I. The Master & His Servants Vs. 14. 15

A. The “Traveling” Master

1. Remember the context- the return of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Master in the story.
2. He has gone to a far away country, (Heaven), but will return for His servants
John 14:2, 3 2In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
3. The Master entrusted His servants with the affairs of His goods (the kingdom)
4. The Master will return according to His timetable, according to His purposes.

B. The Servants

1. The servants are called His servants.
2. They are entrusted with His goods.
3. Neither their lives, nor the goods belong to them. They all belong to the Master.
4. They owned nothing, but were responsible for much, & responsible to the master
5. They are given talents to be used for the Master’s purposes, not their own.
6. They are given differing amounts of talents, each according to their own ability.
7. The Master determined that which would be given to each servant.
8. Those w/more ability received more talents. Those w/less ability, less talents.
9. Each servant is like a vessel, big or small, but each filled w/a talent/talents.

C. The Talents- Literally

1. talents – talanton – the scale of a balance, a sum of money weighing a “talent”.
2. Apparently it had a different value in different cultures.
3. A talent wasn’t a small amount of money; it was a large sum of money.
4. Some say $1200 in modern value. Others say up to 2-3 years pay.
5. Even the servants with one talent still had much to be responsible with.
6. All the servants were given much to be responsible with. No insignificance.

D. The Talents- Figuratively

1. Everything in our life that can be used for God’s purposes.
2. Natural abilities, Money, possessions.
3. Spiritual gifts.
4. Any opportunity to serve God with whatever we have.

II. General Thoughts On Servants

A. The Gifting Of Servants

1. God gives spiritual gifts to every Christian without exception.
2. Read 1 Corinthians 12:4-11.
3. There are different gifts given .
4. There are different degrees of gifting given.
5. There are different expressions of how those gifts are to be used.
6. A person may be a 5 talent person of faith, but only a 2 talent person of mercy.
7. That person will be used differently that a 5 talent person of mercy, 2 of faith.
8. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 Word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healings, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues, teachers, administrations.
9. Read Romans 12:6-8 Ministry (diakonia), exhortation, giving, leadership, mercy.
10. Ephesians 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.
11. God looks for a return from each of His servants; no servant is unimportant.
12. Moody– “We may easily be too big (proud) for God to use, but never too small.”

B. The Mindset Of Servants

1. Read 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

a. Faithfulness to God is required.
b. Human evaluation of spiritual value is prohibited.
c. Self evaluation is prohibited, either endorsement or disqualification.
We can never spiritually see as clearly as God sees.
d. The “successful” servants has a clear idea of what God has called him to, what gifts he has been given, and how he ought to be serving the Master.

2. 2 Corinthians 10:12-18 Wise servants don’t compare/commend themselves.
3. The attentive, interested servant will learn what his gifts are, & try to develop them, & step out in faith & use them, & invest them for the Master’s sake.
4. The wise servant will not try to be like someone else re. gifting, but will try to be himself with the gifts he has received.

III. The Faithful & Unfaithful Servants

A. The Faithful Servants Vs. 16, 17

1. Both the 5 talent servant and the 2 talent servant were faithful to invest.
2. They both doubled their money.
3. They used what God gave them & brought increase into the Master’s kingdom.
4. They didn’t create the talents, but applied themselves w/what they were given.

B. The Unfaithful Servant V. 18

1. He took no chances with his Master’s money.
2. He was unwilling to obey the Master re. investing his talent. Disobedient.

IV. The Return Of The Master (Jesus)

A. Rewarding The Faithful Servants Vs. 19-23

1. Both servants doubled their money, and were equally commended.
2. Rewarded not on quantity of increase, but on faithfulness to their responsibility.

a. God looks for faithfulness in service, not quantity of service/results.
b. A 2 talent faithful servant is rewarded more than a 5 talent lazy servant.
c. Let’s not emphasize the quantity of talents, but emphasize faithfulness.
d. Not everyone has 5 talents, but everyone can be faithful.

3. Talents were called “a few things”. Life on Earth is small compared to Heaven.
4. They were granted access into the “the joy of your lord”. (Heaven)
5. Given responsibility in the Coming Kingdom. Promoted to “ruler”.

B. The Excuses Of The Unfaithful Servant Vs. 24, 25

1. Unfaithful servant excused his wrong by claiming his Master was a harsh man.
2. In this explanation, he reveals that he did not really know his Master.
3. Jesus died to redeem people, He didn’t make others do the work and then collect.
4. If he really thought his Master was harsh, then he should have obeyed him.
5. He claims to have been afraid, and excuses his disobedience, claiming to have done the right thing by burying his talent. His “doing nothing” was a sin.
6. “Fear is the mother of presumption”.
7. He was a man afraid he might fail, so never tried to succeed!

C. The Judgment Of The Unfaithful Servant Vs. 26-30

1. V. 26 seems to be a rhetorical, sarcastic statement. The Master mocks him.
2. V. 27– If that was true, then at no risk, you could have gained bank interest.
3. Reveals his unwillingness to obey. Wouldn’t even go to the bank to deposit.
4. Vs. 28, 29– In this world & the next, the faithful are trusted with more.
5. V. 30– This servant is shown to be “not a servant”, but one who claimed to be.
6. This false servant didn’t know Jesus, and was cast into Hell.
7. This conclusion fits in with the context of these parables. (Vs. 11, 12)