Parable of the Talents – God Judging Worthless Complainers!

[ugmug]

Parable of the Talents – God Judging Worthless Complainers!

While many people have differing views on the meaning of the Parable of the Talents in the book of Matthew 25 : 14-30 as being a warning against laziness it is also a parable against complaining. Notice that when the master returns you have the one servant who was given the least talents (1 bag of GOLD) explain his inaction by complaining of the master's strict nature. The servant's defense of his laziness was in a form of a complaint that the master's demanding nature cased the lazy servant to be lazy.

When the master replies to the lazy servant he doesn't refute any of the lazy servants observations. In fact he agrees with him but then he restates his command and how the lazy servant didn't carry out his commands. This parable is a warning, not only against laziness, but also about complaining. Even if our complaints are valid we are not to use them to justify our inaction, our laziness. The whole point of the parable is that God didn't create us (mankind) to complain about God (our creator). Pay close attention to the results of our complaining, God will take everything away from a complainer and give it to those who don't complain, those servants who have the most.

If we look at the world today what do we see, the rich getting richer. But why? Because the politicians, media, and religious leaders, are encouraging the people to not only complain about everything
(and everyone) but also to complain about a demanding, and therefore unrighteous God. And what is the result of all our complaining? God will make the poor poorer and the rich richer until we stop complaining.

God Bless

note:

When religious leaders advocate for economic justice what they are truly doing is complaining to God that he is not providing equally to everyone. We see in the Parable of the talents that God purposely gives unequal amounts to people to find who among us is just a worthless complainer.



Matthew 25:14-30
New International Version (NIV)
The Parable of the Bags of Gold

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

 

[smaller]

If we look at the world today what do we see, the rich getting richer. But why? Because the politicians, media, and religious leaders, are encouraging the people to not only complain about everything
(and everyone) but also to complain about a demanding, and therefore unrighteous God. And what is the result of all our complaining? God will make the poor poorer and the rich richer until we stop complaining.

That is about the most bizarre conclusion to a parable that I have heard in quite awhile.

Perhaps something that is preached to a 1%'er congregation.

not surprising though.

btw, aren't you complaining about complainers?

just sayin'

s

 

[childeye]

I don't see how a man begging for food can be labeled a complainer. Meanwhile the man, fat and in the midst of great comfort is the epitome of Godliness because he has no complaints?

 

[Asyncritus]

The Parable Of The Talents

This is another of those parables which feature what I call a Great Incongruity. Looked at in the cold light of day, I doubt if any righteous Judge could execute a man who we had given a million pounds to use, and which he returned in full when we came back!

Yet this is exactly what the Lord does to him. Our familiarity with the parable blinds us to the remarkable nature of what is actually said.

Having noticed that point, we next turn our attention to the ‘how’ we are going to interpret the parable.

I heartily deplore the ‘it’s an earthly story with a heavenly meaning’ idea.

Jesus does not waste words. Can you imagine 16 verses of the Sermon on the Mount, for example, being used to make ONE point? I can’t.

If he said something at this sort of length, then He had a lot to say, so let’s go figure what could have been meant by every detail in the parable. Or at least as many as we can decipher.

So the first question we need to answer is, ‘just what is a talent supposed to represent?’

One well-respected brother, many years ago, dropped that question on me. Of course I replied ‘Why, abilities, of course.’

Okay, said he, how come it says in verse 15 “And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey?” How could he give abilities according to his abilities?

This was a severe blow to my 29-year old omniscience, you understand - (at that age I knew everything, you see, and could prove it. Sound familiar?) - because he was so obviously right, and I was so obviously wrong.

He never answered his own question, the miserable torturer, and left me gnawing at that bone on and off for about 20 years, till I finally cracked it. I think.

I bless his memory for the problem, because it illustrates the old, old axiom: when you find a problem in Scripture, get down on your knees and give everlasting thanks to God, because that very problem will one day turn out to be a door to some major breakthrough in your understanding of something. And so it was.

Every explanation I tried or heard foundered under the weight of that fatal objection.

Opportunities: how could he give opportunities according to his opportunities?

Responsibilities: the same. I didn’t know what else to try – and here was one of the biggest and most famous of the Lord’s parables.

And then there was another objection, the nastiest one of the lot.

Why did the guy with one talent get thrown out of the kingdom of God? Omniscience said: ‘Because he didn’t work with his talent’.

But if he was expelled because he didn’t work with the talent, then salvation is by works – and if anyone reading these words believes that, then the NT is a closed book. Salvation is by grace. Nothing else.

And in any case, he didn’t have to work with his talent! I didn’t know that, did you?

So let’s begin the investigation with the question that one day, I think it was at a Sunday School class, I thought of asking myself, ‘What was a talent, literally speaking?’

My AV margin said something like £187 10 shillings. That was in 1884, or whenever those marginal renderings were put in. The modern equivalent must be close on £1 000 000 nowadays – a huge amount of money, indeed.

So what was it, I thought, that the Lord gives to his servants, that matches their abilities to do something, that he felt that He had to represent with such a gigantic amount of money?

There is only one thing that meets the requirements of the case. Forgiveness of sins.

You are immediately leaping to your feet and shouting: if that’s true, how come one guy receives 10 lumps of forgiveness and another only receives 1 lump? Aren’t all sins the same?

Well, no, they aren’t. The Lord says so:

Mt 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

From this one statement, we can immediately see that there are two grades of sin: one grade that will be forgiven, and the other that won’t.

Quite incidentally, the one-talent man falls into that second, unforgivable group.

So whatever it was that he did or didn’t do is reckoned to be the equivalent of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, he dies.

This, therefore, places a far grimmer and deadlier aspect on the meaning of not working with his talent than we have hitherto imagined.

So what was it that he did/didn’t do?

It is easiest to approach this from the angle: what is this ‘blasphemy against the Holy Spirit’? It is a very serious question, with a very serious answer.

 

[Asyncritus]

(cont'd)

The answer is held in Hebrews 10: 29:

Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
This is the unmistakable parallel with 'blasphemy against the Holy Spirit".

It doesn't use the same words, but the meaning is plain enough. So what does this 'doing despite unto the spirit of grace' really mean? If we can solve that problem, we should have the answer to the first question.

First notice that this guy will not be forgiven either. "Of how much sorer punishment..." means that he won't. Therefore whatever he is doing, is unforgivable.

So what is that? The context tells us plainly, and in the process removes another major problem in Hebrews 10 which has caused untold troubling of consciences – troubling which was completely unnecessary and would have been seen to be so if only the context had been properly consulted.

“ For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,” (Hebrews 10:26 AV)

How many tender consciences (including my own!) have been seared almost to destruction by these words, it is impossible to say. But it was, as I only found out much later, totally unnecessary self-punishment. The context provides the remedy.

Any sin we commit has got to be ‘wilful.’ There aren’t too many that are committed involuntarily and without our say-so: and even if they are, we wouldn’t know about them!

Therefore, if we take the passage at face value, without consulting the context, everybody, but everybody, is in desperate trouble, which is the exact opposite of the Lord’s purpose in dying for our sins. Many have given up the race because of this, more’s the pity.

There is first, a larger context – of the whole Letter to the Hebrews - in this case, and second, the local context of chapter 10. The wider context is unequivocally about one thing, and one thing only.


Paul takes thirteen chapters to get one message across to his readers in Jerusalem (hence the title, the Letter to the Hebrews). He comes at it from many, many angles – but all the way through the letter it is perfectly clear that the message really is:

DON’T GO BACK TO THE LAW OF MOSES!!! .

That one thunderclap re-echoes round and round, resounding throughout this wonderfully argued Letter. There is no letup from it anywhere.

Therefore it would be surprising if this verse in question didn’t have something to do with just that – and it does. The Scriptural text and its local context below is in italics, and my remarks in normal print.

“ Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, (you didn’t have that when you were under the Law of Moses, did you?)

By a new and living way, (in contrast to the old and dead one, littered with animal corpses)

which he (the Son, not Moses or any High Priest) hath consecrated for us, through the veil,(He has gone through that permanently, not just once a year )

that is to say, his flesh (not that of bulls and goats);

And having an high priest (the real, genuine One) over (not ‘in’, like Moses or Aaron) the house of God;

Let us draw near (instead of running off in fear) with a true heart (not a cowardly, lily-livered one) in full assurance of faith, (knowing the truth of what we have believed)

having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience (it wasn’t so under the Law of Moses, remember?),

and our bodies washed with pure water (we are now truly clean, having been baptized into His Name).

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering (instead of letting go of it under pressure of persecution);

for he is faithful that promised; (This is a promise made by God Himself, no less)

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love (of your brethren and your enemies)

and to good works (under the persecution you face, do good to one another and to your enemies, as the Lord said):

Not forsaking (abandoning irrevocably) the assembling of ourselves together(in Christian worship at the Breaking of Bread),

as the manner of some is (who have quit already under the persecution pressure);

but exhorting one another (to stand firm against the punishment):

and so much the more, as ye see the day (of the Lord’s coming) approaching.

For if we sin wilfully ( abandon Christ irrevocably, and His assembly, and stop remembering Him at the Breaking of Bread in favour of the Law of Moses)

after that we have received the knowledge of the truth (that His is the only sacrifice that saves),

there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins (because you have abandoned the only real one there is, in favour of those offered under the Law),

But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation (which the Lord will pour out when He comes ),

which shall devour the adversaries ( who are devouring you). He that despised Moses’ law (the inferior one)

died ( the penalty was death) without mercy

under two or three witnesses (but we have ‘so great a cloud of witnesses’ ch 12.1):

Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye (answer: lots), shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God (trample underfoot His dead body, which was sacrificed because of your sins, on your way back to the Law of Moses) ,

and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing (these must be some of the most dreadful words in Scripture),

and hath done despiteunto the Spirit of grace? (these words are a plain reference to the ‘blasphemy against the Holy Spirit’ which can never be forgiven: and now we can see why).

Placing the words (“ For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins”) into their proper context shows that the ‘sinning wilfully’ isn’t talking about any old sin.

It is speaking in the direst terms about our total abandonment of Christ for another system of worship. If a believer in Christ chooses to leave Christ irrevocably, and become a Jew, Moslem, Hindu, Confucian, Buddhist or whatever else, then, and only then, does he fall into that condemnation – and the punishment will be unthinkable.

That is the true 'blasphemy against the Holy Spirit', to be feared above all else, and avoided at whatever cost.

Therefore, returning to the parable of the talents, this is what that man did in effect. He abandoned Christ. That’s why he dies.

So let’s continue with our attempted decipherment. The text is in bold italics, and my comments in normal type.

14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man (Jesus) travelling into a far country(heaven), who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods (the only thing he possessed was the right to forgive their sins).
15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. (The different amounts of forgiveness refers to the different sins. Paul, for instance, had a great deal to be forgiven for. John, I would suspect, had fewer and less grave ones.)

16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.(So how can five lumps of forgiveness gain another five? Easy. He went out and preached the gospel of forgiveness through Christ Jesus, and gained 5 other people whose sins were forgiven too.)

17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
(Same again with this one.)

18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

It is very significant that the Lord doesn’t say ‘was robbed of it, gambled it away, made poor investments’ or anything along those lines. He buries it ‘in the earth’. Well, where else would he bury it? The earth, GE in the Greek, refers to the Land of Israel in the NT. So this gentleman is burying his forgiveness in the Jewish system of things. Which ties in very nicely with the points made above re blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, by returning to the Law of Moses.

The matching parable shows the servant wrapping the talent in a ‘sweatcloth’ and then burying it. That shows, I think, the complete lack of regard in which he held the Lord’s gift. Nobody would take a million pound gift, wrap it in the smelliest piece of cloth he could find, and dig a hole in the garden and stuff it in there. It would be treated with far more respect than that – but not this man. Oh no. Not him!

There is another fascinating line of thought here.

A million pounds in gold (assuming that it was gold) is about 14 of those big ingots, which occupy a pretty fair amount of space.

So when he buried the gold, he has to dig a big hole, put the gold in it, and then refill the hole.

That leaves a large amount of earth over and above what is needed to fill the hole. The next problem is subsidence. To avoid all and sundry knowing where he buried it, I think he would have done exactly what we would do – overfill the hole, and then stamp it down to level it.

In scriptural terms, then, what is he doing? Answer, he is treading under foot the Son of God, and putting him to an open shame.

Which returns us squarely to Hebrews 10 – from which that phrase about ‘treading under foot’ is taken.

 

[Asyncritus]

(cont'd)

19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

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. See above explanation for v16.

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.

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. (Similarly here.)

23 His lord said unto him, Well done, 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.
The wicked servant's reply is the most extraordinary response possible, and deserves as close attention as we can give it.

24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man,

(What? Jesus of Nazareth a hard man? Austere? The Gk is used of someone getting blood out of a stone. He never knew Jesus really: the statement ‘I knew thee’ is untrue)

reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

(and what is more, he says, you are a thief!!!! If you reap where you didn’t sow, and gather where you didn’t ‘straw’ i.e. broadcast the seed, then that makes you a thief. This is the most shameless accusation. It may have something to do with the Pharisees accusation that Jesus was a thief – an objection which He answers very fully in John 10).

25 And I was afraid, and went and hid (this is so obviously taken from Adam’s statement: “I was afraid … and hid” This man had never really left Adam)

thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

(In his fury he practically hurls the money back at the Lord, and his words drip with contempt).

26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked (notice, wicked is the first accusation. Here’s Strong:

1) full of labours, annoyances, hardships
1a) pressed and harassed by labours
1b) bringing toils, annoyances, perils; of a time full of peril to Christian
faith and steadfastness; causing pain and trouble

2) bad, of a bad nature or condition
2a) in a physical sense: diseased or blind
2b) in an ethical sense: evil wicked, bad

Isn’t it extraordinary that the first meaning given is ‘full of labours’? Can it be coincidence that going back to the Law meant saving yourself by ‘works / labours’? I think not.

.and slothful servant

(he has become barren and unfruitful because of this) ,

thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: (Ominously: Oh, you did, did you?)

27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers,
First, notice: he didn’t have to work with his talent. Putting money in the bank isn’t trading with it – it’s working for you, not you working with it.

Second what’s this ‘exchangers’?

The Greek is TRAPEZITES, which is derived from TRAPEZA a table. It refers to the tables which the money changers used in the temple.

Therefore, the suggestion is that the reference is to the Table of the Lord. He ought to have kept coming here, asking for forgiveness,

and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury

(this word is very apposite here. The Lord would have received his own ‘with usury’ ie the servant would have ‘used’ the forgiveness given him, entitling him to come here, and asking for more at the breaking of Bread).

28 Take therefore the talent from him (the forgiveness of his sins is hereby rescinded),

and give it unto him which hath ten talents (and his is confirmed abundantly).

29 For unto every one that hath (forgiveness) shall be given (even more) , and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not (forgiveness) shall be taken away even that which he hath (as we have seen).

30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping (with sorrow) and gnashing of teeth (with rage).

 

[Jethro Bodine]

The key to knowing what the 'talent' represents is in vs. 29...

"29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." (Matthew 25:29 NIV1984)

Jesus said the very same thing about the 'seed' in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13...

"12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." (Matthew 13:12 NIV1984)

In the parable of the Sower we know the thing that is taken away from the one and given to the other is the word of God.

God places the responsibility on everyone who hears the Word of God ("the message about the kingdom" Matthew 13:19 NIV1984) to put that knowledge to work and bring increase to it commensurate with the amount of knowledge they have received. We bring the Word of God to fruition and increase it just as one would bring seeds to fruition, or as one who has a sum of money brings increase to it...put it to work.

Those who reject the Word of God and do nothing with it and give it back to God without planting it in their hearts, or investing it in their lives, and don't use it to raise a crop or storehouse of righteousness will be condemned for the unbelievers they are.

 

[Asyncritus]

To a certain extent you may be right.

These guys received the word (all of them), but the one buried it.

But the word is the word of grace, forgiveness and repentance, of that grace we have all received, says Paul.

Which is what I have been saying at some length.

 

[smaller]

To a certain extent you may be right.

These guys received the word (all of them), but the one buried it.

But the word is the word of grace, forgiveness and repentance, of that grace we have all received, says Paul.

Which is what I have been saying at some length.

The accounts of the people with talents are obviously parables as Jesus says exactly that they are parables.

To understand 'all' parables you have to have the components.

The reason the opening posters dissection doesn't work is that it has one glaringly missing component. Same with yours A.

That component is clearly depicted in Mark 4, where Jesus said to understand 'all parables' one has to understand the parable of the Sower. There are several accounts of that exact parable.

And the one missing component in the opening posters dissection and yours is this.

Satan. Satan is the cause of non-production and the cause of judgment unto the non-producer.

If you read the parable of the talents you will find that servant being 'cut to pieces' yet still wailing and gnashing teeth. This is an exact picture of the receiver of the talent being separated from SATAN...cut in pieces, divided from his enemy within.

It's not that hard. But to understand you also have to understand that your sin is also connected to Satan.

If any dissector of parables does not have Satan in the picture they miss the entirety of the point of those parables and all the others and that is because that working of Satan is upon their minds and blinding them to the fact.

Now, put that component to work in your understandings and you will see the 'cause' and the 'variation' of the produce of 'every believer.'

In the end the parable of the Talents are also a message of Hope for the eventual entire removal of our sin and the cause of our mutual lacks of production, and that 'cause' is Satan.

enjoy!

smaller

 

[childeye]

I think the talents are Godly Love. The Living Spirit of the Word.

To Asyncritus:
If I understand you correctly, I think you are right about blaspheme of the Holy Spirit and treading underfoot the body and blood of the Lamb. It is clear to me that all sin is doubt in what is, or rather Who is Holy. And the Love of Jesus wherein he suffers so great an injustice upon himself only to forgive his enemies, is definitely a Holy and Eternal Love.

 

[jesus4life]

LOVE TO ALL IN THE HOLY PRECIOUS NAME OF JESUS CHRIST,

Grace and peace to all. We are see things due to where our hearts are and what we are dealing with. Those dealing with jealousies, envies, and loathing towards people may see parables in a " we vs. them" sort of idea. Those pure at heart will see things how CHRIST saw them. We all see different depending our hearts. Just like the disciples all loved CHRIST, but saw things different in certain aspects in their ministries; but had the same universal understanding about JESUS and who HE is.

So, in the parable of the talents, the sower, even the faithful and unfaithful servant; and more. Jesus is telling us about different levels of faith and what happens with them.

We do all things in love, ff we are loving CHRIST with our heart, obeying GOD's WORD, and constantly listening to the HOLY SPIRIT. The first two with the talents are like this. They were given different gifts in faith, spread it, and came back with results ( believers, sheep, people the followed) to their master (GOD is the master).

The last one was the one that tried to hide the kingdom all to himself. Which is similar to what JESUS said to be careful of with the Pharisees when HE says about, " You can't make it into heaven, so, you want to block others from getting in!".

Many are called, but chosen are few. Its all about what is truly in our hearts. We can preach till the moon falls. But GOD knows what is truly inside of a person. If we hate, are jealous, are envious, etc... of anyone, this is our block to HIS HOLY MESSAGE. BUT STILL IN ALL WE MUST LOVE ALL PEOPLE REGARDLESS! The chosen for good is small, and the ones that truly follow evil is small. But the harvest ( the lost, the sheep), are many. Since only GOD knows the heart of people, believers must preach from the heart, pray and fast for power, and know that GOD will bring who is HIS to the fold. We must continue spreading the LOVE of CHRIST without worry, doubt, or hesitation; but we must first be the physical representation of the new creation in HIM!

Blessed are the pure at heart:

MATTHEW 5:8
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

MATTHEW 22:14
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.â€

Faithful/unfaithful servants:
MATTHEW 24:25-51
45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

People preach but have mischief in the hearts:
HEBREWS 12:14-17
14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.

Know evil ( not chosen/Pharisees) by their fruit; which is worship of man
JOHN 12:42-43
42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

Pharisees ministry/knowledge only used for them and to block others to heaven
LUKE 11:45-52
45 One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.â€

46 Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
47 “Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. 48 So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. 49 Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ 50 Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all. 52 “Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.â€

GOD judges the heart, which no person knows another man's heart. HE knows who is for HIM or not:
JOHN 6:70
70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!†71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

GREATEST COMMANDMENTS:
MARK 12:28-31
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?â€
29 “The most important one,†answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.There is no commandment greater than these.â€


LOVE TO ALL OF YOU IN THE HOLY PRECIOUS NAME OF JESUS CHRIST! ALL EYES ON THE FATHER and EARS TO THE HOLY SPIRIT!


jesus4life

 

[Asyncritus]

The accounts of the people with talents are obviously parables as Jesus says exactly that they are parables.

To understand 'all' parables you have to have the components.

The reason the opening posters dissection doesn't work is that it has one glaringly missing component. Same with yours A.

That component is clearly depicted in Mark 4, where Jesus said to understand 'all parables' one has to understand the parable of the Sower. There are several accounts of that exact parable.

And the one missing component in the opening posters dissection and yours is this.

Satan. Satan is the cause of non-production and the cause of judgment unto the non-producer.

If you read the parable of the talents you will find that servant being 'cut to pieces' yet still wailing and gnashing teeth. This is an exact picture of the receiver of the talent being separated from SATAN...cut in pieces, divided from his enemy within.

It's not that hard. But to understand you also have to understand that your sin is also connected to Satan.

If any dissector of parables does not have Satan in the picture they miss the entirety of the point of those parables and all the others and that is because that working of Satan is upon their minds and blinding them to the fact.

Now, put that component to work in your understandings and you will see the 'cause' and the 'variation' of the produce of 'every believer.'

In the end the parable of the Talents are also a message of Hope for the eventual entire removal of our sin and the cause of our mutual lacks of production, and that 'cause' is Satan.

enjoy!

smaller

Um, smaller, the parable doesn't mention Satan. Why not, and why do you make the assumption that it does?

It ends with the servant being cast into outer darkness - if Satan did all that, than shouldn't he go there too?

 

[smaller]

Um, smaller, the parable doesn't mention Satan. Why not, and why do you make the assumption that it does?

It ends with the servant being cast into outer darkness - if Satan did all that, than shouldn't he go there too?

Um, A, read my post. It says to 'go read' Mark 4, the parable one must understand to understand 'all' parables.

There are 3 parties in the Mark 4 parable which must be present to understand 'all' parables.

Those parties are God/Man/Satan.

If anyone reads any parable and does not account for these parties as 'the key' of understanding 'all' parables according to Jesus, they have a sorely incomplete picture of 'all' parables.

That's just the way it is A. Not meant to be an offense to any believer and also meant to 'expose' what is behind 'all' parables.

Take Jesus' teachings on parables and apply same or not. It doesn't matter to me if God allows you to see or not. Not my call.

enjoy!

smaller

 

[Jethro Bodine]

But the word is the word of grace, forgiveness and repentance, of that grace we have all received, says Paul.

Which is what I have been saying at some length.

Yes, the message of the kingdom most certainly is about forgiveness through faith in Christ. You're on the right track. People who take the message of forgiveness to heart, not rejecting it but acting on it, bring forth the manifest fruit and increase of that message. In those people, instead of the gospel remaining only mere words we see it blossom and increase into the actual deeds of the Spirit.

When we produce the fruit and increase of the kingdom message we have received, we store up for ourselves that which will see us through the coming judgment when all will give an account for what they did with the knowledge of the kingdom. Praise and honor to the one who did something with the gospel of peace. Terror and distress for those who did nothing with it.

A common theme we see in scripture is this idea of taking false comfort in merely knowing the message about the kingdom. Only those who put it to work and change it from mere words into actual deeds, realizing the potential of that message, show themselves to be the faithful servants of the Master.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

...in Mark 4, where Jesus said to understand 'all parables' one has to understand the parable of the Sower.

This is so true. My Christian walk took a giant leap forward when God opened my eyes to this very thing, too. If a person grasps that the kingdom message is all about God sending his Word into the world and his chosen people bringing that Word to fruition in the form of the fruit of the Spirit you will have few problems discerning God's will for you written in the scriptures beginning to end.

It seems like there should be much more to it all than that, but that really is the very heart and soul of what it means to be saved and live for the kingdom. All the various doctrinal hobby horses being ridden in the church today cloud this very profound and fundamental truth. There's way too much emphasis on things that do not mean what we think they do in regard to living for God and pleasing him while we wait for His kingdom to come. But if you thoroughly understand the parable of the sower as the very foundation for life and increase in the kingdom you'll have little problem navigating your way to God through the scriptures, and will have confidence and surety as you look forward to the judgment.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Maybe some will see, along with me, how important it is for the church today to understand that knowledge alone is not a good source of confidence that you are pleasing to God and will pass through the judgment safely. Many seem to take great confidence in what they know and use it as the measuring rod of their relationship with God. No! Knowledge put to work is how we take confidence in the knowledge of the kingdom (talents) we have been given.

With all our varied doctrines and dogmas I can't think of a more important message for the church today. It's not enough to just know about God--even correctly! You must put your knowledge (your talents) to work and live out the new creation you say that you are. That is what will please the Master when he returns and when everyone gives an account for the knowledge they received.

 

[jesus4life]

Maybe some will see, along with me, how important it is for the church today to understand that knowledge alone is not a good source of confidence that you are pleasing to God and will pass through the judgment safely. Many seem to take great confidence in what they know and use it as the measuring rod of their relationship with God. No! Knowledge put to work is how we take confidence in the knowledge of the kingdom (talents) we have been given.

With all our varied doctrines and dogmas I can't think of a more important message for the church today. It's not enough to just know about God--even correctly! You must put your knowledge (your talents) to work and live out the new creation you say that you are. That is what will please the Master when he returns and when everyone gives an account for the knowledge they received.

AMEN! Faith without works is dead!