USING WHAT GOD GAVE US
[Matthew:25:14-46 [14] For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. [15] And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. [16] Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. [17] And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. [18] But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money. [19] After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. [20] And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. [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. [22] He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. [23] His lord said unto him, Well done, 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. [24] Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: [25] And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. [26] His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: [27] Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. [28] Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. [29] 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. [30] And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [31] When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: [32] And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: [33] And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. [34] 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: [35] For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: [36] Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. [37] Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? [38] When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? [39] Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? [40] And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. [41] Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: [42] For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: [43] I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. [44] Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? [45] Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. [46] And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. ].
“Be ye kind one to another” (Ephesians 4:32).
When Jesus Comes
Jesus is now in Heaven but He is coming back to earth one of these days to take us to Heaven to be with Him. He has given each one of us something to do, and we must keep busy doing it until He comes for us.
Working for Jesus
In this lesson we find a story called a parable, which teaches us to use what God has given us. Let us imagine that before us stand three little boys. One of these boys sings very well; he also plays an instrument – shall we say the piano? He also gives his testimony in the meetings whenever he has a chance. Sometimes he picks a bouquet of flowers and takes it to a little sick friend. He has a small savings account, which he uses to buy gifts for a child who is very poor. Such a child is very fortunate – he has five ways in which he works for Jesus. He has five talents and he uses them for Jesus.
The next little boy does not have so many things he can do – he cannot sing, but he is trying to learn. He wants so much to be able to sing in the Sunday School chorus! He can play the piano and sometimes he goes to visit sick people and plays a song for them. Often he tells his friends about Jesus and gives out some Gospel papers. He does what he can for Jesus, and makes many people happy, and himself, too.
But the third boy does not sing or play; in fact, he doesn’t even try to learn. He probably could learn, if he would just try. He thinks: I cannot even testify, so what’s the use to try? He says he is too busy playing to go and visit his sick friends and cheer them up. He has some money saved up in his little bank, but he does not use it to buy toys or something else for others, for he wants to use it to buy things only for himself. He is very selfish! How happy he could make other people if he would but try! Don’t you think this boy is hiding his talent? It is not making him happy either.
Although the second and third boys are not so fortunate as the first one, yet each boy has something he can do for Jesus. Every one of us has one talent, or one way in which we can work for Jesus. It matters not how small may seem the kindness we show to others, if it is done from the heart, as unto Jesus, He will see it and be pleased. Jesus said that if we give a cup of cold water to a little one we shall not lose a reward, which means that He will be kind to us, too.
The Angel’s Visit
Once there was a man of God named Abraham who lived with his wife in a tent out on the desert. One hot day as he sat in the door of his tent he looked out and saw three men coming towards him. He ran out to meet them and asked them to stay with him. He told them to rest in the shade of the tree; he gave them water to wash their tired feet. He hurried out to his herd and brought a fine young calf and quickly prepared meat for the guests. He told his wife to make some cakes, or perhaps bread. They also took some butter and milk and set before the guests a very fine meal. They did all they could to make the strangers happy. Who do you suppose these visitors were? They were angels from Heaven, and one of them may have been the Lord! Abraham and his wife, Sarah did not know who these men were. How glad they must have been that they had showed kindness to the strangers. God saw it and later gave them something they wanted very much – a baby boy.
A Blessing to Others
We need not say, “Oh if I had lived in the days of Abraham, or when Jesus walked upon earth and visited at the home of Mary and Martha, I could have done something for Jesus.” We all can work for Jesus today. We can help others and in that way do something for Jesus, for He said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
A woman who did not love Jesus nor have time to go to church became suddenly very ill. She was no longer able to go out and have a good time. A small group of Sunday School girls heard of her illness and went often to her home and sang for her the songs they had learned in Sunday School. The sick woman loved to hear the girls sing, and the songs touched her heart. She turned to the Lord and began praying that she might have a clean heart and be made ready to go to Heaven. Jesus saved her souls and within a short time she went Home to Heaven. Those girls worked for Jesus.
Busy or Idle
We may even learn a lesson from the little bees. From morning until night the worker-bee visits the flowers, carries the pollen to the hive for honey, feeds the baby bees and the queen, or mother-bee. Around the hive we also find the buzzing drones. They spend much time just flying around and eating the honey, which the worker-bee has gathered. That is why they are called drones – lazy bees. When the honey harvest shows signs of being over, the drones are killed and cast out of the hive by the workers. They do not want the bees around that are not willing to work. There is no place for idlers or “drones” in the work of the Lord, either. We do not want to be drones.\
The Judgment
When Jesus shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, He shall sit upon a throne. All the people shall be gathered before Him to be judged. Then Jesus will separate the good people from the bad ones as a shepherd in the faraway lands separates his sheep from the goats. He will put the good people on His right hand and the bad ones on the left.
Jesus will say to the good people, those who are saved and ready to go to Heaven, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” He will tell them that they fed the hungry, gave a drink to the thirsty, took in the stranger who had no place to go, clothed the ones who did not have clothes to wear, visited the sick and the people in the prisons. Then they can go to Heaven where they will always be with Jesus and the holy angels. These acts of kindness unto one of the least of God’s people, are done unto Jesus.
But Jesus will tell the naughty people on the left hand to go away to be punished forever. He will remind them that they did not feed the hungry; they did not even give a drink to the thirsty; they did not take in the stranger who had no home; they gave no clothes to the naked; nor did they visit the sick people and the ones in prison. Some people will try to excuse themselves by saying that they never saw Jesus hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison. The Judge will say to them, “Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.”
Will you be there? Will I be there? Yes, every one of us shall stand before Jesus some day to be judged by Him.
Forever with Jesus
Some children may say, “I would be happy if I had this or that.” Well let us make use of what we have. Jesus has given each one a work to do, and we want to have it done or be doing our best to get it done when He comes. Then He will say to us, “Come, ye blessed of my Father.” He will take us to Heaven where we shall forever be with Jesus.
1. What did the servant do who had received the five talents? [Matthew:25:16Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
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2. Was his lord pleased with him? [Matthew:25:21His 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.
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3. Was his lord pleased with the servant who hid his talent? [Matthew:25:26-30 [26] His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
[27] Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
[28] Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
[29] 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.
[30] And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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4. Do you think we shall be rewarded for little acts of kindness? [Matthew:25:40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
]; [Matthew:10:42And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
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5. Do you think we shall be punished if we do not help those who need help? [Matthew:25:45-46 [45] Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
[46] And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
]; [Ezekiel:18:12-13 [12] Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination,
[13] Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.
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