Matthew 25:14-15
We were sinful but now we can serve God. It is only because ofHis mercy and justice.
Matthew 25:16-30 is about ATTITUDE TO TALENT.
The positive attitude was shown by the servant receiving five talents and the servant receiving two talents. Such attitudes are being faithful and good, being faithful and wise, being faithful and fervent in spirit, being faithful and sincere, being faithful and righteous. As a result, there is wage for present life up to the eternal one.
On the contrary, there are negative attitudes shown by the servant receiving one talent, i.e. wickedness and laziness.
Matthew 25:18,24-26
25:18 "But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.
25:24 "Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
25:25 'And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.'
25:26 "But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.
1 John 3:11-12,15
3:11. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
3:12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous.
3:15 Whoever hates his brotheris a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
The wicked servant is like Cain who murdered Abel. He served but with hatred, there was no love to his brother.
Proverbs 20:4
20:4. The lazy man will not plow because of winter;He will beg during harvest and have nothing.
Matthew 24:12
24:12 "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
The lazy servant does not work because of the winter, meaning not ministering or being unfaithful in ministry because of not having the love to God.
Thus, the wicked and lazy servant is the one ministering God without love, the rebellious one.
Rebellion hits these two places:
Where does the love come from?
1 John 4:7-8
4:7. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
4:8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
God is love, so we get the love from God.
How does He give His love to us? It is through these three ways:
We were sinful but now we can serve God. It is only because ofHis mercy and justice.
Matthew 25:16-30 is about ATTITUDE TO TALENT.
The positive attitude was shown by the servant receiving five talents and the servant receiving two talents. Such attitudes are being faithful and good, being faithful and wise, being faithful and fervent in spirit, being faithful and sincere, being faithful and righteous. As a result, there is wage for present life up to the eternal one.
On the contrary, there are negative attitudes shown by the servant receiving one talent, i.e. wickedness and laziness.
Matthew 25:18,24-26
25:18 "But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.
25:24 "Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
25:25 'And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.'
25:26 "But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.
1 John 3:11-12,15
3:11. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
3:12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous.
3:15 Whoever hates his brotheris a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
The wicked servant is like Cain who murdered Abel. He served but with hatred, there was no love to his brother.
Proverbs 20:4
20:4. The lazy man will not plow because of winter;He will beg during harvest and have nothing.
Matthew 24:12
24:12 "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
The lazy servant does not work because of the winter, meaning not ministering or being unfaithful in ministry because of not having the love to God.
Thus, the wicked and lazy servant is the one ministering God without love, the rebellious one.
Rebellion hits these two places:
- Marriage/household.
The practices are below:- Unfaithfulness in marriage in forms of sexual-affair, betrayal, up to divorce.
Malachi 2:15-16
2:15 But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.
2:16 "For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one's garment with violence," Says the LORD of hosts. "Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously."
The divorce means a separation between body and its head. Consequently, there is death.
Marrying after divorcing means rottenness.
Marrying and giving in marriage after divorcing (repeated marrying - divorcing) means there are worms in the rotten place. - There is hatred in marriage.
Matthew 10:21-22
10:21 "Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.
10:22 "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
Keeping the hatred, there will be strife up to violent deeds between husband and wife until a murder happens.
Consequently, the marriage does not enter into the marriage supper of the Lamb or being left at the time of Jesus' second coming. - Unfaithfulness in marriage in forms of sexual-affair, betrayal, up to divorce.
- Service and ministry.
Marriage as well as service and ministry cannot be separated.
The practices are below:- Being unfaithful even forsaking the service and ministry.
Hebrews 10:25-27
10:25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
10:27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. - Ministering actively (as Korah) but always insisting rights so there is no satisfaction but murmuring.
Numbers 16:8-11,31-32
16:8 Then Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi:
16:9 "Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to serve them;
16:10 "and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also?
16:11 "Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD. And what is Aaron that you complain against him?"
16:31 Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them,
16:32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods.
Murmuring, one is decreasing and it will continue to hell.
The one who murmurs always seeks other people whom he/she may talk to. The nearest person to talk to is husband (for a wife) and vice versa. Do not follow when your husband/wife is murmuring or else the marriage will decrease. Spouses must remind one another.
Ministering God, we only have to DO OUR DUTY.As a result, we get satisfaction and there is no murmur.
- Being unfaithful even forsaking the service and ministry.
Where does the love come from?
1 John 4:7-8
4:7. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
4:8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
God is love, so we get the love from God.
How does He give His love to us? It is through these three ways:
- Christ's sacrifice.
1 John 4:10
4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
He sent His Son into the world to die on the cross to be the propitiation for our sins.
The proof of receiving the love of God through Christ's sacrifice is real through reconciling.
The process of reconciling is below:- Confessing sins uprightly (frankly) to God and other people.
- Forgiving the sins of other people sincerely (frankly) and forgetting them.
1 John 1:7-9
1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse usfrom all unrighteousness.
The results of reconciling are below:- Jesus' blood forgives our sins and justifies us.
- His blood sanctifies us to pull up the root of sin so we do not sin anymore but live in righteousness.
Living in righteousness, we become the instruments of righteousness to God, i.e. His righteous servants.
Romans 6:13-14
6:13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Being the righteous servant of God, we will live in His graceas Noah has experienced the preservation of God in the midst of flood.
Genesis 6:7
6:7 So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."
6:8 But Noah found gracein the eyes of the LORD.
Being in the midst of difficulties, we have to reconcile and to throw away our sins to become God's righteous servants. As a result, we will live in the grace of the Lord.
The grace will preserve and protect us from all disasters even from God's judgment which is to come. - Confessing sins uprightly (frankly) to God and other people.
- The preaching of God's Word which is sharper than any two-edged sword. The first sharp edge is power and the second one is mercy.
Psalm 62:12-13
62:12 God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That powerbelongs to God.
62:13 Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy; For You render to each one according to his work.
The proof of receiving the love of God through the Word sharper than any two-edged sword is practicing the Word, being obedient to the true teaching Word.
John 14:15
14:15. "If you love Me, keep My commandments.
The process is below:- Hearing the Word solemnly,
- Understanding It,
- Believing in It,
- Practicing It.
The result of having obedience is the power of sanctification and we can love one another.
1 Peter 1:22
1:22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
1 Corinthians 5:11
5:11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is (1) sexually immoral, or (2) covetous, or (3) an idolater, or (4) a reviler, or (5) a drunkard, or (6) an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person.
Hiding a sin, there will be no unity in marriage or in congregation.
The six sins which become blood and flesh in men must be sanctified by the Word because they separate the parts of the body of Christ.
Do not follow your husband/wife/children who keep sin but keep your holiness.
If the six sins are sanctified, we will be able to love one another sincerely and to be united in the one perfect body of Christ, whose Head is Jesus, who takes the full responsibility of our lives. - Hearing the Word solemnly,
- The pouring out of Holy Spirit.
Romans 5:5
5:5 Now hope does not disappoint,because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spiritwho was given to us.
The proof of receiving the love of God through Holy Spirit is being strong and of good courage.
Being strong and of good courage means having boldness in Jesus or trusting and entrusting ourselves fully to Him.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego had the boldness in their trusting to God when they faced fire which is heated seven times more than the usual. The one who is strong and of good courage will have the boldness in facing the fire of hell in the day of judgment.
1 John 4:17-18
4:17. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
The result will be real as follows:- The boldness in the day of judgment which is to come, because the perfect love has covered all sins so there is no spot anymore.
Not having fear in facing the day of judgment, one will not have fear in facing anything in the world.
If the perfect love is able to cover our sins, it will be able also to cover all temptations or problems. - Confidence toward God.
1 John 3:21-22
3:21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.
3:22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
Hebrews 4:16
4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
We believe that God MUST help us in time of need, there is no doubt. - Confidence before God at Jesus' second coming on the glorious clouds.
1 John 2:28
2:28. And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
We should not be ashamed in facing His second coming.
One reason of being ashamed is because of being spit.
Numbers 12:1,10-14
12:1. Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
12:10 And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper.
12:11 So Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned.
12:12 "Please do not let her be as one dead, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother's womb!"
12:13 So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "Please heal her, O God, I pray!"
12:14 Then the LORD said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and afterward she may be received again."
Sinful people are as if being spit. There is a black sin but there is a white one as leprosy, that is to say self-truth people often do not realize.
The one who is spit will be ashamed, despised, disgusting and have no beauty.
Tonight, the perfect love will wipe away all saliva on face which makes there is no beauty, even the love makes us perfect as Jesus is.
Jesus is willing to be spit on the cross to bear all matters that are not beautiful in our life, to beautify our life in His time until we become as glorious as He is and we are not ashamed in welcoming His second coming.
Ecclesiastes 3:11a
3:11. He has made everything beautiful in its time.
- The boldness in the day of judgment which is to come, because the perfect love has covered all sins so there is no spot anymore.