25 Apr Well or Well Done (Because people vastly underestimate what God can do through a lifetime of faithfulness) PART 12
Matt. 25:21: “His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”
This wonderful Scripture is in Jesus’ parable of being faithful with our God given gifts. It should be the heart cry of every believer to hear “Well done, thou good and faithful servant,” not “Well?”
Over the last number of months we have discussed just how to practically do this.
With our “Four Facets of Faithfulness:”
- Every sinner is an opportunity for salvation (Luke 19:10)
- Every saint is an opportunity for exhortation (Heb. 3:13)
- Every seed is an opportunity for multiplication (Prov. 22:9)
- Every supernatural gift is an opportunity for glorification
In the parable of the talents found in Matthew 25:14-30, you find three different individuals:
- The one-talent man which equated to about 16 years’ worth of salary
- The two-talent man which equated to about 33 years’ worth of salary
- The five-talent man which equated to about 82 years’ worth of salary
As you can plainly see, Jesus has invested some very valuable gifts inside all of us.
Last week we began exploring them together.
We began sharing with you principles from Matt. 25:14-30 and our “Eight Gift Guarantees”:
1.) Your talent is given by God.
We are simply stewards with what God has entrusted to us. Therefore we have no right to simply do whatever we want to with our God-given gifts. Over the years I have had many people come up to me after I minister and say something like, “Pastor you are so funny…you could be a stand-up comedian!” However, I have no right to use my God-given talent for self-gratification. I am honored to use it for God’s glorification!
2.) Everyone receives something.
At times we relegate divine gifts to only those who can preach or sing, or play the keyboards. While all of those are God-given gifts there are so many more!
Next week we will continue our series!
3) Different people have different gifts.
Never desire another man’s gift! I’d rather you be a great “you”…than a poor “me”! God created you an individual…don’t die a copy.
4) Recognize we are not all equal in talent. Simply be faithful with what you have. I think of a wonderful couple in our church, Tony and Cindy Foster. Tony is the CEO of a substantial company. Yet he and his wife faithfully serve on the clean team at our church. Our campus and all of our buildings are quite large and they and their team are in charge of keeping it beautiful for all the services. This is a hugeundertaking. Yet Tony, a CEO, and his wife feel called to do this! It’s not visible but it sure is valuable! I get a lot of attention because I am the visible face of Joy Church, but if Tony is faithful and I am faithful…we will both be equally rewarded in Heaven!
5) If you are faithful with little, God will give you more. (Luke 16:10-12) Here the Scripture tells us, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man’s who shall
give you that which is your own?” Notice with these powerful verses there are three levels of faithfulness:
1. Faithful with little
2. Faithful with money
3. Faithful with another’s
Your faithfulness today qualifies you for a better tomorrow. Your unfaithfulness today disqualifies you for a better tomorrow! Never belittle the little!
6) Your gift is not for you!
It was designed to bless others and give glory to God. God gave it to us…the least
we can do is give it back to Him!
7) Faithfulness is revealed in fruitfulness. It is not activity that is rewarded. It is
productivity that is rewarded.At times we mistake busyness for fruitfulness!
8) If you don’t use it…you’ll lose it!
Have you ever worked out for an extended period of time and got your triceps hard
and chiseled? Have you ever then stopped working out for an even more extended
period of time and your triceps turned to jello? Now when you lift your hands in
church to give God praise…the back of your arms jiggle! The same is true with our
spiritual gifts…if we don’t use them we’ll lose them!
If you want to make your life count for God…if you want to hear “Well done thou good
and faithful servant”…do these four things consistently:
1. Every sinner is an opportunity for salvation
2. Every saint is an opportunity for exhortation
3. Every seed is an opportunity for multiplication
4. Every supernatural gift is an opportunity for glorification
You will be surprised what you can do through a lifetime of faithfulness!