Signs of the Times Pt 4

Morning. Welcome this morning to Calvary Chapel. Those of you who are live with us and those who are online, we welcome you. This time of the day, would y'all stand? Father, just bless our time now as we come together to worship and to study your word. Be glorified this morning. May we look to you, the author and finisher of our faith, knowing that you're working at us both to will and do if

you're a good pleasure as we yield ourselves to you, Lord. We thank you. Such a good, good father that you sent your son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for us. We thank you, Lord, for that. Rose from the dead and was among all those folks, the evidence of him raising from the dead and then ascended up into heaven as they gazed steadfast like they were at a theater, really,

really seeing a picture. Lord, you'll return in that way. We give you thanks, Lord. We praise you. And we know that without you, Lord, we can do nothing. We're really pretty helpless without you, Lord. Give you thanks. Y'all may be seated. Take these as your mercy, your sovereignty, Lord, and truly without you, we're nothing. We know that. Give us open hearts to serve, to love you,

Lord, and then serve you. And we thank you for the fellowship, Lord. Amen. With you and others. We know that, Lord. We know that's true. We've experienced it personally. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for that love. My God, that is who you are. You're good to us. We thank you. That's that you'd bless us this morning as we're spending this time together, and that you would be glorified.

Would y'all stand? A thousand generations and your family. And your children and their children. May his presence be beside you all. Yes, Lord Jesus, we thank you. Favor upon us. Your presence with us, Lord. Always. We thank you. You're all powerful. You're all present. You're unchangeable. You're mutable, Lord. All those characteristics of you, those attributes, we can trust you in everything at all times.

And we give you praise. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's have some fellowship.

Good morning. Glad you could be here this morning. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. If you would begin to locate your seat. Grab your bulletin, and we'll get ready to go over some announcements. Over on the left-hand side of your bulletin are all of the things that are going on throughout the week. So find one of those spots to get plugged into. Over in the center section of your bulletin, a handful of reminders.

First of all, the men's conference is coming up this coming Saturday. If you would like to carpool, I think we're going to meet right here in the church parking lot at 7 o'clock. So that we can caravan or carpool up there. So, fellas, take note of that. Also, a handful of things. Prophecy study is this week, this coming Thursday. As well as the study that Brian and Julie Davis do up at their house.

It's this Tuesday. And then time change is next weekend. So, next. Next weekend, fall back. Otherwise, you'll be here with me really, really early in the morning. Which is fine, but you're going to want that sleep. So, time change is next weekend. And then one thing that's not in your bulletin because it was a busy weekend and I failed to get it in there. Is that the women's conference is coming up December 3rd from 9 to 3.

I promised you a sign-up sheet last week and I failed you. So, I will have that for you next week, ladies. But that still gives you a good amount of time to get signed up. One last reminder. Is that Operation Christmas Childhood. Christmas Child shoeboxes are due back November the 13th. And I think Ross has something to share as well as maybe a little video.

Good morning. Yes, Operation Christmas Child. Just a quick reminder. We got two weeks. This week and next to get our boxes filled. And one thing that, you know, that we want to put in is what we call a wow gift. It's the one thing that a kid might want. I want to open that up. I just happened to pick one here. It's something that I think a young boy might want.

I'm fixing up for a boy here, right? And my wife's got a girl. And this is just a little cute little thing here, a little lantern. You know, a kid would love to get that. It's got a little crank on the bottom of it. But, you know, anything you get. A pair of some tools or something that if you're a guy and you want to get something for a young boy, get him something that you think they might want to have, right?

It don't have to be tools. It can be anything that God lays on your heart. But a wow gift is just the one gift we put in to set off all the other gifts. Again, two weeks we have, this week and next. After next Sunday's first service and second service, there will be a meeting in the Agape room to discuss the distribution trip and what's going to be going on there.

And then one thing that I want to impress upon us is be sure and pray for the boxes and for the child that is going to get your box. If you're packing one and also that put something in it that personalizes the box. For those of us who've been on the distribution, we go down there and we open a lot of boxes up, right? And we open them up for checking them just so we have to go through them to see if they have any things that's not supposed to be there, but also to, well, pull the money out if there's money in.

That's the only reason we go through them. But the other thing is you'll notice that when we get to see these boxes that come through, some of them will have a personal note. They'll have a picture from a family. They'll have a note from a family. Those things can have a big impact on the child that's going to receive that gift. So with that, let's go ahead and play the video.

On August 17th, 1992, there was an article in a newspaper about a little girl. On August 17th, 1992, there was an article in a newspaper. About a little girl who fell out of the window. She was four and a half year old. On August 17th, 1992, there was an article in a newspaper about a little girl who fell out of the window. She was four and a half year old.

She fell from the ninth floor. It's 100 feet below. And they wrote in an article that it was… It was… A miracle. Believe it or not, but that girl was me. And I lived. And I believe that God reached out his hands and caught me and laid me softly on the ground. I was born during a time when Soviet Union was falling apart and Ukraine became an independent country.

And many people were struggling financially, including my family. I lived with my grandmother, mother and my uncle. My mother and uncle, they had drinking problems. She would be drunk. She would get very violent. But my grandmother was a very hardworking woman. And she took care of all of us, especially after my fall. My grandmother was to me like my mother.

My best memories when she would take me to the village, where she would plant vegetables and fruit so we would have something to eat. When I received a shoebox, I was 12 years old. And it happened around Christmas time. One day at church, around Christmas, our pastor said that today children will have a surprise. So I was very excited and curious, what can that be?

Pastor said, today you are going to receive… And to receive a shoebox gift for Christmas. It was a big surprise and there was a lot of excitement. And I wanted that gift. When I saw what's inside, I was so happy. School supplies, I had hygiene items, soft toys. The very special thing was a letter from a lady who packed it. So when someone was translating it to me, they said,

this lady wrote to you that I wish you a Merry Christmas and I pray for you and I love you. It was hard for me to understand, why would somebody love me who doesn't even know me? Today, I understand that God wanted to show me the kindness of Jesus through that shoebox. I could not believe that all of these things were given to me. And that they are new and they are now mine.

Back at my life, knowing that I fell and that I had a hard time growing up, I see that God never left me and that He always took care of me, never took away His hand from me. It gives me hope to keep going even when hard times come in life. God is always faithful. God will never leave me and will always carry me through. I would encourage you. I would encourage people to pack a shoebox for a child just like me.

Through this shoebox, we can receive joy and hope and just to feel the kindness of Jesus. It made a difference in my life and in my heart. That's a powerful story, just hearing it. For those of us who have children, this resource is laying out there in the library. It's out there in the lobby. And it's just a thing that the kids can color and talk about themselves

and tell them about their favorite colors and what they like to do. So if you have children that are packing a shoebox, please take this. And then also, we put 50 more boxes out. They have the labels in them. All you have to do is put the label on it of what child, boy, girl, what age and so on that you're packing for. And then also your $10 can either be put in the box or you can do it online.

And as we've talked about previously, they like to have the money done online so that it takes less time for us to do it while we're at the distribution center. But either way, it doesn't matter. You can put it in the box. So there's 50 boxes out there now. And we have 50 more if we run out of those. So thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. For our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 150.

Psalm 150. Looking at the New American Standard so we all sound the same. If you need to copy, should be one in a row. Matter of fact, I just got some new ones in so that I put out. So as you are turning to Psalm 150, if you would stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word. I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the even verses.

Psalm 150. Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds. Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with trumpet sound. Praise Him with harp and lyre. Praise Him with timbrel and dancing. Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. Praise Him with loud cymbals. Praise Him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. And Father, we do thank you so much and we praise you for who you are. You are the God who created the heavens and the earth. Lord, the God who holds the worlds in motion by the breath of your mouth. So Lord, we thank you so much and we just rest in you this morning. Father, reveal yourself to us in new and amazing ways.

And Lord, prepare our hearts for what your Holy Spirit wants to minister to us, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would open up in your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25. We come this morning to part four of our series, The Signs of the Times. And really the emphasis both last week and this week are going to be on preparedness, readiness.

Because He wants us as believers in Jesus Christ to always be ready for His coming. There's lots of unanswered questions as we look at prophecy. There's lots of things that there's debate about. But as I told you in the beginning of this series, my goal will be to keep the main thing the main thing. And the main thing is Jesus. Knowing Him and being ready for His coming whenever that is.

Because each of us has that same issue that we talked about last week. Each of us has a tendency to believe the lie that I've always got time. And really He emphasizes for us in the next two parables that we look at this morning. Is that time is not on our side because no one knows the day or the hour. Therefore we should be ready and therefore we should be faithful.

And so we pick up in verse 32 or excuse me. We pick up in verse 1 of chapter 25 with the parable of the ten virgins. Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps they took no oil with them. But the prudent took oil in their flasks along with their lamps.

Now while the bridegroom was delaying they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, behold the bridegroom come out to meet him. Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the prudent, give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out. But the prudent answered, no there will not be enough for us and you too.

Go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves. And while they were going away to make the purchase the bridegroom came. And those who were ready went in with him to the feast. And the door was shut. Later the other virgins also came saying, Lord, Lord open up for us. But he answered. Truly I say to you, I do not know you. Be on the alert then for you do not know the day nor the hour.

Starts off as many of the kingdom parables because that's what this is. The kingdom of heaven is like. He says then the kingdom of heaven will be like. And he describes for us a little situation about a wedding feast. In particular ten virgins that are waiting for the bridegroom. These would be if you will ten bridesmaids that are waiting for the bridegroom to come and take the bride.

Quickly again let's discuss what a Jewish wedding looks like. Because it looks very different than the wedding that you and I would know today. A Jewish wedding started off first of all with the engagement. Which could really happen at any point in time in a young boy and young girl's life. They could be promised to each other at any point in time. But then came the betrothal period that usually lasted about a year or so.

In which in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of God they were married to each other. But there was no consummation of the marriage nor did they live together. Instead the groom at that point in time would be preparing a place for the bride. And the bride would be waiting for the groom to come and get her. And then at the end of the betrothal period which was an undetermined time.

No one knew the day or the hour that the bridegroom would come. He would come for his bride. That's the part that we're talking about here. Only the focus is not on the bride. But this time it's on the bridesmaids or the virgins that assisted the bride. And as we look at this we see that there's two different groups that are involved. It says the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins.

Who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. But the two groups were very different. It describes the first set of virgins. The first five as foolish. We're told in verse two five of them were foolish. And then in verse three it says for when the foolish took their lamps they took no oil with them. The word foolish there literally means. Dull, sluggish or without forethought.

In other words they didn't think beyond the next 15 minutes. The reason why they're described as that is because while waiting for the bridegroom they took no oil for their lamps. They took their lamps that was good. But they took no oil for their lamps. The lamps would be maybe what we would consider torches. And the oil was burned through very fast. As a matter of fact they said that when the torch was lit.

The torch was dripped with oil it would last maybe 15 to 20 minutes. Therefore if you knew that you had a long time to wait. You would bring extra oil to make sure that you knew you had enough for the entire time. But these first set these first five were unwise. They had no forethought. In other words they didn't think beyond just today. They didn't think beyond just the next 15 minutes.

And they took no oil for their lamps. The second group of five are referred to as wise. The word wise literally means practical, sensible, or farsighted. In other words they thought beyond today. And the reason why it showed that they thought beyond today. That they had some sort of foresight or farsightedness. Is because they took lamps with extra oil. In other words they were prepared.

They were ready. They were alert. Understanding that they didn't know how long that they were going to have to wait. And then we see described for us the waiting for the bridegroom. It says now while the bridegroom was delaying. They all got drowsy and began to sleep. Notice it lumps them all in the same group. The bridegroom was delayed. In other words he took longer than they thought he was going to take.

And they all got a little bit sleepy and they all fell asleep. Now this particular time. They're not condemned for falling asleep. Because quite frankly if you're staying up all night. What else are you going to do? Right? No the condemnation comes later. They're delaying. The bridegroom is delaying. They're waiting. And so they all begin to sleep. But at midnight.

Verse 6. There was a shout. Behold the bridegroom come out to meet him. In the middle of the night. Which is interesting. Because how is the return of Jesus often referred to as? As a thief in the night. Right? And so in the middle of the night. Midnight. The shout comes out. Behold the bridegroom is coming. And so everybody began to stir. We all know what it's like to be woken out of sleep in the middle of the night.

You start stirring around. Trying to get yourself ready. Notice what it says. Verse 7. Then all the virgins arose and they trimmed their lamps. Let me put it to you another way. All the virgins arose and they prepared their lamps. In other words. They got everything ready to go. But there was one problem. The foolish said to the prudent. Give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out.

You see the foolishness of those first five was revealed when the bridegroom came. Up to that point in time everything looked the same. They had the same lamp. They probably had the same garments. And they fell asleep just like all the other ones did. But when the bridegroom came something was revealed. It was revealed that they were not ready. And the reason why they weren't ready is because they didn't have the proper oil to light their lamp.

There was no true light for their torches. And so what do they do? They look at the wise ones and they're like. Hey listen. You need to share some of your oil with us. I wish you would have told us that we were going to need extra. Right? You can imagine how the conversation went. I wish you would have told us we were going to need extra. You guys are always the one that pack our bags.

You guys are always the ones that are ready. I wish you would have told us that we were going to need extra. I wish you would have told us that we needed more oil. Give us some of yours. And of course the five wise virgins were like. No. Verse 9. We will not have enough for us. And you too. You need to go instead to the dealers in the town. And you need to buy more.

And so that's what they had to do. They were forced to do what they could to be prepared. And so notice the conclusion. It says. While they were going away to make the purchase. The bridegroom came. And those who were ready. Went in. With him. To the wedding feast. And the door was shut. So they go away to buy their oil. And while they're away. If you're an underliner.

I think a really good phrase to underline. Is the one where it says. Those who were ready. Went in. Because this speaks to what the heart of this parable is. And that's readiness. He says. While they were away. Trying to buy their oil. Too late. Those who were ready. Went in. And then did you notice what happened to the door? The door was. Shut. You know what I thought of when I read this.

The thought that kept going through my mind was. As it was in the days of Noah. So it will be in the coming of the son of man. Because remember what we discussed last week. About the days of Noah. When Noah and his family entered the ark. Who closed the door? God did. He closed the door. Remember what we think probably happened. With all the people on the outside.

They were knocking on the door. Saying hey, wait. We won't in. Only notice how the bridegroom responds. He says later the other virgins came saying. Lord open up for us. But he answers saying. Truly I say to you. I do not know you. Literally Kenneth Weiss translates it like this. He says truly I say to you. truly, I say to you, I have no relationship with you.

That was a telling phrase, in my opinion. Because again, I think that speaks to the heart of what this parable is trying to get across. He had no relationship with them. He did not know them. They knew who he was. He didn't know who they were. And it closes with this exhortation. Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day. Nor the hour. See, I think this speaks like many of the other kingdom parables speak.

Remember some of the other kingdom parables, specifically things like the wheat and the tares? Remember we talked about the fact that within the church, there would be true believers and false believers? I think this speaks to the same sort of thing because all those who were ready went in. They were prepared. They had a relationship with the bridegroom. They knew the wedding party.

They were allowed in because they were prepared. They were ready to go in. They were the true believers. But the ones who had delayed looked just like everybody else up until the time when it was decision time. Up until the time when Jesus came back. And then all of a sudden, when the bridegroom shows up, it's revealed, though they looked just like everybody else,

they weren't just like everybody else. You see, it's one thing to look like a believer on the outside. And it's a whole other thing to be a true believer on the inside. You see, anybody can show up to a church service. Anybody can call themselves a Christian. Every religion in the world could call themselves a Christian. There are cults out there that say, yeah, we're Christian,

but they believe in a different Jesus. There are groups out there that refer to themselves as Christians, but they believe a different gospel. Therefore, when the bridegroom comes and it says, behold, the bridegroom comes, the wise ones, the ones who have truly put their faith in Jesus will be ready and they will go in. But the ones who have just looked like everybody else and just talked like everybody else the whole time will be going, wait, we don't have any oil in our lamps.

You know what oil always speaks of in scripture? Oil always speaks of the Holy Spirit. Oil speaks of the Holy Spirit and that's what is indicated here. Because something magical, something magical happens to us. I use the word magical with a little bit of hyperbole. Something spiritual happens to us the day that you ask Jesus to come into your heart to be your Savior.

And that's that at that point in time, the Holy Spirit comes inside of you and makes his home in you. And now all of a sudden your lamp has oil and you're ready. But I fear sometimes that there are too many people sitting in the pews of churches and I'm not talking about every other church in the world. I'm talking about this church here. I fear sometimes that there are people

that sit in the seats of the churches who look just like everybody else but you don't have any oil in your lamp because you've never actually asked Jesus into your heart because you've never actually committed your heart to him and that Holy Spirit's not at work inside of you. And listen, it will not be revealed until that day. Have you noticed that with all of the kingdom parables, this revelation doesn't happen until the bridegroom comes? Until the landowner comes?

Until the king comes? And then all of a sudden it becomes apparent who's real and who is not. Therefore, Jesus gives this exhortation to wrap this parable up. And he says, Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day or the hour. The word alert there means to be prepared, to be ready, to be ever on the Lord. To watch. Brothers and sisters, we need to be prepared.

We need to be ready for the coming of Jesus. We need to be ready for whatever comes our way. We must ever be watchful for the coming of Jesus Christ and know that our calling and election is sure. I'll bring this to a little bit of a conclusion at the end. But have that in the back of your mind because brothers and sisters, readiness needs to be what our soul takes the most care for.

He goes on to tell a second parable, the parable of the talents. Notice what it says in verse 14. For it's like a man about to go on a journey who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey. Immediately the one who had received the five talents

went and trusted him. And traded with him and gained five more talents. In the same manner, the one who had received the two talents gained two more. But he who received the one talent went away and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents

came up and brought five more talents saying, Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I've gained five more talents. And his master said, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master. Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, Master, you entrusted two talents to me.

See, I have gained two more talents. His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few, I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master. And also the one who had received the one talent came up to his master and said, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you don't sow, gathering where you haven't scattered seed.

And I was afraid and went away and I hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours. But his master answered him and said, You wicked and lazy slave. You knew that I reap where I did not sow, gather where I scattered no seed. You ought to have put my money in the bank and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore, take away the talent from him

and give it to the one who has ten talents. For to everyone who has more shall be given and he will have an abundance. But from the one who does not have even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness in the place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The parable of the talents. Interestingly enough, much like the other kingdom parables,

it involves a landowner. The landowner, of course, is in charge of a lot of things and has a great deal of wealth and he has slaves underneath of him. Servants, we'll call them, underneath of him. And he's getting ready to take a trip and he says, I need someone to manage my money while I'm gone. I'll call my servants to myself and I will give them. I'll give them each a portion

for them to manage while I'm away. This was not an uncommon thing at all to take place at that point in time for a landowner when he had to make a long trip to put his servants in charge of individual things. But I want you to take note of two things about what the landowner did with his possessions that he entrusted his slaves with. Because there's two important things to pay attention to that I'm going to draw just a little bit of personal application out of.

Number one, he gave them each something different. Number two, he gave them each according to their own abilities. I think this is something for us as believers in Jesus Christ to pay attention to. Before I get into what talents are and all that kind of stuff, I think it's important for us to realize as believers in Jesus Christ that what God gives to us, first of all, is different than what he gives to everybody else.

I've always used this example and that's out of the book of Hebrews where it says that we are to run the race that is set before us. The indication in the Greek there is that each of us has our own individual race that we run. Several years ago when I ran a half marathon, you had to go on and you had to sign up. But when you signed up, because there's so many people that signed up, you had to put down a goal time.

When there's 25,000 people running, you have to make sure that you kind of stick with your people. Otherwise, you'll get run over by the fast people and they don't like you very much. And so you signed up for your goal time. My goal time for the 13 miles was two hours. And so when I got there in the sea of people in the middle of downtown Oklahoma City, I looked for the sign that said,

two hours because those are my people and that's my race. Way ahead of that are the people that were running really, really fast. I think the guy that won it ran it like an hour and 25 minutes or something dumb like that. That's not my race. He's given a different ability than I've been given. And that's not my race. I have to run my race. There are some that ran slower than me

and that's okay. That's their race. Because we each had something different. And we have to understand within the body of Christ that God gives us all something just a little bit, a little bit different. I say that because the comparison game in the world that we live in right now is so intense that we're constantly looking at each other and saying, why don't I have what he has?

Because that's not what God wanted to give you. God wanted to bless you with something different. He gave everybody something different. Wouldn't it be really boring if we all had the exact same gift? Wouldn't it be really boring if we all had the exact same talent? Right? I asked my kids the other day, not my own personal two kids, but my kids, in Bible class,

I asked a question of the day. I said, okay, if you could be famous for any one thing, what would you be famous for? You know what I'd be famous for if I could be famous for any one thing? I'd be a famous singer. All I want to do is be able to sing and I'm so mad at it. Right? I am so glad that God has blessed some people with the gift to sing. Because if everybody just had the gift of teaching,

we would never have any great worship time. Right? We never had any great praise time. And if all we had was the gift of singing, then there'd be no, no teaching. Right? Everybody's given a little bit of a different gift when it comes to that sort of thing. And so, what he entrusted them with was all different. But the second thing I took note of is that he gave each according to their own ability.

That means that God is not going to give me something that he's not also given me the ability to handle. And that really is an even more telling statement about how the third guy handles the talent that God has given him. That the landowner gave to him is he gave to him according to his ability. In other words, it wasn't too much for him to handle because he gave to him according to the ability that he also blessed him with.

Sometimes God calls us into something and we go, Lord, I don't think I have the ability to handle that. And I just know that God's saying, but if I called you to it, I'm going to give you the ability to do that. I was talking to somebody the other day that leads a Bible study and this individual said, I don't think I have what it takes. And I said, trust me, I understand.

I haven't shared this with very many people, but the first six months of me being the senior pastor here, I thought I was going to throw up every morning. That's just how I felt because I was like, what was anybody thinking? This is a terrible idea. I'm not the right guy for this. And I remember the first time that after a few months in, the guys at the board meeting said,

Ryan, how are you doing? We haven't really checked in on you too much. It's been such a whirlwind since you took over. How are you doing? And I said, well, I don't feel like I'm going to throw up every morning. So I feel like I'm moving in the right direction. And I had to trust in the fact that when God called me, it's because he was also going to give me the ability

to do what he called me to do. And it's the same way with whatever he's going to call you into. And so he gave them each something different and he gave them each according to their ability. Now, as we look at that, we see how each of them handled it. We see that first of all, to the one that he gave five talents, verse 15, he received it, or excuse me, verse 16,

he received it. And went and traded with them and gained five more talents. This guy clearly was paying attention to what he was doing. We didn't discuss what a talent is. A talent in this particular situation is not his ability to sing, talk, write, or dance. That's not a talent. A talent is a measure of money. And so he gave him a certain monetary unit. It was how they weighed out certain types of silver

and gold and things like that. So essentially he gave him a larger monetary unit. He takes that monetary unit and he trades with it. He invested it. He used it wisely and he doubled what his master gave to him. What a beautiful thing. He did a great job. The second guy that had two talents went and did the same thing. He went and invested it. It says he traded with it and he doubled his money.

He doubled the talents that the landowner had given to him. But then there's the third guy, right? He was like, this feels like a bad idea. I'm just going to go hide it because then nothing can happen to it. I can't lose any of his money. I may not gain any money, but I'm not going to lose any of his money. And then I can just keep living my life. Ultimately, the third guy had two problems.

And we kind of get to this at the very end, but let me go ahead and tell you what they are now. Ultimately, the third guy was number one, selfish. You know, it's kind of selfish to say, well, I don't want to lose it. I don't want to get in trouble. So I'm just not going to do anything with it because it might reflect bad on me. We call that being selfish. But the second thing, and Jesus uses the word lazy.

I would also use the word apathetic. There's a laziness there. Isn't it interesting that we don't ever really condemn laziness in our culture? We really don't. Matter of fact, if you condemn laziness, you're called heartless. Well, you just don't care about people. Really? Because Jesus condemns this guy for being lazy. Paul says, if a man doesn't work, he shouldn't eat.

Laziness is a major issue. Because that's not being faithful. There's actually a spiritual component behind laziness. As a matter of fact, Paul tells us in the pastoral epistles, if a man will not provide for his family, he is worse than a pagan. That's how serious it is to be lazy. And he's to be viewed as such. And so it's a really serious thing. Laziness is.

And he says, that's the two issues that this guy has. And so he, he goes on to say, he went out and he hid his master's money. So now it's, it's time to settle accounts. So we come to verse 19. After a long time, the master of the slaves came and settled accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents came and brought five more talents, saying, master, you entrusted me with five.

See, I have gained you five more talents. Ah, did the master's heart good. Notice how the master responds. Well done. Good. Good and faithful slave. Ah, the thing we all want to hear someday, right? Well done. Good and faithful servant. He says, I entrusted you with little. And now I will put you in charge at the end of verse 21 of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.

He said, I entrusted you with a few things. Now I'll put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master. I believe as well as many other, commentators that this indicates to us a truth about the kingdom, a truth about eternity. Our capacity for enjoyment of the kingdom is completely dependent on our faithfulness with the things that God blesses us with.

Now you say, Ryan, that's not fair. Not my system. Take it up with God. It's his system. Don't get me wrong. Everybody's going to love eternity, right? Eternity as a born again believer is going to be the most amazing thing in the world. But I want you to think about it. I want you to think about something. If you give a toddler pots and pans and a couple of spoons,

they're the happiest camper on the face of the earth. Why? Because they're just sitting there beating on those things to kingdom come and they think it's the greatest thing they've ever done. But what they don't realize is that there's so many more things to enjoy in life. You see, if you hand me pots and pans, I look and all I can think is work, right? I don't think, Hey, I could bang on those and it's going to be an amazing time.

No, my capacity for enjoyment is much deeper. Now I look for other ways to enjoy myself. Why? Because I have matured. I have grown up and I believe that that's the way it is with the kingdom. When we use God's gifts the way that he intends for us to, then our capacity for enjoying the kingdom will be greater. Will we all enjoy it? Yep. You just might be a toddler banging on pans,

not a grown up enjoying grown up things. Well, he comes to the second one and the second one says, uh, the one who had received two talents, verse 22 came up and said, master, you entrusted me with two talents. See, I have gained you two more. Once again, his master responds the same. Well done. Good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things.

Enter into the joy of your master. Then we come to the third and things go downhill. The one who had received one talent came and said, master, I knew you to be a hard man reaping where you did not. So gathering where you scattered no seed. What did he? He just do to his master. He just insulted him, right? He just defamed his character. He said, basically,

I know you're not that honest of a guy. Therefore I was what? I was afraid. I think this is actually dishonesty on his part. He goes, I was afraid. So here's what I did. I just solved the problem completely. And I went and I hit it. And look, here it is. There's your, there's your amount of money. It's got a little dirt on the outside of it, but there it is.

It's, it's back. Reward me now, right? You know what he was waiting to hear. He was waiting to hear what? The exact same thing. The first two heard. Well done. Good and faithful servant. I've entrusted you with little. Now I can entrust you with more enter into joy. But what did he hear instead? Instead, what he heard was you wicked verse 26, you wicked and lazy slave.

You knew that I gathered where I did not. So, and or reap where I did not. So, and gather where I scattered no seed. You should have at least put my money in the bank on my arrival. I added at least by the way on my arrival, I would have received my money back with interest. Take the talent away from him and give it to the one who has 10, but that's not fair.

Not my system. He looks at me. He says, you were wicked and lazy. You see in his heart. It wasn't that he was scared. He was going to fail. It's that he cared about himself and he didn't want to do anything. He never wanted to take the risk and that should create a question in our minds. Where was his heart? Where was he really? As far as his relationship with the master,

because notice what it says. It says verse 29 for to everyone who has more shall be given and he will have an abundance. But from the one who does not have even, what he does have shall be taken away. And then verse 30 throw out the worthless slave into outer darkness in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. So what does that mean? Well, it means that you should ask yourself,

was he really one of the slaves? Was he really a part of the kingdom if he wasn't willing to use his master's money to further his master's kingdom? You see, he was so lazy that he wasn't willing to put in the work. He was so wicked that he only cared about himself and there was no concern for the master. You see, this is the story about faithfulness. And that servant was not faithful with what God had given to him.

He was not faithful with what the master had given to him. And that should create questions in our own mind about our own faithfulness. As far as we're concerned, what God has given to us. Because he's pretty clear here about the importance of faithfulness with the talent that he has given to us, with the money, the time, the abilities that he's given to us, that we are to use them wisely. Well, what do we do with these parables? Well, I want to spend

our last few minutes together here this morning, bringing a little bit of application to both of these. You see, I think that there's two words that these two parables can encapsulate. Number one, readiness. Readiness. That's what the first parable spoke to us about, right? It's constantly being ready, being on the alert. That was the exhortation. Be on the alert. Be ever watchful. Be constantly

paying attention because you do not know the day or the hour when the master comes. You do not know the day or the hour when the master comes. You do not know the day or the hour when the master the day or the hour when the bridegroom is coming. Therefore, you should always be ready. That should again create a question in your mind. What does it mean to be ready? Because it's one thing to say it,

it's a whole other thing to put a pair of shoes on it and make it walk, right? So let's put a pair of shoes on it and make it walk. What does it look like to be ready? Well, I think it means three things to be ready. Number one, it means your salvation better be secure. It means your salvation had better be secure when it comes to who you are in Christ. Matter of fact, first Peter tells us to

be diligent to make your calling and election sure. In other words, we should all check our hearts every now and then. Lord, do I really belong to you? I remember listening to a story about Billy Graham right before he passed away. And the story goes like this. He was somewhat in and out of consciousness while he was in a car. He was in a car. He was in a car. He was in a car.

the hospital bed and he said he went through a terrifying time where he began to question whether or not he was really saved. Matter of fact, his soul was a little bit tormented there for a while and you go, dude, one of the greatest evangelists that's ever lived went through a time where his soul was tormented as to whether or not he really believed, as to whether or not he really belonged to Jesus Christ. And he said, as I went through that time, I began to search my heart and I began to pour my heart out to the Lord. And he said that torment was replaced with peace because God began to reassure my soul as I began to search my heart that yes, I do belong to him. That yes,

my heart has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Yes, I am a child of God. And where there was torment, it was absolutely replaced with peace. You see, brothers and sisters, I think it's a good thing for us to check our hearts every now and then. Do you? I really belong to Jesus or have I just been playing the game the whole time? God's Holy Spirit is so good that if we belong to him, he's so good at reassuring us.

But if you're here this morning, just because you're sitting in the chair doesn't mean that you're a part of the family. And you need to make sure that your heart truly belongs to Jesus Christ. Because listen, we don't know the day or the hour. Don't buy the lie that you'll always have time. Make today the day that you commit your heart to Jesus Christ. But you admit that you're a sinner and ask him to come into your heart

and to save you from your sins. And the most amazing spiritual thing will take place. He will come inside of you and he will make his home in you. And that Holy Spirit, that oil of the Holy Spirit will now begin to light up your life. It's been the greatest decision I ever made. And my life's never been the same since. So readiness, first of all, begins with, are you saved?

Do you belong to Jesus? Are you a part of the kingdom? But readiness doesn't just stop with salvation. That's just the beginning. You see, oftentimes I think we fail in our evangelistic messages by saying, that's it. That's the end in and of itself. You belong to Jesus. Now go do your own thing. That's only the beginning, right? The day that I made my calling and election sure,

the day that I made sure that I was following Jesus Christ with all of my heart was only the beginning for me. And I know that that will not stop until I make sure that I'm a part of the kingdom. Until the day that I breathe my last breath here and take my first breath there. Until then, Jesus tells us what we're supposed to do. We are supposed to live the abiding life. Matter of

fact, that's what he told his disciples. Interestingly enough, probably a couple of days after this, that he gives this message to his disciples. He will give a message to his disciples in John chapter 15, where he says, I am the vine and you are the branches. Unless you abide in me, then you will be like a branch that is cut off and cast away. Therefore, abide in me and I in you,

and you will bear much fruit. I spent so much of my Christian life wondering what that looked like because I'm a person. I don't just want to hear it. I want to know what does that mean? How do I, how do I live that out in daily life? And then I read it in a really expanded translation. It said this, I loved it. It said, maintain an active and living relationship

with the vine. You ever thought about that? That's what tree branches do. Tree branches just sort of hang out. That's a terrible joke. I'm sorry. They just sort of hang out and they just maintain an active and living relationship with the trunk of the tree. Same thing happens with great vines. The branches go off of the vine and they just maintain an active and living

relationship. What does that mean? It means that they stay connected to the vine. That means that every day of your life, you stay connected to Jesus. You do so through prayer. You do so through the word. You do so through every aspect of your life being devoted to him. You say, Ryan, it's really hard for me to pray all day. I, I have a job. I understand that. It doesn't mean that you can't be in communion with Jesus Christ

all day long. Listen, I worked in the secular world for a very long time. And actually most of my best favorite sermon illustrations, in my opinion, come from me being a groundskeeper because I was in communion with Jesus Christ that whole time. And as I was in communion with him, he showed me things in nature that I never thought were possible as he lined them up with what his word had to say. I'm like, Oh my gosh, it's like you're everywhere. It's like the truth of God is

because the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork, right? So whatever you're doing, you can maintain communion with God because you can see the invisible attributes of God clearly seen through the things of the world. I think about people that are engineers. I don't understand them. I don't understand how their minds work, but it's

fascinating because they see the order and the structure of God in their work. I think about people that are teachers and they see that teaching spirit of God. In their work, then they can see how God is at work as a teacher in their own lives as they make things understandable to the kids that are around them. I think of construction workers and the fact that they see God as the builder of the building, right? That's how he's referred to in

second Corinthians says we are all being built up together as a building of God. And we see that whatever job you're doing, if you're maintaining an active and living relationship with him, he's revealing himself to you. As you maintain that active and living relationship with him, you're always ready because you're in tune with everything of the Holy Spirit. But then I'm reminded number three of that wonderful little verse in Ephesians chapter five, verse 18. I don't know if I had

to put that up there and I think I forgot to highlight that one, but we won't turn to just write down Ephesians 5, 18. And I'll tell you real quick what it says. Ephesians 5, 18 says this, and do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipated. But be filled with the Spirit. Now in the Greek, when it says be filled with the Spirit, it's written in the present imperative. In other words, it means be being filled with the Spirit.

What did we say? Oil always represents in scripture. It represents the Spirit. What did the five unwise virgins not have? They didn't have oil. Therefore, if we are to be wise and be ready, what are we to continue to do? Being filled with the Spirit. Ryan, how do I do that? You just ask. Father, fill me with the Holy Spirit today. Overflow me with the Holy Spirit today. And as

you are continually being filled with that Holy Spirit, as you are abiding in Jesus Christ, it's amazing what he's able to do because you're in that constant harmony with him. The reason why we get out of harmony with him is because we're not abiding and we're not being filled with the Holy Spirit. Readiness means those three things. Is your heart right with God?

Are you abiding in him? And are you constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit? Because that's being ready for his coming. But the second word that stuck out to me in these two parables was this, faithfulness. Did you notice that the way that he rewarded them started off with that one phrase, well done, good and faithful servant. You see, he gave them each something a little bit different

and he gave them each according to their ability. Meaning that he didn't expect the same results from all of them, but what was the one thing he did expect from all of them? Faithfulness. What was the one thing that got the third guy in trouble? He wasn't faithful. Instead, he was what? Wicked and lazy. You see, results in God's kingdom look way different than results in our kingdom. In our kingdom, results look like numbers.

In our kingdom, results look like something I can quantify. But in God's kingdom... results look like? Faithfulness. Did you always do what I called you to do? As I've mentioned before, I've always appreciated Jeremiah. I think it's because Jeremiah is the weeping prophet and well, let's face it. I've always appreciated Jeremiah, but you know what I appreciate the

most about Jeremiah? Basically from the word go, God said, I want you to go to a stiff necked and stubborn people. Don't be nervous about the fact that you're only a kid. Go tell them what I give you to tell them, but you need to understand something. They won't listen and that's okay. You just do what I call you to do. And so as Jeremiah went about his ministry, do you know

what happened to him? They didn't listen. What'd they do to him instead? They threw him in prison. They threw him in dungeons. They beat him and yet he continued to remain faithful. Do you know that Jeremiah did not have one? He did not have one. He did not have one. He did not have one. one single convert. As a matter of fact, if they were giving out Dove Awards, he wouldn't even get

nominated, right? He didn't sell any albums. He didn't sell any books. He never got asked to come speak anywhere. And yet he's one of the greatest prophets that ever lived. Why? Because he was faithful. Brothers and sisters, you may never see the results of what God calls you to do, but that's okay. He just wants you to be faithful. So he says, and so my question for you is this, are you being a faithful steward? Are you being faithful in the

things that God has given you to do? Because they're going to look different than everybody else. And they're going to be according to the ability that God has given you, but are you being faithful? And so that of course brought up a second question. How can we be faithful? What does it mean to be a faithful steward? Well, I've come up with three ways that I think that we

can be faithful. Number one, you can be faithful in the way that you use your money. I know it's never a fun subject to talk about, but we always have a choice with our money. What are we going to do with it? Will I use it to further God's kingdom or will I use it to further my kingdom? I don't want to, get anything wrong here. There's nothing wrong with having nice things. There's nothing wrong

with having a house and having a car and those kinds of things. Matter of fact, do whatever you want to do with the money that God has given to you, but always ask yourself this, Lord, how can I further your kingdom? I remember listening to a guy named Wes Bentley in charge of a ministry called Far-Reaching Ministries. They go places nobody else goes to, to minister to people nobody else wants to minister to, like South Sudan, Syria, places where you can get killed, right?

As a matter of fact, I heard him teach one time and he said, I was in my office working and one of the other ladies that works with us was telling some stories and she said, hey Wes, tell me again about that time that you got hit by shrapnel and almost died. And he said, all I could think was, which time? Right? He's that kind of guy. And he said, I've learned something over the years. God blesses us with money so that we can further his kingdom.

And you know why I'm willing to take that advice from a guy like that? Because he puts it into practice every day. Because he lives his life according to that philosophy. Are you using the money that God has given to you to further the kingdom? Number two, are you using the time that God has given you to further the kingdom? Many of us say, well, I don't have very much money. As a matter of fact, I'm like the two

widow's mites that goes into the box. It just isn't going to go very far. That's okay. How are you using your time? time to further the kingdom of God? Are you using your time in a wise sort of way? Here's a question that I have for you that goes along with that. Have you ever journaled your time? So, so I'm dealing with some, some health stuff right now. I think like acid reflux kind of stuff messes with

my voice. I cough all the time. And so I've been trying to journal what I eat. If you really want to be sad, journal what you eat and drink all day long, right? And you're like, gosh, I waste a lot of calories. But I've also been thinking about the same thing with my time because I'm a busy guy, but I don't always budget my time very well, right? We always talk about budgeting money. Nobody talks

about budgeting their time. How do you budget your time? Have you ever thought, okay, I'm going to think just how long do I do this? I have this one little thing that pops up every Sunday morning around nine 30. There's this thing that pops up on my phone that tells me how much screen time I had. I always am happy when it says you use 20% less screen time this week than you did last week. I'm

always like, winning. But when it's like your screen time went up by 35%, I'm like not winning, right? So how do you use your time? Because God has blessed us with 24 hours in every single day. And the only thing that we can do with those 24 hours is what we have to do on a daily basis. But are you using it to invest in the kingdom of God? Are you using that time to get into God's

word? Are you using that time to spend time in prayer? Are you using that time to tell other people that you're not winning? Are you using that time to spend time in prayer? Are you using that time to tell other people about the faith that you have? Are you using that time as an encouragement to the people that are around you? Or do you only use that time to take care of me? Is all of the time that you have self-care time? Or is all of the time that

you have career building time? Or is all of the time that you have house building time? You name it. How do you use your time? But then number three, how do you use your abilities? Because God has blessed all of us with abilities. I know sometimes we sit back and go, I can't do nothing, right? No, God's blessed you with something. How are you using those abilities? Are you using them to further the kingdom of God? Brothers and sisters,

God desires faithfulness from us. He wants us to be that good and faithful servant. And the one thing I'm looking forward to, and I continue to give myself to, is the thought of hearing God say, well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy. I've had the opportunity of knowing two or three pastors that lived their lives according to that philosophy. And I've had the opportunity to be there to tell them goodbye. And I know beyond a

shadow of a doubt that the first thing that they heard was exactly that. And that's what I want my life to be. And that's what I want your lives to be. Brothers and sisters, we need to be ready and we need to be faithful because the time is short. Amen. Let's all stand. And if you'd bow with me.

Lord, we come to you this morning. And Father, I thank you for these sections of your word that cause us to think, that cause us to examine ourselves, that cause us to stop and say, is my calling and election sure? Do I belong to you? Am I abiding in you? And am I living faithfully with the things that you've given me, with the opportunities that I have? And so, Lord, continue to do your work in our hearts and lives. And Father, as we examine

ourselves, may we make the necessary changes to be who you've called for us to be. And we just thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.

Amen. The Lord bless y'all. Have a good week. Amen. Thank you.