Who is that Good and Faithful Servant? Rewards for Your gifting
Secondly we noted that the worth of every human on the face of the earth is in direct proportion to his or her contribution to life.
Today, before we go on to answer the question; who is a good and faithful servant; I want us all to understand that no body brought himself here on earth, that family, that kindred, that community, that country, that continent where you find yourself is not by mistake; God by His divine mandate sent us all to where we find ourselves today. He knows a particular solution for which he has created you in a time like this and in a particular location where you find yourself.
Some people, especially over here in Africa always see themselves as "born by mistake" in the various territory where they find themselves, they only believe that had it been that they were born in America or Britain they will be better than who they are today. If this has been your thoughts overtime please I want you to give up on it today because there is a specific purpose why God created you in the nation where you find yourself today and that is more reason you need to seek God and discover that purpose.
From the forgoing, we can see that nobody is a master of his own. We all are servants and must give account of all our dealings here on earth in the last day.
When I was on campus, God thought me something, I learn that God mark and rate the services of men based on the territory where he fixed them per time; then in the University Campus I was the vice president of our fellowship and had a lot of call for outside ministration which I usually attended with gladness but one day this revelation hit me and I became more careful. Yes you might be very successful acting outside the jurisdiction where God placed you but note that the rating of God is to the place where He fix you per time. Let's look at the scriptures that inspired this revelation.
Acts 1:8 What you'll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world."
Psalms 137:1 Alongside Babylon's rivers we sat on the banks; we cried and cried, remembering the good old days in Zion.
Psalms 137:2 Alongside the quaking aspens we stacked our unplayed harps;
Psalms 137:3 That's where our captors demanded songs, sarcastic and mocking: "Sing us a happy Zion song!"
Psalms 137:4 Oh, how could we ever sing God's song in this wasteland?
From Acts 1:8 we can see the progression, the scope of the outing is to reach the whole earth but Christ told them to begin from their own Jerusalem then from there they can graduate to the whole city of Judea, then cross over to Sameria and ultimately to the whole ends of the earth. So start from that your small locality yes the aim is to reach the whole earth but start from somewhere around you first.
Secondly, from Psalm 137, the people of Israel understood the grace of God upon the gift of Song of Zion that was why they refused to sing it just to satisfy the pressure of their captors in the strange land. Brothers and Sisters, the gift of God upon your life is special; don't use because of money and material things and render it where you are not supposed to.
Anyway, let's return to our today's topic; who is that good and faithful servant? Jesus Christ answered this question using two popular biblical illustrations as contained in Matthew 25:14-30 and Mathew 24: 42-51.
In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus told of a parable of a man who before going on a journey called his 3 servants and entrusted the first one with 5 talents, the second one with 2 talents and the third one with 1 talent. One important thing I want us to note here is that the master of these servants entrusted these talent to each of them according to their ability; I have been in bible study and heard a lot of people saying that the master was partial and sentimental in his dealings, some even said that if they were the one he gave 1 talent that they will not collect it. Hmm how funny that sound but the truth of the matter is that the master knows each of the servants personally, he knows their strengths and weakness and that was why he entrusted the talent to them each according to their abilities. One thing again I learn from they master was the fact that he did not want wastage of resources so it's not as if he was poor and could not afford to give all the servants equal talents.
So when the master left for his journey; the one with 5 talents put his talent into use and gained extra 5 talents making it 10 in total, the one with 2 talents gained extra 2 with his own making it 4 in total while the one with 1 talent went and hid his own, infact the bible recorded that he duge a hole and hid his own. These are categories of human beings here on earth, there are people who are really using their God given gift to make impact, why some hid their own and remain poor and keep complaining. I want us to also understand that each and every one of them reproduced according to the measure of the talent given to them, so do way with competitions and comparison, the bible said that them that compares themselves with others are not wise. It is wisdom to understand that you are not Bill Gate. Yes Bill gate is making impact according to his own ability but that does not mean he is the only one affecting life here on earth; he can never be like Dangote because there are two different persons using their gifts to affect lives in their own ways, Dangote also cannot be like me because am a different person entirely using my gifting to affect lives in my own little corner so with this in mid why will I fear and envy anyone in this life. So the servant with 5 talents made profit according to the ability and talent given to him like wise the one with 2 talents.
So when the Master of these servants returned from his journey, he called the servants to account for the talents; the one with 5 talents submitted his 5 talents with extra 5 talents gain likewise the one with 2 talents but the one with one talent made a ridicule of himself, let's hear what he told his master
Matthew 25:24 "The servant given one thousand said, 'Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error.
Matthew 25:25 I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.'
Wow! this guy sound very honest, but very disappointing; anyway let's hear the responses of his master:
Matthew 25:26 "The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least?
Matthew 25:27 The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.
Matthew 25:28 "'Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most.
Matthew 25:29 And get rid of this "play-it-safe" who won't go out on a limb.
Matthew 25:30 Throw him out into utter darkness.'
Too bad for him, trying to play safe but ended up a cast away! I pray this will not be your portion in Jesus name! Amen
To some people, the reason why they have not began to use their gift is because they are shy or afraid of failing. But this is not an excuse, Thomas Edison made 100 unsuccessful attempt to invent electric bulb but at last he achieved that dream, he was never discouraged at his failure, so why will you be afraid to fail. Some is the fact that people will laugh at them, to others it's the fact that what they have to offer is too little or not wide spread but remember that the day of accounting is fast approaching.
Let's also look at the masters response to the first and second servants,
Matthew 25:23 His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.' may your gift inlife get Christ approval in Jesus name! Amen.
In the second illustration in Mathew 24:42-51, Jesus answered the question of who is that good and faithful servant by saying that He is that servant whom His master will find doing or keeping to the gift entrusted to him. This is the very reason why you should not joke with what the Lord has entrusted to you; don't use your gift to intimidate others, don't use it and dupe others, don't use your gift in the wrong things and places; probably because you are a fluent speaker, they now pay you some cash to come and lie. Please remember that we all will render a comprehensive account of our works here on earth.
This is the very reason why you should not excuse God and the place of righteousness and holiness from your gift knowing that whoever you are now and whatever you have comes from God and He will call you to strict account of them. Yes men will celebrate you and honour you here on earth but what will it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul in hell?
Finally I will leave you with a quiet counsel from St. Paul,
Good News Translation Philippians 2:12-15 So then, dear friends, as you always obeyed me when I was with you, it is even more important that you obey me now while I am away from you. Keep on working with fear and trembling to complete your salvation, because God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey his own purpose.
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may be innocent and pure as God's perfect children, who live in a world of corrupt and sinful people. You must shine among them like stars lighting up the sky.
Prayers
Faithful God we thank you for reminding us once again on the need to effectively live and shine like stars with our gifts in this world. By the power of the Holy Spirit I realize the grace for effectively discover and maximization of gift in the life of everyone here. I pray and declare upon you that God will use that which is in your hand and lift you up! I don't want to know how little it might look, you will not end little in Jesus name! The grace to deliver competence before your destiny helpers the Lord will grant you. I pray you will not use your gift to serve the devil. You will not use your gift to glorify men rather your gift will bring glory to God and bring about His kingdom advancement on the face of the earth.
The Lord bless and keep you, the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you! The Lord distinguish you among your equals and give you peace, joy, fulfilment now and forever! Through Jesus Christ our Mediator and Advocate! Amen
The Lord be with your Spirit! See you next week.
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