Talents in Christian preaching often refer to God-given gifts and abilities entrusted to believers, calling for faithful stewardship and fruitful use (Matthew 25:14-30). Illustrations typically use the parable of the talents to emphasize responsibility and growth, encouraging generosity and purposeful investment of spiritual and practical gifts.
Ruth Barton was educated, but not allowed to use talents in church. She learned to live within limits. Servanthood became a priority. God does not waste gifts and will use them in the church body. Joseph as an example in the Old Testament. Barton learned to use gentle persuasion.
The Biblical ethic toward work.
1. Work is good. (Genesis 1) (9/1/91)
2. Work is hard. (9/1/91)
3. Work is moral.
Success should not be simplistically linked with spirituality.
Moral accountability: parable of the talents.
a. We are responsible for the task we are given to do.
b. We are responsible for the character we bring to the task.
c. We are responsible for the attitude with which we work.
"Servant" attitude.
Parables sermon series. Talents Matthew 25:14-30
"HOW TALENTED ARE YOU?"
[see especially "Investing in What Lasts" by Wayne Grudem in
Christianity Today, May 12, 1989, p. 31ff.]
I. Investing is tricky business.
II. When the boss doesn't come back for a while.
A. Wealthy man going on a journey.
B. Servants have differing results.
C. Master returns after a long time.
D. Master rips into unproductive servant.
III. Double or nothing.
A. God gives us what we need to carry out our task.
B. Christians receive differing levels of responsibility.
C. It's not enough to know what to do, you must do it.
D. The glory of God deserves our best effort.
E. Take risks for God.
IV. Christians must know that Jesus is coming back - sometime.
A. Context deals with Second Coming of Jesus. (Matthew 24 & 25)
B. Dangers of imminent expectation.
C. Dangers of no expectation.
D. When Jesus comes back, he will bring rewards.
“If you give what you do not need, it isn't giving.”
-- Mother Teresa
"One can give without loving, but one cannot love without giving."
-- Amy Carmichael
"Giving is the secret of a healthy life. Not necessarily money, but whatever a person has of
encouragement, sympathy and understanding."
-- John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
"Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones tend to take care of themselves."
-- Dale Carnegie
"If you wish to have power and influence over the many, be faithful (disciplined) when there is just a few. If you have a few employees, a few distributors, a few people, that's the time to stay in touch and be totally absorbed - when there is just a few."
-- Jim Rohn
"Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best."
-- Henry Van Dyke
"Waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality, nothing will do, and with them everything."
-- Benjamin Franklin
"If I knew I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself."
-- Mickey Mantle
"The word philanthropy has its roots in the Greek language meaning 'love for mankind.' It was never meant to apply only to donors of thousands or millions of dollars."
-- Arthur C. Frantzreb, philanthropy consultant
"Every charitable act is a stepping stone towards heaven."
-- Henry Ward Beecher
"As the purse is emptied, the heart is filled."
-- Victor Hugo
"If you give money, spend yourself with it."
-- Henry David Thoreau
"He who waits to do a great deal of good at once, will never do anything."
-- Samuel Johnson
"The truly generous is the truly wise, and he who loves not others, lives unblest."
-- Henry Home
"Charity sees the need, not the cause."
-- German Proverb
"Not he who has much is rich, but he who gives much."
-- Erich Fromm
"The highest exercise of charity is charity towards the uncharitable."
-- J. S. Buckminster
"What we frankly give, forever is our own."
-- George Granville
"It is more blessed to give than to receive."
-- Acts 20:35
"Prayer carries us half way to God, fasting brings us to the door of His palace, and alms-giving procures us admission."
-- The Koran
"If you haven't got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble."
-- Bob Hope
"Charity: a thing that begins at home, and usually stays there."
-- Elbert Hubbard
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal."
"They take the paper and they read the headlines,
So they've heard of unemployment and they've heard of breadlines,
And they philanthropically cure them all
By getting up a costume charity ball."
-- Ogden Nash
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us finish the work we are in."
-- Abraham Lincoln
"One must be poor to know the luxury of giving."
-- George Eliot
"Give no bounties: make equal laws: secure life and prosperity and you need not give alms."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.”
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
-- Norman MacEwan
"If one first gives himself to the Lord, all other giving is easy."
-- Robert Harris; SermonCentral.com 2/4/04
“The world will not be won to Christ on what we can conveniently spare.”
-- Bernard Ettinger; SermonCentral.com 2/19/07
“The basic question is not how much of our money should we give to God, but how much of God’s money should we keep for ourselves.”
-- J. Oswald Sanders; SermonCentral.com 2/19/07
"Giving advice doesn't qualify as charity."
-- Unknown
"Real charity doesn't care if it's tax deductible or not."
-- Unknown
"A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog."
-- Jack London (Instant Quotation Dictionary), p. 55.
“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, [let us use them]: if prophecy, [let us prophesy] in proportion to our faith; or ministry, [let us use it] in [our] ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:6-8 NKJV)
Gifts, Their Variety And Use
• gifts — Matt 25:14-30, 1 Pet 4:10-11 — every office, talent, etc., a gift
• differing — in kind or degree
• according…us — the difference to be referred to will of God, who knows what to bestow, and upon whom
• prophecy — Acts 15:32, 1 Cor 14:3, 31, Isa 8:20 — gift of teaching
• ministry — Acts 6:1-4, Eph 4:11-12 — various official duties in the Church
• teaching — as catechising (illustrating the art of questioning: difference between education and instruction)
• exhorteth — 1 Tim 4:13-16, 2 Tim 4:2, Col 1:28-29 — another species of teaching or preaching. Preaching gifts differ: let each cultivate his own and neither envy nor decry the gift of another
• giveth — Mat 6:1-3, 2 Cor 9:7 — having worldly substance as his gifts
• simplicity {liberality} — without ostentation; and with pure motive
• ruleth {leads} — 1 Pet 5:2 — church office (illustration: Pastor, or Deacon, etc.)
• showeth mercy — appointed to attend to the poor, the sick, the persecuted, etc.
Gifts — Rev. T. Robinson
The gifts of –
I. Prophets or instructors. Gifts for –
1. Communicating Divine truth;
2. Interpreting the Divine will;
3. Foretelling future events.
II. Ministers or administrators; discharging the duties of –
1. Distribution;
2. Government;
3. Attendance on the sick.
Humility — Humility, in the Gospel sense of the word, is a virtue with which the ancients, and more particularly the Romans, were totally unacquainted. They had not even a word in their language to describe it by. The only word that seems to express it, humilitas, signifies baseness, servility, and meanness of spirit — a thing very different from true Christian humility and indeed this was the only idea they entertained of that virtue. Everything that we call meek and humble, they considered as mean and contemptible. A haughty, imperious, overbearing temper, a high opinion of their own virtue and wisdom, a contempt of all other nations but their own, a quick sense and a keen resentment, not only of injuries, but even of the slightest affronts — this was the favourite and predominant character among the Romans; and that gentleness of disposition, that low estimation of our own merits, that ready preference of others to ourselves, that fearfulness of giving offence, that abasement of ourselves in the sight of God which we call humility, they considered as the mark of a tame, abject, and unmanly mind. — Porteus
“Bis dat qui cito dat — He gives twice who gives quickly.” — Seneca
“He scarce giveth once that giveth slackly; he rather, in truth, suffers a good turn to be drawn from him than doeth one. Living springs send out streams of water; dead pits must have all that they afford drawn out with buckets.” — J. Robinson
“And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that” 1 Sam 23:17
Jonathan knew the truth. He would never be king. It didn’t make any difference what his father wanted, he was not king material and he knew it. He was satisfied with the role that God seemed to have made for him — second in command.
We need to be just like Jonathan in this respect. It makes no difference what we want to be, or what our parents want us to be, or what our spouse thinks we should be. What is important is that we be content with what God wants us to be. If He wants us to lead thousands, we will and be happy about it. If he wants us to lead a solitary life and write books, fine make it so, we will be content doing it.
Our problem is that we often look to the glamorous things to do. We want the good life. We want the high profile tasks. We want. . . . Then, when we get it, we are not satisfied. Something is missing. It just isn’t enough. Why? Because we are not what we were created to be. We will never be satisfied until we fulfill that role.
Could this explain why so many people change jobs frequently? Could this explain the arguments and fights that take place in Church board meetings? Is it possible that this is why there is so much in-fighting and back-biting in the Fellowship of God? Indeed, it could be. We need to spend our time doing what God wants. He will lead us in paths that will satisfy us. As a matter of fact, if you are not fulfilled in your present position, perhaps you are in the wrong one. Are you there because you want to be there, or because God put you there?
Mostly, God will use you where your talents and enjoyments lie. He will never make a cook out of someone who hates to be in the kitchen. Likewise, he will never make a mechanic out of someone who loves to cook. He has given you the talents and abilities you have for His purpose. Use them for Him and you will find contentment — This I guarantee!
“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, [let us use them]: if prophecy, [let us prophesy] in proportion to our faith; or ministry, [let us use it] in [our] ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:6-8 NKJV)
Gifts, Their Variety And Use
• gifts — Matt 25:14-30, 1 Pet 4:10-11 — every office, talent, etc., a gift
• differing — in kind or degree
• according…us — the difference to be referred to will of God, who knows what to bestow, and upon whom
• prophecy — Acts 15:32, 1 Cor 14:3, 31, Isa 8:20 — gift of teaching
• ministry — Acts 6:1-4, Eph 4:11-12 — various official duties in the Church
• teaching — as catechising (illustrating the art of questioning: difference between education and instruction)
• exhorteth — 1 Tim 4:13-16, 2 Tim 4:2, Col 1:28-29 — another species of teaching or preaching. Preaching gifts differ: let each cultivate his own and neither envy nor decry the gift of another
• giveth — Mat 6:1-3, 2 Cor 9:7 — having worldly substance as his gifts
• simplicity {liberality} — without ostentation; and with pure motive
• ruleth {leads} — 1 Pet 5:2 — church office (illustration: Pastor, or Deacon, etc.)
• showeth mercy — appointed to attend to the poor, the sick, the persecuted, etc.
Gifts — Rev. T. Robinson
The gifts of –
I. Prophets or instructors. Gifts for –
1. Communicating Divine truth;
2. Interpreting the Divine will;
3. Foretelling future events.
II. Ministers or administrators; discharging the duties of –
1. Distribution;
2. Government;
3. Attendance on the sick.
Humility — Humility, in the Gospel sense of the word, is a virtue with which the ancients, and more particularly the Romans, were totally unacquainted. They had not even a word in their language to describe it by. The only word that seems to express it, humilitas, signifies baseness, servility, and meanness of spirit — a thing very different from true Christian humility and indeed this was the only idea they entertained of that virtue. Everything that we call meek and humble, they considered as mean and contemptible. A haughty, imperious, overbearing temper, a high opinion of their own virtue and wisdom, a contempt of all other nations but their own, a quick sense and a keen resentment, not only of injuries, but even of the slightest affronts — this was the favourite and predominant character among the Romans; and that gentleness of disposition, that low estimation of our own merits, that ready preference of others to ourselves, that fearfulness of giving offence, that abasement of ourselves in the sight of God which we call humility, they considered as the mark of a tame, abject, and unmanly mind. — Porteus
“Bis dat qui cito dat — He gives twice who gives quickly.” — Seneca
“He scarce giveth once that giveth slackly; he rather, in truth, suffers a good turn to be drawn from him than doeth one. Living springs send out streams of water; dead pits must have all that they afford drawn out with buckets.” — J. Robinson
“And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that” 1 Sam 23:17
Jonathan knew the truth. He would never be king. It didn’t make any difference what his father wanted, he was not king material and he knew it. He was satisfied with the role that God seemed to have made for him — second in command.
We need to be just like Jonathan in this respect. It makes no difference what we want to be, or what our parents want us to be, or what our spouse thinks we should be. What is important is that we be content with what God wants us to be. If He wants us to lead thousands, we will and be happy about it. If he wants us to lead a solitary life and write books, fine make it so, we will be content doing it.
Our problem is that we often look to the glamorous things to do. We want the good life. We want the high profile tasks. We want. . . . Then, when we get it, we are not satisfied. Something is missing. It just isn’t enough. Why? Because we are not what we were created to be. We will never be satisfied until we fulfill that role.
Could this explain why so many people change jobs frequently? Could this explain the arguments and fights that take place in Church board meetings? Is it possible that this is why there is so much in-fighting and back-biting in the Fellowship of God? Indeed, it could be. We need to spend our time doing what God wants. He will lead us in paths that will satisfy us. As a matter of fact, if you are not fulfilled in your present position, perhaps you are in the wrong one. Are you there because you want to be there, or because God put you there?
Mostly, God will use you where your talents and enjoyments lie. He will never make a cook out of someone who hates to be in the kitchen. Likewise, he will never make a mechanic out of someone who loves to cook. He has given you the talents and abilities you have for His purpose. Use them for Him and you will find contentment — This I guarantee!
Everything we make is available for free because of a generous community of supporters.
Donate