Have you ever considered the impact of scripture on everyday life, from your work ethic to your interactions with others? Our latest episode delves into the Parable of the Talents, offering a fresh perspective on how this ancient wisdom remains relevant, particularly when it comes to stewardship and the high calling of managing the blessings we receive. Through candid stories and heartfelt insights, I share how the parable has challenged and guided me in honoring God's trust, especially amid trials like remote work during the pandemic, encouraging us to live out our faith with purpose and passion.
This conversation isn't merely a theoretical discussion; it's a vibrant exploration of faith and action intertwined. As we unpack the delicate dance of faith, works, and salvation, we confront common misconceptions about God's character and discover how true fellowship can transform our understanding of Him. My reflections on the profound implications of knowing God personally aim to inspire you to let your faith shine brightly in all you do, reinforcing the transformative power that comes from the Lordship of Jesus in our lives.
Finally, the episode is a call to apply the gospel in tangible ways within our communities. From the simple joy of sharing good news to the deeper call to serve and give, I reflect on my own life-changing encounter with Jesus and how it pours into acts of generosity and community. An open invitation awaits to join our congregation at Real Life Community Church, where together we strive to live out the gospel, impacting the world one act of love at a time. Join us for an episode that not only unravels scriptural truths but also equips and motivates you to make a meaningful difference wherever you are.
Have you ever considered the impact of scripture on everyday life, from your work ethic to your interactions with others? Our latest episode delves into the Parable of the Talents, offering a fresh perspective on how this ancient wisdom remains relevant, particularly when it comes to stewardship and the high calling of managing the blessings we receive. Through candid stories and heartfelt insights, I share how the parable has challenged and guided me in honoring God's trust, especially amid trials like remote work during the pandemic, encouraging us to live out our faith with purpose and passion.
This conversation isn't merely a theoretical discussion; it's a vibrant exploration of faith and action intertwined. As we unpack the delicate dance of faith, works, and salvation, we confront common misconceptions about God's character and discover how true fellowship can transform our understanding of Him. My reflections on the profound implications of knowing God personally aim to inspire you to let your faith shine brightly in all you do, reinforcing the transformative power that comes from the Lordship of Jesus in our lives.
Finally, the episode is a call to apply the gospel in tangible ways within our communities. From the simple joy of sharing good news to the deeper call to serve and give, I reflect on my own life-changing encounter with Jesus and how it pours into acts of generosity and community. An open invitation awaits to join our congregation at Real Life Community Church, where together we strive to live out the gospel, impacting the world one act of love at a time. Join us for an episode that not only unravels scriptural truths but also equips and motivates you to make a meaningful difference wherever you are.
The following resource is brought to you by Real Life Community Church in Richmond, Kentucky. We hope you're both challenged and encouraged by this message.
Speaker 2:Let's remain standing for the reading of the Word. If you all will Get your Bibles and of course we're still in the book of Matthew Please turn to chapter 25, starting in verse 14. For it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one, he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.
Speaker 2:Now, after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them, and he who had received the five talents came forward bringing five talents more, saying Master, you deliver to me five talents. Here I have made five talents more. His master said to him well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. And he also, who had the two talents, came forward saying Master, you deliver to me two talents. Here I have made two talents more. His master said to him well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.
Speaker 2:He also, who had received the one talent, came forward saying Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours. But his master answered him you, wicked and soft, full servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will be given and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has, not, even what he has will be taken away and cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Speaker 3:Would you pray with me this morning, heavenly Father, we come in the name of Jesus. Father, we're so thankful, lord, for your word that it brings correction and it brings comfort. Father, we thank you for your word because as we read it, we can know better who you truly are. And so, father, we come and we pray that you bless the preaching and the receiving of the word today. Father, I pray that you would just help me to rightly divide the word of truth and to preach it with all the conviction that you placed on my heart. Father, would you help me to preach it as if you were coming back any moment and God, would it be received as such. Lord, that's what this passage is about, and so help us this day to hear your word, but to put it into practice, and it is in Jesus name. We pray, amen, and you may be seated as we come to this passage.
Speaker 3:It actually makes me go back in time just a little bit. It reminds me of the time when we were all working from home. Do you remember those days, the good old days of the pandemic, when no one could get out and they took basically every field except for the most essential and they said hey, it's time to work from the house. Now I'm just going to go ahead and make a blanket statement. Everyone may plead the fifth this morning, but I am going to ask you a question how many of you were as faithful when you worked from home as you were when you worked from the office? Well, that's what this passage helps us with a little bit this morning. Not that it helps us with just our work, though it does. But what this passage really talks about this morning is there is a man, a master, who owns much. It sounds like. What happens is he is going to go on a journey. Now, back in those days Bible days you didn't have the internet, you didn't have phones, you didn't have any of that stuff. So there's one way that you can work from home, and if I'm really loud, you will just kind of and I'll try not to yell at you. I feel like I'm loud up here this morning. There was one way that you could work from home. In those days, you had servants who you left in charge of your goods, your money and their job. While you were away on a journey doing whatever you had to do was to be about your business, which you entrusted to them. And so when we come to this passage this morning, what we see is we see that happening. There's a master and he has what seems like many goods If you look at the passage in historical context.
Speaker 3:A talent was about a year's worth of wages. It was a year's worth of money that you were paid for the work that you did. So the first guy he gives five years worth of wages. To the second guy, he gives two years worth of wages. To the last guy one year of wages. That's a lot of money.
Speaker 3:Y'all Think about it in today's terms. Well, we're just going to say he's giving away lots of money. Who knows how much we make per year, that doesn't matter. He's giving away a lot of money. This man has a lot of possessions, and so he is going to entrust this to his servants. Now, if you're a note taker or if you're one of those people who, like me, can kind of ADD out every once in a while, I'm going to go and give you the main point up front. That's what I usually do.
Speaker 3:The main point of this passage, if you're a note taker, is that, as we wait for the master to come back, we must have real faith, prove through real action. There's a lot to write, so I'm going to say it again If, as we wait for Jesus to come back, we must have real faith proved through real action. So that's what we see this morning. We see a man who goes away, and so in verse 14 to 15 it says for it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The implication is that he entrusted them with his property with the understanding that they would take it and that they would use it to continue the work they were doing, so that it would be just as if the master had never left the idea just like it was.
Speaker 3:When we were working in the pandemic. The idea was that we were working just as if we were in the office, just as if our boss was over our shoulder all the time. The idea was, hopefully, that just as much would get done as we should have done. Now, I don't know about you all, but and this will tie into my message here in just a moment but how many of you all had friends who, during that time, you saw them post pictures of working from the beach. Maybe you all saw them post pictures of working from oh I don't know Yellowstone National Park or I don't know. I'm just spitballing now, but just anywhere that it doesn't really seem like they could be working. Well, that's what we have with talent guy who has one talent. He didn't quite get it.
Speaker 3:And so, as we look through this passage, what we see is number one again, if you're a note taker, we see the charge, the charge of the master, which is I'm going to give you my goods, take them and further my kingdom, we want to give you my goods, take them and do business with them, just like I am here. The implication he entrusted them with his money and it was supposed to be that the work continues, just as he never left. Now it's interesting to me that, as we read through this passage, verse 15 says to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Now we've talked about the fact that a talent is a sum of money equal to about a year's wages. It's interesting that number one the master gives each according to his ability. If he gives you something, if he entrusts you with something, it means that he knows that you can handle it. It means that, ultimately, if he gives you something, a talent, so to speak and we'll talk about maybe what the talent represents here in just a moment If he gives you something, a talent, he knows that you can further his kingdom with it. You see, god doesn't do things flippantly. That's what we see by that statement in the passage. God gives to each according to his ability.
Speaker 3:Now you may be asking yourself Ben, what is a talent? I'll tell you, I've heard this preached many, many times and I've preached it myself many, many times, and when I've preached this, I have I've gone everywhere from. A talent is literally the talent that you have to. You know, you hear people who preach that the talent was salvation. Well, how do you give somebody five salvation? That's why I don't think that's really that one. So then I've heard people preach that the talent is opportunity and that one I could. I could get down with. That sounds logical, except for the fact that this passage in context comes at the end of time. So if I'm gonna give you opportunity to further my kingdom, and then the end happens, and this is the account, and we'll see that in just a moment of the end. How can I have opportunity at the end At that point? Opportunity has ceased. Now we could go into why. That still somewhat makes sense, but I still don't quite get down with the opportunity theory of what the talent stands for For me.
Speaker 3:What I believe the talent stands for in the end is I believe it is the blessings of God. I believe that the talent really shows us that God gives us something. Now, you're like Ben, that sounds a little ambiguous. It does, but it's true. I think God gives us something to use for his glory and his kingdom and I believe they are blessings of God. You see, in other places, where you know the, the Bible talks about the jewel in the crown and and that one day we'll take off our crowns that are filled with jewels representing all the good things that we've done, and even those will take off and we'll cast like filthy eggs at his feet because anything that we have compared to God is nothing. And so when, when I see that I do believe that it could be blessings, blessings that the Lord gives us and blessings that he blesses us with at the judgment because we were faithful, whereas we'll see weren't faithful. I believe that those talents represent the blessings of God, and we'll talk about how that applies in just a moment.
Speaker 3:And so what we see, number one is we see the charge. The master is going away. He is giving his servants his goods to further his kingdom, and it is each according to his ability. And so if that is number one, then number two is the response. You see the response of the servants. They are given a charge. Now what are they gonna do with it? And so verses six through eight says he who had received the five talents went at once. He didn't hesitate, he's gone. He went at once and traded with them and he made five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more, but he would receive the one talent, went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Two of them invested the master's property and one of them hit it.
Speaker 3:Can I just point something out to you real fast? It's interesting that none of them have anything except what the master gives them. None of them take their goods, put it with the masters and make more for the kingdom. All of them take what the master has given and multiply or hide. Can I just tell you that everything that you has, everything that you have, everything that you have, can I just tell you that everything that you have belongs to the master. Now you may be sitting there, you're going. Hang on, pb. Yeah, that's right, I said it. I wish Dean his name was J, so it could be PB and J, but anyway, hang on, ben.
Speaker 3:Are you saying that my house that I worked really hard for? I mean like I went to work every day for 30, 40, 50 years? Are you saying that my house that I worked really hard for, paid all my money towards to pay it off? Are you saying that my house belongs to the Lord? Yes, yes, I am saying that. Wait a minute, pastor Ben. Are you saying that my job that I had was a blessing from the Lord? That can't be true. Yes, yes, it is. Can I? Can I tell you something that's really important to know every breath that you have blessing from the Lord. So if you're going no, no, pastor Ben, I'll work for every bit of that that's mine lies, every bit of that belongs to the Lord.
Speaker 3:Without him, you wouldn't have the breath that you have in your lungs to go to work. You wouldn't have the job that you have right now to pay for the stuff, you wouldn't have the ability to get out of bed every morning if it wasn't for the Lord. And you may say I don't have any job. Well, guess what the Lord still has given you breath in your lungs. This still applies to you. You may say I don't have the job I want. Guess what the Lord has put you in a place for his purpose. How will you further the kingdom where you are? I need to move on. So what we see is we see the response. We have no property of our own, but God has blessed us with everything that we have. The real question is not what will we do with our stuff. The real question is what will we do with the blessings he's given us. Now you may say well, I already said that I work for everything I have. Sorry, I'm going through my notes, I'm just going to repeat myself just a little bit. The Lord has given us all we have.
Speaker 3:There's a favorite joke that I hear, but it applies here. It says one day a group of scientists got together and decided that humanity had come a long way and they no longer needed God. So they picked one scientist to go and tell him that they were done with him. Imagine being that scientist. Scientists walked up to God and said God, we decided we no longer need you. We're to the point where we can clone people, manipulate atoms, build molecules, fly through space, do many other miraculous things, so why don't you just go away and mind your own business from now on, we'll take it from here.
Speaker 3:God listened very patiently and kindly to the man. After the scientist was then talking, god said very well, how about this? Before I go, let's say we have a human making contest. Scientist in his wisdom. So sure, let's do that. That sounds like a great idea. God says all right, one rule we're gonna go and do this, just as I did back in the old days when I created Adam and Eve. Scientist nods so sure, no problem, let's do this thing. So he runs over and he bends down and he scoops up scoop of dirt. God says no, no, no, go get your own dirt.
Speaker 3:There's this scientist. His name is Carl Sagan and actually, if you go back and look at Carl Sagan based on what he said, you never know if he was a Christian or not. But one thing that he said holds true, no matter if he was a Christian or not. His saying was to really make an apple pie from scratch, you must begin by inventing the universe. We only have what God's given us. That's what we see in this passage. What does that mean, then? It means that we should manage everything that we have like it belongs to the master. We should manage every moment of our time like it's a gift from God. So thank you.
Speaker 3:So the question is if we should manage literally everything like it's a gift from God, does it make sense to take what God has given us and to hold it and to hide it and to wait for his return? Does it make sense to go and invest it? You know, I sympathize just a little bit with one talent man. That's what I'm gonna call him from now on with one talent man, because one talent man knew that this was a lot of money. He knew that the thing that God had given him was a precious gift. Can you imagine for just a minute and this really applies to our lives Can you imagine for just a minute that God has given you a year's worth of wages? Here's I'm just gonna spitball a number. Here's a hundred thousand dollars, because I believe in you, sir, go and further the kingdom. Now, if Josh is me, I'm like Lamborghini, but that's not furthering the kingdom. What do we do with the master's money? And then? And then let's just think about this for a minute. He's the master of all things and he just gave me a hundred thousand dollars. Anybody feel the weight of that? Yet it's weighty.
Speaker 3:But, man, what we're about to see is something, and what we've seen is something that speaks volumes. You see a man who has five talents who immediately goes and begins to work and invest. We see a man who has two talents who immediately goes, begins to invest. So the master comes back and in verses 19 through 30, you see what I call the account. So far we've had, really now, three things. We have had the charge of the master to go and take my goods and further my kingdom. We've had the response where the servants are going to take those goods and do something with them. And now we're going to see the account. The master's coming back and he's going to have them give an account of all that they have done while he's been away. Now, in this account, you're gonna see two things. You're gonna see multiplication the guy who has five makes five. The guy who has two makes two. And you're going to see misapplication the guy who has one misapplies everything he knows about the master, misapplies his goods.
Speaker 3:And so if we go back to verse 20, verse 20 says and he who had received the five talents came forward bringing five talents more, saying master, you delivered to me five talents here, I have made five talents more. Now listen to what his master says to him. Verse 21 his master said to him well done, good and faithful servant, you've been faithful over a little. Then I just thought you said that was a lot. It is, master considers it little. You've been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. The man who has five multiplies and gets five more. Verse 22 he also, who had the two talents, came forward saying master, you delivered to me two talents. Here I've made two talents more. Listen to what the master says. Verse 23 his master said to him well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.
Speaker 3:What do we see here? We see that everyone who tries multiplies. Everyone who tries to further the kingdom of God multiplies. Now you say, wait a minute, pastor Ben, I don't. I don't know if I have the talent to multiply what God has given me for the kingdom. There's this awesome scene. I've been watching the chosen with my Ka'afah students lately and I don't know how y'all feel about the chosen or not. It just you remember those old church dramas that weren't maybe done the best, but we still got something out of them. Anyway, that's how I view the chosen, except the chosen's really well done.
Speaker 3:Now, not everything that you'll see in the chosen. Matter of fact, a lot of what you see in the chosen isn't necessarily in the Bible. So I would say be careful. You know it portrays lots of things and it's not in the scripture, but it can still point us to Jesus and if you'll take the chosen and then compare it to the scripture, I think you'll still get something out of it. Anyways, that's my little disclaimer to say.
Speaker 3:In the chosen there's this moment where Matthew is with his parents and his parents are talking to him about the fact that he follows Jesus. Now for Matthew remember he was a tax collector to be with his parents at Joe, at least his parents have disowned him because he is a traitor. He is a traitor to the Jewish race, and so for him to be in their house is a big deal in and of itself, and and his parents are in the scene kind of starting to come to faith. And Matthew has this moment where he says I don't know why he chose me. If that's you, if you've ever sat there and said I don't know why he chose me, I don't either. Except this he gives talents according to our abilities, and if we'll take what God has given us, if we'll try, we'll multiply. You can't fail in the kingdom of God, because God is the one who the goods belong to, and God's really the one who's doing the work. We're just the vessel. Let me give you one more though verse 24.
Speaker 3:He also, who had received the one talent, came forward saying master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours. I look at the response of the master in verse 26. But his master answered him you, wicked and slothful servant and this is a question you knew that I reaped where I have not sown and gathered where I scattered no seed, then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers and at my coming, I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the 10 talents, for to everyone who has, more will be given and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
Speaker 3:Now, when does this passage occur? The end time. The master has come back. Jesus has returned and he has come to settle accounts with his people. So when you read this, I don't think that it means God blessing us in this life, though I think he gives us blessings to use. Rather, that passage is about the end of time he's going to give. That's why I think it's blessings. He's going to give blessings to us based on our response to what he gave us in this life. And so what do we see here? We see a couple things about this man. We see that his account number one has some major misconceptions of who the master is. Again, he said master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.
Speaker 3:I was talking to my mama about this passage last night. Actually I said, yeah, mama, I'm preaching about the parable of the talents and we were talking about this and we were talking about the whole banker thing, you know. And we get to this part of it and mom goes man, I don't like that picture of who God is there. I said I don't either.
Speaker 3:This man's got a huge misconception of who the master is. Did you notice, by the way and I pointed this out twice on purpose did you notice that the master is very kind? The master is very just, encouraging to those who applied his goods? Did you notice that? Did you notice that the master doesn't and this is interesting he gives his goods to the guy with five talents. The man makes five more. Did you notice that he doesn't take them from him and say great, these are mine, bye-bye. It's funny. He leaves the talents with the guy and actually we know this because he takes the one talent from the one talent man and gives it to the guy with 10. The master is actually very generous with his talents, his property, his money. The master is actually very gentle. So where does this guy get that the master is a harsh man. Do you ever think about that?
Speaker 3:Obviously, the man has a misconception big one about who the master is. He has a misapplication of what's been written about him, of what's been said about him. He's got a misapplication of what he should do with his goods, because obviously, to bury something in the ground is not furthering the business of the master while he's away. This person obviously had a major misconception of who the master was. He says these things. I went and hid your talent in the ground here. Have what is yours. And then he makes a statement. He said I was afraid, I was afraid. Let me read you the opposite of what that means. Proverbs 9, 10 actually says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. This man doesn't have the fear of the Lord that's talking about, though. This man has a fear of the Lord based off of misapplied knowledge. Proverbs says the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. Now, many, many people want to know and.
Speaker 3:I do too. What does it mean? When it talks about the banker, master Gets Mad. He says you should have at least placed my goods with the banker and I could have come back and gotten more than I'd given you the good old King James word there is usury. I could have gotten usury off of my goods that I gave you. I could have gotten interest if my goods were in the bank. I'm going to tell you right now really smart people who are smarter than me are all divided and basically everyone says I don't know what that means. Here's what I think it means.
Speaker 3:Based off of context and you can take this for what you will I believe that the bank to invest what God has given you, at least to get back with interest, points us back just a little bit to what oh Hunter, over there, preached last week. You see, in the, in the parable of the, the 10 virgins, I almost said in the parable of the oil and the lamps, in the parable of the 10 virgins, you have wise virgins who bring oil with their lamps, right? You have unwise virgins who don't when the lamps begin to go out in the parable of the virgins, because they really had no oil to begin with right. What do they do? They go to the wise virgins and they say hey, give me some of your oil. You remember what the virgin said? Sorry, I can't do that. And so the wise virgins point them to the one who can get them oil. Here's what I kind of think. This guy obviously had a major misapplication, and there are plenty of us who may know that God exists but have major misapplications of who he actually is. There are many of us here who may not be saved but may know all about God. However, you may not actually know God. What do we do with that? What we do with that is we go to people who know God.
Speaker 3:If you're sitting in this room today and you're going, man, I've always been afraid of God. You know there's and it's in here. We're about to talk about it here in just a minute, although I am running out of time so I'm going to speed up a little bit. We're about to talk about the judgment of God and how he sends people to hell. Most people don't like to talk about that, and neither do I, but here's what I'll tell you.
Speaker 3:It is true that the Lord is so holy and so just and so righteous that if we are not covered by the blood of Christ, our sin is an absolute stench in his nostrils. It is true that, because of his righteous holy justice, that if we are not covered by the blood of Jesus, we will not be with him one day in eternity. It is true that one day he will bring his kingdom to earth and when heaven meets earth, if we are not ready, we will not enter into his rest. We will not hear well done, good and faithful servant. But if you are afraid of God because of those things, I have great great news for you. God, in his wisdom, knew that we would sin. He knew that you would sin. He knew that I would sin.
Speaker 3:And what the Bible says is that Jesus was crucified from the foundation of the world. Now, does that mean that there was a cross up in heaven and Jesus was crucified up in heaven until we were even made, before we were even made? No, I don't think that's what that means. I think what it means is I think that God knew that we were going to mess this thing up before he ever made us. And the great news about that is not that we're mess ups. The great news about that is that he had a plan to fix it before we ever committed our very first sin. The good news, the gospel if you ever heard that word, it's a real churchy word the good news of the gospel of the kingdom of God is that he made a way where there was no way. When I was lost, dead in trespasses and sins, as Ephesians 2 says, hunter's like yeah, he loves that verse. God made a way for me when there was no way. You see, I don't have to be like one talent guy who's afraid of God. And what I believe the banker is representative of is that he is representative or she is representative of other Christians, people who are actual believers, people who can help you with your misconception about God.
Speaker 3:Because let's say, one talent man and I gotta finish this because I'm really running over let's say, one talent man would have gone to one of his other servant friends who multiplied and said, hey, the master's a really harsh guy. I'm so afraid. What should I do? And five talent man goes why don't I help you? You can do the same things I'm doing. There's the master's not as harsh as you think he is. What if five talent man had helped one talent man to not be afraid. What if one talent man would have actually had faith in the master, would have actually done the things he was supposed to do? What if one talent man had not had his misapplication? It would have been the exact same thing as five talent man, well done, good and faithful servant. It has nothing to do with the fact that by his ability, he can only handle one talent, and has everything to do with the fact that he did nothing with it. He had no clue who the master was. One talent man could have known had he paid attention to what the other servants were doing.
Speaker 3:And if you're here today and you're going, I don't know about this. God you're talking about. This sounds really scary. Hell, that's really scary. Here's the good news God made a way so you don't have to go there. Here's the other good news. Here's the thing that we don't think about a lot of times Hell was never made for us, but it is a place we will go if we're not covered by the blood of Jesus. The Bible actually says that hell was made for the devil and his angels, but in judgment, because of our sin, we go there too if we're not covered by the blood of Christ. And so what will I tell you? Action is necessary. We are to be busy until the return of Christ.
Speaker 3:James 2, 18 says. But someone will say you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. He says you believe that God is one you do. Well, even the demons believe and shutter. This is what I was talking about earlier. If you have knowledge of God but you don't know God, that's a problem. The demons know who God is, they know who he exists. They have no relationship with him.
Speaker 3:One of the things that there was this man named Phil Walton. He's a pastor. He was teaching a pastor class that Dina and I were in not too long ago and he said, really, he said, if you think about it, salvation is not about knowledge, it is about Lordship, it is about choosing to have Jesus as Lord of your life, not just knowing who he is. Lordship at salvation is key. And so what we see in this next passage is we see what James 2.22 talks about. It says, you see, that faith was active along with works, and that faith was completed by works Doesn't mean that we're saved by what we do, and that's the thing you don't wanna get out of this passage. By the way, you know how I tell you the point that I want you to get at the beginning. Here's the point that you don't wanna get. You don't earn salvation, but your salvation is shown by your works, and your works should follow what you believe. Otherwise, do you really believe that thing at all? Action is necessary.
Speaker 3:If we go back to the end of the passage, it talks about the final judgment. It starts in verse 31. It says when the Son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep on his right but the goats on the left. Then the king will say to those on his right come, listen to this. You, who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Speaker 3:Sounds like what he said to five talent man, doesn't it? Listen to verse 35. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger. This is Jesus talking. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous, five talent man, two talent man. The righteous will answer him saying Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When do we see you a stranger, and welcome? You were naked and clothed you. And when did we see you sick or imprisoned and visit you? And the king will answer them. Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me Notice that they don't know that they're doing things for Jesus.
Speaker 3:They don't know they're doing things for the king. You see, this isn't works-based salvation that says I'm going to earn my salvation from God. They don't even know that that's what they're doing. All they know is that they know that the king has left them in charge of his kingdom and they're supposed to do something with it Verse 41, that he had those on his left. These are the goats, Apart from me. You cursed into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me Naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer saying Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger, or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you?
Speaker 3:Then he will answer them saying truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these you did not do it to me these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. They have no clue that what they're doing is for the king. So it's not about work salvation. What it's about is salvation that has good works attached to it. If you remember, earlier I gave you a main point. The main point was as we wait for Jesus to come back, the king, the king of kings, the Lord of lords, to come back, we have to have two things we have to have real faith, and that real faith must be proved through real action. It's funny the king is not pleased with someone who would not act out of the faith that they have, but he's very pleased with the one who, through their faith, would do things for people out of the goodness that God has given them. They were so thankful that they immediately go and apply the master's goods.
Speaker 3:So here's the question what do I do with all of that, pastor Ben? That's like 36 verses of awesome. I know what do I do with that, though. How do I apply that to my life? Here's number one. First and foremost, if you don't know Jesus, I mean you should. Y'all know.
Speaker 3:There was a new donut shop that opened in town. Donuts, pretty good. I went and tried them on Friday. Do you know? It's that simple. You can go and tell people about Jesus just like you do about anything else. That's great, and here's the thing I know.
Speaker 3:I know I really made that too simple, right? How dare I compare the king of kings and the Lord of lords to a donut? I agree, but when something is important to you, when something is good, don't we talk about it, right? Best thing that ever happened to me, best thing I'm gonna yell because I'm gonna put this on now Best thing that ever happened to me. Best thing was Jesus. Man, I was dead. I was awful. There was nothing good in me.
Speaker 3:Jesus saw that and he wanted it, so he died for it. Can you imagine? That's what happened. The good news of the gospel of the kingdom of God is that he died for that, knowing full well what he was getting himself into. He made me knowing who I was. He hung on a cross and absorbed my sin. How could he have ever done that? But he did. Man, when I think about that, it is so amazing that I can't help but tell people about it. You should do that too, if you're sitting out there and you're going. Man, I don't know about this God. He's the most amazing thing that I know of in my entire existence.
Speaker 3:Before I knew him, there was no point to my life. I used to drive fast in my car. This is no joke. I was a teenager. I saw no point to life. I used to drive fast in my car. I hope my mom's not watching. I'm glad she's not here today because I wanted to die. I didn't see a point to life, but I couldn't do that thing. I couldn't hurt my family by taking my own life, so I just kind of hoped it would happen. Jesus saved that that, and he'll save you too. If you are sitting, you're going.
Speaker 3:What do I do with this message? Number one he's so wonderfully simple. We believe that Jesus died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he rose on the third day, which means he's still living in accordance with the Scriptures, that he appeared. How do we get all these Bible accounts of all this stuff? He appeared after he was resurrected, to more than 500 people, and some of them had the good sense to write it down. And with that we can have life as well. Nothing better, nothing better.
Speaker 3:In a minute I'm going to give an altar call, and if you're out there and you don't know Jesus, man, I'm going to be right there. You don't need me, but I can help you find it. I'm going to be right there. Come find me. If you're sitting there, you're going.
Speaker 3:Ben, I'm a Christian. How does this apply to my life? I know who Jesus is, man. I know that he's the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. I don't have any misconceptions. You need to apply what the Master has given you to further his kingdom. I don't have time, but I'm going into it anyway.
Speaker 3:Did you notice in the story of the sheep and the goats what he tells people to do. He tells people to do certain things to further his kingdom, and none of them sound as hard as I would think it would sound. He says verse oh, let's see here. It says in verse 34,. Then the King will say to those on his right, those who apply their faith the right way come. You, who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I thought this kingdom of God thing would be so much harder. Nope, I was hungry, you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. The first two may require you to have something, guess what. The third one requires you to have Breath in your lungs. I was a stranger and you what? Welcome to me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.
Speaker 3:Some of these things, yes, they require goods and if God has blessed you with goods, give them. Give them. We have this membership covenant at church. I wasn't going to go here, but I think I'm going to. It's membership covenant at church and it talks about giving it's. People get so offended. Oh, the church is just about money. Listen, listen, are you hear me? It's important that we give of our stuff, because it's not ours anyway, it is God's. The membership covenant that we have at church is important because it helps us live this thing out. That's why we want to hold you accountable to it.
Speaker 3:If you're sitting there, you're going. Ben, I don't have anything to give, literally nothing. Do you have breath in your lungs? Could you love someone who is unloved right now? Somehow I need to finish, so I'll close. Here's what I'll say Don't, don't, don't. Let that scripture go by unanswered. Invest your goods with the baker. Get rid of the misconceptions, because Jesus is coming back very soon. Have real faith that's driven by real action, and let the Lord work through you. Promise it'll be the best thing that has ever happened to you. Amen.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening. If you'd like to know more about how you can have a relationship with Jesus Christ, or if you have questions about our church, you can email us at infoatmyrealchurchorg. Real Life Community Church is located at 335 Glendon Avenue in Richmond, kentucky. We invite you to join us for worship Sunday at 10.45 am or Wednesday at 7 pm. Visit us online at myrealchurchorg.