PARABLES OF THE TALENTS AND
THE POUNDS
PARABLES OF THE TALENTS
V. 19-23:
V. 19;
"After a long
time the lord of those servants cometh,
and reckoneth
with them."
V. 20;
"And so he that
had received five talents came,
and brought other
five talents, saying,
Lord, thou deliveredst
unto me five talents:
behold, I have
gained beside them five talents more."
V. 21;
"His lord
said unto him, well done,
thou good and
faithful servant:
thou has been
faithful over a few things,
I will make thee
ruler over many things:
enter thou into
the joy of thy lord."
V. 22;
"He also that
had received two talents came,
and said, Lord,
thou deliveredst unto me two talents:
behold, I have
gained two other talents. beside them."
V. 23;
"His lord said
unto him, well done,
good and faithful
servants;
thou hast been
faithful over a few things,
I will make thee
ruler over many things:
enter thou into
the joy of thy lord."
The
persons with 5 and 2 talents, represent the Christians,
who responded to the Gospel.
They received the Cross of Christ, (talents),
as their redemption, (silver)
and received eternal life (goods).
They lived the separated life, (5)
and had a tesmony for the Lord (2).
They were commended,
and enter into the joy of the Lord.
V. 24;
"Then he
which had received the one talent came,
and said, Lord,
I knew thee that thou art an hard man,
reaping where
thou hast not sown,
and gathering
where thou hast not strawed:"
The
person with the one talent,
buried his talent in the earth;
therefore, he remained the same,
and was labeled wicked and slothful.
He represents the
unbeliever,
who rejected the Cross of Christ of the
Gospel.
The
man with the one talent, (unbeliever) said
"thou art a hard
man, (or hard to understand).
Reaping where
thou hast not sown,
and gathering
where thou hast not spread."
The unbelievers, find it difficult to understand
the Gospel,
that salvation is free.
One does not have to do anything to be
saved,
except to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
How can the unbelievers understand that
salvation is free?
No works (sowing, spreading) is
involved,
yet there is reaping and gathering of
crops (souls).
There isn't anything you can do for salvation,
for it is by Grace,
but He wants your souls for His gathering.
Our souls are very precious and belong
to God
(Eze. 18:4)
"Behold, all
souls are mine;
as the soul of
the father, so also the soul of the son is mine:
the soul that
sinneth, it shall die."
This man hid the
talent in the ground, i.e.,
he brought the Cross of Christ to the
level of the world.
The world preached a social gospel, the
gospel of good works,
law keeping, doing good to be saved?
This is the World's gospel.
The unbelieving world is very religious.
They will say to the Lord,
we have the gospel and we preach it too,
and here it is.
The
world's gospel does not produce the true 5 and 2.
They produce self-reformation and man's
commandments.
To obtain heaven, everyone will make it,
as long as they are doing the best they
can.
They deny the Lordship of Christ,
and mix the Gospel of Christ with works,
and the world's religion, so it becomes
undistinguishable.
The Gospel of God, becomes lost in the
world's religion,
and so it is hidden in the world.
He did not produce 5 and 2 in his life.
He could not, because he represents the
unbelieving world,
and so was labeled wicked.
He gave back the talent, (cross)
and did not make it his own, and kept
his own soul.
V. 25;
"And I
was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth:
lo, there thou
hast that is thine."
His excuse,
"I was afraid".
What was he afraid of?
Surely not of the Lord,
for the Lord gave him the gospel, the
good news.
He said he was afraid; therefore,
he hid the talents (the gospel)
in the earth, the world.
In certain countries, if one became a Christian,
his life would be in jeopardy.
If he proclaims the name of Christ,
he will be thrown in jail or even be killed.
In a free
country such as ours,
one's life may not be in jeopardy,
but one may be afraid of being an outcast,
of being ridiculed if a person becomes
a Christian,
and produces the 5 and 2.
He may be afraid of verbal persecutions,
and what people will say and think of
him.
He may be afraid of being unpopular,
being left out of their gatherings,
parties and social events.
Yes, it is easier to
go with the flow of the world,
and with the ways of the unbelievers,
and be friends with their ways.
James says,
"whoever is a
friend of the world is an enemy of God"
(James 4:4).
This does not mean we should hate
them.
It is their way of life, and their lifestyle,
that we should not be friends with.
What did the person with the 1 talent
do?
He hid it. Where? In the ground.
He was not divided, and he had no testimony,
because he did not put it to the EXCHANGER,
and redeem his soul by the Cross of Christ.
The unbeliever first
hid the talent in the ground,
and gave it back to the Lord the talent
(the cross),
without any interest. He rejected
the Cross and kept his soul.
The unbelievers are rejecting the Gospel
of God by mixing it with works.
The Apostle Paul says to
the Galatians:
"I marvel
that ye are so soon removed from Him,
that called you
into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.
Which is
not another; but there are some that trouble you,
and would pervert
the gospel of Christ.
But though
we or an angel from heaven,
preach any other
gospel unto you,
than that which
we have preached unto you,
let him me accursed."
(Gal. 1:6-8).
They reject the Cross
of Christ,
by adding works to the Gospel of Grace.
They do not reject redemption,
for all religions have some kind of redemption,
but their idea of redemption is self-redemption
by works.
They do not have true redemption.
They mix the Cross of Christ, redemption
by grace.
with the world's religions.
They are futily trying to redeem themselves
by good works.
What
they specifically reject, is the Cross of Christ,
for the Cross says Christ has done it
all,
by dying for the sins of mankind.
For all have sinned, and come short of
the Glory of God.
The unbelievers do not like that.
They are religious and think like the
Pharisees,
that they are good or better than others.
In the
beginning they all were given the goods (eternal life),
and the talent (the Cross), and
the money (redemption).
All these things are included in the Gospel.
What the unbeliever did not put to the
exchanger,
was the money (redemption, v.27)
which is the act of salvation through
the Cross of Christ.
He
did not redeem his soul, and what the unbeliever gave back,
was the talent (Cross), which is
the means of redemption.
He hid the money (redemption) v.18,
and the talent (the Cross)
v.
25 in the earth,
or we can say that he mixed it,
with the religions of the world and thus,
redemption by the Cross of Christ is hidden.
The unbelievers do
not understand salvation by grace.
They think they must do something for
God to gain heaven.
He said, here is thy talent that he hid
in the earth.
The
Lord took back the talent,
and gave it to the person who had 10 talents.
He did not produce 10, but he had 10 talents,
by producing 5 with the 5 that was given
him.
He needed the extra talent or more (knowledge)
of the Cross.
The Cross of Christ depicts,
that Jesus died for us and also that we
died with Him.
The only way that one can see the Glory
of God,
shone on the Cross,
is the revelation that the Spirit of God,
must reveal to you.
It can only be reveal to those whose hearts
are right,
and void of any pride and self.
Understanding the death of self is the
beginning,
of the resurrection of Christ in you.
You must rest on the complete work of
Christ,
FOR IT IS ALL DONE.
In Mat. 10:39Jesus
says
"he that keepeth
his life shall lose it,
but he that loseth
his life for my sake shall save it."
The word used as life (ZOE),
really should be the word, soul (PSUCHE).
It should read
"he that keepeth
his SOUL shall lose it,
and he that loseth
his SOUL for my sake shall save it."
God is interested in our soul. It
is our soul (I) that is crucified with Him.
Our old man comes from our soul, when
we walk by works of the law
(Rom. 7:5).
"The soul that
sinneth it shall die."
(Eze. 18:4; 1Tim. 5:6)
Matt 23: 26-30;
"His lord
answered and said unto him,
Thou wicked and
slothful servant,
thou knewest
that I reap where I sowed not,
and gather where
I have not strawed:"
"Thou oughtest
therefore,
to have put my
money to the exchangers,
and then at my
coming,
I should have
received mine own with usury."
"Take therefore
the talent from him,
and give it unto
him which hath ten talents."
"For unto
every one that hath shall be given,
and he shall
have abundance:
but from him
that hath not shall be taken away,
even that which
he hath."
"And cast
ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness:
there shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Although he hid the
talent, and when confronted,
he gave back the talent, the Lord
said to him,
“thou should have
put my money (silver; redemption)
to the exchangers".
He gave back the cross, the source of redemption,
and did not use it to redeem his soul.
The time comes when it is too late,
for the unbelievers to have redemption.
To those who have rejected the Cross of
the gospel,
it will no longer be available, but taken
away,
and given to those who have,
that they may have more abundance.
How is giving the
Cross to those who already have it,
result in more abundance? Abundance
of what?
Many Christians take the gospel for granted
after a while.
The Cross of Christ is the Key,
to deeper spiritual truth and deeper spiritual
knowledge.
The keys to the Kingdom, that was given
to Peter,
and the other disciples are Grace, the
Cross of Christ, and Faith.
It is by GRACE, for it is what God hath
done.
It is the Cross for what Christ hath done.
and it is of Faith because when we believe,
it is what the Holy Spirit will accomplish
through FAITH.
Everyone who preaches
GRACE, The Cross and By Fath,
is using the keys to open the door to
salvation.
Continuing to preach GRACE, through the
Cross, and by Faith,
is using the keys of the Kingdom,
to open to more spiritual knowledge,
in the spiritual things of God.
The Psalmist says;
“in Thy light
shall we see light.”
(Psa. 36:9).
To have a deeper knowledge
of the Cross,
will result in deeper spiritual truth
and the abundant life.
The Cross of Christ reveals,
more and more of His Grace,
His Holiness and His Power.
These 3 things are the character of God,
His basic attributes.
The Cross of Christ,
where God showed His love for us,
is our first love that many left
(Rev. 2:4-5).
It was there on the Cross we met our Savior,
who died for us, and displayed our first
love of God that we embraced.
Many have left this first love, and gone
on to works,
and forgotten it is the love of God,
the Grace of God,
that works in us to will and to do His
will.
MY FIRST
LOVE is not my love for the Lord,
but His love for us that was displayed
on the Cross.
How can i love Him first,
for love originated from God.
God is love.
1JO 4:19;
"We love him,
because he FIRST loved us."
"Herein
is love, not that we loved God,
but that he loved
us,
and sent his
Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
1Joh. 4:10;
Paul says
"But by the Grace
of God, I am what I am"
(1Cor. 15:10).
To know the deeper meaning of the Gospel
of God,
is to have more life, and to have it more
abundantly.
There on the Cross I see and know more
and more,
THE GREATNESS OF GOD THROUGH CHRIST.
There on the Cross I see His Attributes,
His Character.
So He
left with us 2 ordinances,
the Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
Both are to continually remind us of the
Cross.
The Lord's Supper
is to remember that He died for us,
the baptism is to
remember that I died with Him.
I can do nothing, for He has done it
all.
To forget this, is to forget what Grace
means.
Many Christians think we are saved by
Grace,
and now must live by works.
I can do nothing,
and I will not do anything,
but enter into His Rest, not by trying
to enter into His Rest.
Because He has done it all, and I am in
Him and He is in me,
I know I am in His Rest for He is my Rest.
I am already there in His Rest, but I
must know this,
and it is by believing His Word that He
has done it all.
He will produce the 5 and the 2 in me,
by His Cross when I relinquish the rule
of my soul to Him.
To relinquish
my desire, not living by how I feel,
but by trusting and resting on His Word.
He shed His blood for forgiveness of my
sins,
and on the Cross I died with Him,
for my deliverance from the power of SIN.
The unprofitable unbeliever,
is cast into outer darkness,
a picture of waiting for the final judgment,
because he did not use the money (redemption)
that God has given Him.
The Greek word for unprofitable is achreios,
and it means useless, i.e. unmeritorious.
The unbeliever did not produce the 5 (division),
or the 2 (testimony),
thus he was useless and unmeritorious.
This word is used twice in the New Testament.
It is also used in the Gospel of Luke,
about a slave who knows his position,
and does not expect anything, not even
a thank you.
(Luk. 17:7-10).
This parable follows
the Parable of the 10 Virgins,
which pictures the 5 virgins who went
with the Lord,
in the Rapture, the calling up.
Five went up and five missed the calling,
and the door was shut.
Five is the number of division.
Here in this parable,
the unbeliever is cast out awaiting judgement.
In the next parable of the sheeps and
goats,
the evidence of the works,
is the result of what they are, sheep
or goats.
It is not the works that sent them to
the final judgment (slain),
but the works are the evidence of what
they are, sheep or goats.
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