvation of your soul and eternal life…can ever be too long…
SCRIP-BITS 