November 24, 2024 • 22 mins
Ever wondered how ancient teachings can resonate so profoundly in our modern world? Join me, B.C. Vine, as we explore the Parable of the Talents and unravel its deep connection with Jesus’ teachings about the end of the age. Master the art of spiritual vigilance as we uncover the context of these profound teachings, tracing them back to the discussions in Matthew 24 about wars, false prophets, and deception—a stark reflection of today’s world events. This episode promises to equip you with a richer understanding of these parables' relevance to our lives, urging steadfastness and readiness in faith.
We draw insights from the precursor teachings in Matthew 24, addressing misconceptions about the end times and the importance of spiritual readiness. As we contrast the faithful servant with the wicked one, we emphasize the significance of engaging in meaningful endeavors. Prepare to enrich your spiritual journey with timeless biblical narratives, as we connect these teachings to the Parable of the Talents and inspire a renewed sense of purpose and zeal in your faith journey.
For information on EFL, in person group studies, or donation opportunities please visit eflpodast.buzzsprout.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
B.C. Vine (00:01):
Welcome back to the Equipped for Life podcast.
I'm your host, b Vine, stewardof this divine discussion as we
go through a new episode for you, gentlemen, to make sure that
you are fully equipped forlife's journey.
We're going to go through theparable of the talents today,
and this is by far one of mymost beloved passages of
(00:24):
scripture.
I love the parables of Jesus.
Of course, I know that we alldo, but this one is near and
dear to my heart.
This is one of the firstpassages that I read when I
first became a believer.
Now, before we get into theparable of the talents, we are
gonna do an introduction to theparable.
It's important that weestablish some things and
(00:45):
understand the backdrop in whichthis parable is placed.
It's very, very important.
You can, of course, gain a lotof benefit and value from
reading the parable unto itself,but, like with most scripture,
context is vital.
It's extremely important tounderstand why the Messiah said
(01:05):
certain things that he did, andso we're going to kind of go
through that.
And, if you were able to attendthe study, it was a great time
of fellowship.
We had a dialogue aroundstewardship and we really
enjoyed the time together.
And, for those of you that arelistening here, that are not in
the Dallas-Fort Worth area, thenyou'll get the benefit of
(01:27):
listening to the podcast, and ifyou were not attending in study
on one of the days that we hadit, then you'll be able to glean
what you need to from thisparticular podcast session on
the Parable of Talents.
But before we do that, I wantto remind you that EFLmencom is
the website where you can go andget all information about Equip
(01:48):
for Life.
Follow us on YouTube, pleasesubscribe.
We are going to accelerate theamount of content that we're
pushing out in the YouTubeenvironment through social media
and we're probably going tobegin to add some video content.
So I want to just give you thatkind of heads up as we go into
the new year.
If you have not alreadysubscribe, subscribe, subscribe.
(02:10):
As I said, we always want tosee the follower count increase
and if you are compelled todonate to EFL, you can do so.
At EFLmencom, you can also giveto the podcast, so we continue
to make the content for you.
Gentlemen, all right, withoutfurther ado, we're going to kind
of get into this, and one thingthat you have to understand is
(02:30):
that this particular parablethat we are going to be reading
is placed within the Messiah'smessage to the disciples
regarding the signs of the endof the age, and so I want to
read this to you.
So it's important for us tounderstand what's going on here.
So this particular passage isright around the time where
(02:50):
Jesus is walking out of thetemple, and this is very popular
.
People know this and they askthe Messiah what are going to be
the signs of these thingscoming.
And these things are referringto him, mentioning how the
temple will be destroyed, and sothat is the backdrop for which
he begins this explanation ofthe signs.
(03:13):
And it starts like this inMatthew, chapter 24, verses one
through three as Jesus wassitting on the Mount of Olives,
the disciples came to himprivately on the Mount of Olives
.
The disciples came to himprivately Tell us.
They said when will this happenand what will be the sign of
your coming and of the end ofthe age?
Jesus answered watch out thatno one deceives you.
(03:34):
Jesus answered watch out thatno one deceives you, for many
(04:06):
will come in my name out becauseI read the wrong passage.
So, my wonderful editor, I wantto read this again.
So Matthew 24, 1 through 3reads as this Jesus left the
temple and was walking away whenhis disciples came up to him to
call his attention to itsbuildings.
Do you see?
All these things, he askedTruly?
(04:27):
I tell you not one stone herewill be left on another,
everyone will be thrown down.
As Jesus was sitting on theMount of Olives, the disciples
came to him privately.
Tell us.
They said when will this happenand what will be the sign of
your coming?
And at the end of the age?
So once again, this passage isplaced within the Messiah's
(04:50):
message to the disciplesregarding the signs of the end
of the age.
It's important to know that aswe get into the parable of the
talents.
Another key observation herehappens in Matthew 24, verses 4
through 14.
This is how it reads.
Jesus answered Watch out thatno one deceives you, for many
(05:13):
will come in my name, claiming Iam the Messiah and will deceive
many.
You will hear of wars andrumors of wars, but see to it
that you are not alarmed.
Such things must happen, butthe end is still to come.
(05:36):
But see to it that you are notalarmed to be persecuted and put
to death and you will be hatedby all nations because of me.
At that time, many will turnaway from the faith and will
betray and hate each other, andmany false prophets will appear
and deceive many people.
Because of the increase ofwickedness, the love of most
(05:59):
will grow cold, but the one whostands firm to the end will be
saved, and this gospel of thekingdom will be preached in the
whole world as a testimony ofall nations.
And then the end will come.
So a key observation here isthat we are drawing near to the
end of days.
The signs are all around us.
If you see the world that welive in currently, conflicts are
(06:22):
rising, diseases, famine, falseteachers, people that are
claiming to be divine in naturebut yet having sin and demonic
inclinations towards themselves,and it would seem that we are
nearer than we were before.
And the answer is yes, we are.
But if you look at it in thecontext of what Messiah is
(06:45):
speaking here, this end of days,this end of the age, this
generation you'll see him speakthat language later in the text
is all referring to the timeframe from when he departs after
he's resurrected and goes tothe right hand of the Father
until the second coming, when hecomes back.
That is this period of time,and it's important to take hand
of the father until the secondcoming, when he comes back.
That is this period of time,and it's important to take note
(07:08):
of that because you'll see howthat's relevant in the parable
of the talents, as well as inthe parable of the ten virgins,
and he's going to begin todescribe some of these very key
words that we want to bring ourattention to.
So, as we continue to read inthe text, I want you to make
note of these ideas End of theage.
This generation will not pass.
(07:30):
There's a duration of time thatmust be lived through in order
for the Messiah to return, andhe's giving us some wherewithal
about how and when these thingswill occur.
Now, the next part of this.
We're not going to, of course,read all of chapter 24.
(07:50):
I'm picking particular passagesfor us to highlight One of the
things that I think is importantfor those of us that have been
grafted into the vine, those ofus that are disciples and
believers in Jesus and we followhis lead and we allow him to
direct and guide our lives.
(08:11):
This is a very encouragingpiece of passage, or a piece of
scripture, for you.
So Matthew 24, 24 through 27reads this For false messiahs
and false prophets will appearand perform great signs and
wonders to deceive, if possible,even the elect.
(08:32):
See, I have told you ahead oftime.
So if anyone tells you there heis out in the wilderness, do
not go out here.
He is in the inner rooms.
Do not believe it, For aslightning that comes from the
east is visible in the west, sowill be the coming of the son of
man.
I love this.
So the observation here is thechosen elect cannot be deceived
(08:55):
by the schemes of the evil one.
The chosen elect cannot bedeceived by the schemes of the
evil one.
And this is a very bold thingfor Messiah to tell the
disciples here in this lessonthat if you have Christ, if you
have the Holy Spirit, if you arein oneness with him, in
fellowship, you cannot bedeceived by a lie, because you
(09:18):
are embodying the spirit oftruth.
For false Christ and falseprophets will appear and perform
great signs and miracles todeceive even the elect, if that
were possible.
You see, that's what'sinteresting about this dynamic
of the verse here is that yousee that there's going to be a
great deception and thatdeception is going to lead a lot
of people astray, but the electare going to be saved from that
(09:42):
deception, but the deception isgoing to be very, very strong,
so strong that it could possiblylead those astray that are the
elect, could possibly lead thoseastray that are the elect, but
it's not possible with Christ,because with Christ, you can
resist and you have discernment,you have wisdom, understanding
of who is of the Father and whois not of the Father.
(10:04):
So it's important for us to digand dive deep into the Word, be
deep into fellowship andrelationship with Jesus, so that
we can have a clearunderstanding, so that we're not
led astray.
And you're going to see himweave this theme in later into
the passage too as well in termsof the individuals that are
(10:26):
going to persist to the end.
All right, so you are listeningto the Equipped for Life
podcast.
We are in a teaching of theparable of the talents.
Matthew 24 is the precursor toMatthew 25, where the parable of
the talents is placed within.
We are going through a study sowe can have an introduction to
know why Jesus said what he saidin Matthew 25.
(10:50):
All right, so the next part ofthis is a big, hefty part of
scripture.
I think that it's very, veryimpactful and I think it's
important for us to read this sowe know what he's teaching us.
So Matthew 24, 32 through 44reads like this Now learn this
lesson from the fig tree.
As soon as its twigs get tenderand its leaves come out, you
(11:15):
know that summer is near.
Even so, when you see all thesethings, you know that it is
near, right at the door.
Truly, I tell you, thisgeneration will not certainly
pass away until all these thingshave happened.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass
away.
But about that day or hour, noone knows, not even the angels
(11:40):
in heaven, nor the son, but onlythe father.
As it was in the days of Noah.
So it will be at the coming ofthe son of man.
For in the days before theflood, people were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving inmarriage up to the day Noah
entered the ark and they knewnothing about what would happen
(12:01):
until the flood came and tookthem all away.
That is how it will be at thecoming of the Son of man.
Two men will be in the field.
One will be taken and the otherleft.
Two women will be grinding withthe hand mill.
One will be taken and the otherleft, two women will be
grinding with the hand mill.
One will be taken and the otherleft.
Therefore, keep watch, becauseyou do not know on what day your
Lord will come.
But understand this if theowner of the house had known at
(12:25):
what time of night the thief wascoming, he would have kept
watch and would not have let hishouse be broken into.
So you also must be ready,because the son of man will come
at an hour when you do notexpect him.
This is a very poignant piece oftext.
Here there's also a lot ofthings to consider doctrinally
(12:45):
and theologically, because youhave a lot of individuals that
outside of the Christian faith,that will misconstrue visuals,
that outside of the Christianfaith, that will misconstrue
even those within the side.
The Christian faith will builddoctrines around one or two
verses that are in thisparticular passage.
But the idea that Jesus istrying to communicate here is do
not find yourself unprepared.
(13:06):
But for your notes, if you wantto get into apologetics, you'll
find lots of times that Muslimsas well as Jehovah's Witnesses,
you have certain factions ofthe Hebrew, israelites and
others that will use this verseas a argument to say that Jesus
is not God, and they will saythat he's just a man because of
(13:31):
verses like verse 30, 36, butabout the hour day no one knows,
not even the angels in heaven,nor the son, but only the father
.
This is not about knowledgepisto in the Greek, as we would
understand knowledge but more sothat has to do with authority
to speak Right.
So what he's saying here isthat your concern should not be
(13:55):
when it's coming and the fatheris reserving that authority to
announce that to whom he chooses, right, it's not his place to
speak it.
It's not saying that he doesn'tknow it.
So I think that that's a bigmisconception in the text and a
lot of people have built falseteachings and false ideas.
(14:16):
The other thing here that youwant to be aware of is that you
see the two men going out, onebeing left, two women, one being
left.
This is a lot of the end timesdoctrine that gets communicated
through our evangelical circles,in the Protestant circles
predominantly.
When you see people building atheological perspective around
(14:39):
the rapture and what's going tohappen there, they build that
off of the verses that we justmentioned here.
So don't get sidetracked onthose two topics.
That's another conversation foranother day.
The main message here thatMessiah is communicating is do
not find yourself unprepared,because you do not know when
(15:00):
your Lord will come.
That is the main idea here, andthat theme is going to again
weave itself through into verse25 in the parable of talents.
So let's continue as we goforward.
Matthew 24, 45 through 51begins to lead us into the
(15:22):
primary teaching principle ofthe parable of talents.
This is a precursor to it, soit's important to recognize what
the Messiah is saying to hisdisciples here.
So let's read this 24 throughor verse chapter 24, verse 45
through 51.
(15:43):
Who then is the faithful andwise servant whom the master has
put in charge of the servantsin his household to give them
their food at the proper time?
It will be good for thatservant whose master finds him
doing so when he returns.
Truly, I tell you, he will puthim in charge of all his
possessions.
But suppose that servant iswicked and says to himself my
(16:08):
master is staying away a longtime and he then begins to beat
his fellow servants and to eatand drink with drunkards.
The master of that servant willcome on a day when he does not
expect him and at an hour he isnot aware of, he will cut him
into pieces and assign him aplace with the hypocrites, where
(16:28):
there will be weeping andgnashing of teeth.
Weeping and gnashing of teethis a very important phrase
that's used by Messiah inmultiple passages.
Whenever you see that, your earshould perk up.
Now we'll get into what that is, that meaning is, but we're
going to continue along thispath.
But the key principle here thatyou need to be aware of is that
(16:50):
we are not supposed to bewasting time and engaging in
fruitless endeavors.
We are not supposed to bewasting time and engaging in
fruitless endeavors.
That is a problem I think thatwe have as Christians.
We come to salvation, we getexcited, we have exuberance, we
(17:13):
have zeal, and then we gostagnant, we grow cold, we are
slow to respond and we are quickto revert back to old habits,
to the old man, to fleshlydesires, and we kind of shirk
and put off and are dismissiveabout the things that God is
(17:33):
calling us to do, and we wasteour time on things that bring no
value, that bring no benefit,that produce no fruit.
And so you hear, you see, a verystark warning to this
individual, this particularservant.
He thinks that he has all thetime in the world, and when the
master's gone, and because he'sbeen gone so long, he misuses
his time, he misuses his stewardresponsibility and he mistreats
(17:57):
others as well and engages inall manner of revelry.
And when that master comes back, he obviously is not pleased
with how this servant has beenconducting himself.
And so this is important for usNow.
Messiah is not talking to, heis not talking to non-believers.
He is communicating this to hisdisciples, individuals that
(18:22):
claim to serve and follow him,those that call themselves by
his name.
So it's important to note that,as you're listening, if you are
grafted into the family of Godand you are a Christian, you are
a disciple of Messiah, that heis speaking to you in this
manner.
Okay, examine your life, seewhat's going on, and do you find
(18:44):
yourself wasting time on thingsthat don't produce any fruit,
that have no value and are notbeneficial in any way to your
well-being and most certainlynot to the family of God?
Okay, so let's continue to go.
I'm really liking thisintroduction.
I think it's important for usto really again lean into the
(19:08):
parable of the talents and notrush into it.
There's a lot of richness here,and I don't want to take these
scriptures lightly, because thisis a very, very important
portion of text here that we'rekind of going through Now.
The set up verse to the parableof the talents is the parable
(19:31):
of the 10 virgins is the parableof the 10 virgins, and I love
this parable.
It's quite rich.
It allows you to kind of reallyimagine what's going on here.
If you've never heard thisparable before and I know that
some of these practices arearchaic for us, especially if
you are Western culture and weare a modern day society like we
(19:54):
are in America, are in Americathese things are foreign to you.
But it's great to look at, geta cultural glimpse back into
time to see how Israeliteculture handled things like
marriage.
And he's using this exampleonce again because our Messiah
was very good at relating topeople and he understood the
(20:15):
people of the day and how theywere thinking, and so that's why
I love these stories, becausethey would have really resonated
with them.
Now his truths are lasting tothe test of time, so they
resonate with us too.
But imagine being in thatsetting in this day.
I bet some of these storiesreally kind of stung and they
kind of popped out.
(20:36):
But Matthew 25, 1 through 13,reads like this.
At that time, the kingdom ofheaven will be like 10 virgins
who took their lamps and wentout to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish andfive were wise.
The foolish ones took theirlamps but did not take any oil
with them.
The wise, however, took oil injars along with their lamps.
(21:00):
The bridegroom was a long timein coming and they all became
drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight, the cry rang outhere is the bridegroom, come out
to meet him.
Then all the virgins woke upand trimmed their lamps.
The foolish one said to thewise Give us some of your oil.
Our lamps are going out.
No, they replied, there may notbe enough for both us and you.
(21:24):
Instead, go to those who selloil and buy some for yourselves
to buy the oil.
The bridegroom arrived, thevirgins who were ready went in
with him to the wedding banquet,and the door was shut.
(21:45):
Later, the others also came,sir, sir.
They said open the door for us,but he replied I tell you the
truth.
I do not know.
You.
Therefore, keep watch, becauseyou do not know the day or the
hour.
Point here is this If youchoose to ignore God's calling
(22:05):
on your life, you will be leftat the door.
If you choose to ignore God'scalling on your life, you will
be left at the door.
This is a very stark andpoignant point here.
A lot of times we look atsalvation and we say, okay, well
, I'm saved.
Many, many believers you meet inthis modern day context, they
(22:26):
are what we would call fireinsurance Christians.
They really just want to escapehellfire.
They don't really wantrelationship, right, they want
the benefits of being with Godwithout any of the commitment of
having a relationship with God.
They look at God as a geniethat they rub to help them with
(22:47):
problems and pain and life'sdifficulties and circumstances
to erase things, but they don'treally want to go into the
depths of relationship with him.
And so here you have these fivefoolish versions who were going
out, but they weren't prepared.
And then they wanted the oil ofthe women who were prepared,
but you can't give the oil away.
(23:08):
This is the oil.
Is is similar.
If you were to give a relatableidea to it, it's.
It's almost kind of like yourrelationship with God or your
relationship with somebodysignificant in your life, let's
say a spouse, right?
I can't give you the intimacythat I have with my spouse If
(23:30):
you want to develop a deepness,you're going to have to develop
your own relationship.
Now maybe it's more akin to afriendship or a family member,
because of course, you know, ifI have my wife, you can't have
her, obviously, but the timethat I am committed to and the
getting to know her is whatcreates the intimacy.
(23:51):
You see these bridegrooms inthis parable of the 10 virgins.
They were serious about beingwives and they were prepared and
they fell asleep because it wastaking a long time.
And once again, this is in thebackdrop of the end of the age.
Let's not forget about how westarted in the beginning of
Matthew 24.
(24:11):
Jesus is talking to disciplesabout the signs of the end age
and he's giving them severalexamples of what it's going to
be like when he comes back Inthis time period.
It's going to feel so long, butyou don't want to find yourself
unprepared and there is goingto be an expectation that you
(24:32):
are ready when he returns.
You are listening to theEquipped for Life podcast.
We are doing an introductioninto the parable of the talents,
matthew, verses 25, 14 through30.
But this is an introduction tothat, to give you guys an
understanding of where we are Onthe other side of this, we are
(24:55):
going to come back and we aregoing to cover the parable of
talents.
So if you're hearing thisepisode, stay tuned.
The parable of the talents,matthew 25, verses 14 through 30
, is next.
Welcome back to the Equipped for Life podcast.
I'm your host, b Vine, stewardof this divine discussion as we
go through a new episode for you, gentlemen, to make sure that
you are fully equipped forlife's journey.
We're going to go through theparable of the talents today,
and this is by far one of mymost beloved passages of
(00:24):
scripture.
I love the parables of Jesus.
Of course, I know that we alldo, but this one is near and
dear to my heart.
This is one of the firstpassages that I read when I
first became a believer.
Now, before we get into theparable of the talents, we are
gonna do an introduction to theparable.
It's important that weestablish some things and
(00:45):
understand the backdrop in whichthis parable is placed.
It's very, very important.
You can, of course, gain a lotof benefit and value from
reading the parable unto itself,but, like with most scripture,
context is vital.
It's extremely important tounderstand why the Messiah said
(01:05):
certain things that he did, andso we're going to kind of go
through that.
And, if you were able to attendthe study, it was a great time
of fellowship.
We had a dialogue aroundstewardship and we really
enjoyed the time together.
And, for those of you that arelistening here, that are not in
the Dallas-Fort Worth area, thenyou'll get the benefit of
(01:27):
listening to the podcast, and ifyou were not attending in study
on one of the days that we hadit, then you'll be able to glean
what you need to from thisparticular podcast session on
the Parable of Talents.
But before we do that, I wantto remind you that EFLmencom is
the website where you can go andget all information about Equip
(01:48):
for Life.
Follow us on YouTube, pleasesubscribe.
We are going to accelerate theamount of content that we're
pushing out in the YouTubeenvironment through social media
and we're probably going tobegin to add some video content.
So I want to just give you thatkind of heads up as we go into
the new year.
If you have not alreadysubscribe, subscribe, subscribe.
(02:10):
As I said, we always want tosee the follower count increase
and if you are compelled todonate to EFL, you can do so.
At EFLmencom, you can also giveto the podcast, so we continue
to make the content for you.
Gentlemen, all right, withoutfurther ado, we're going to kind
of get into this, and one thingthat you have to understand is
(02:30):
that this particular parablethat we are going to be reading
is placed within the Messiah'smessage to the disciples
regarding the signs of the endof the age, and so I want to
read this to you.
So it's important for us tounderstand what's going on here.
So this particular passage isright around the time where
(02:50):
Jesus is walking out of thetemple, and this is very popular
.
People know this and they askthe Messiah what are going to be
the signs of these thingscoming.
And these things are referringto him, mentioning how the
temple will be destroyed, and sothat is the backdrop for which
he begins this explanation ofthe signs.
(03:13):
And it starts like this inMatthew, chapter 24, verses one
through three as Jesus wassitting on the Mount of Olives,
the disciples came to himprivately on the Mount of Olives
.
The disciples came to himprivately Tell us.
They said when will this happenand what will be the sign of
your coming and of the end ofthe age?
Jesus answered watch out thatno one deceives you.
(03:34):
Jesus answered watch out thatno one deceives you, for many
(04:06):
will come in my name out becauseI read the wrong passage.
So, my wonderful editor, I wantto read this again.
So Matthew 24, 1 through 3reads as this Jesus left the
temple and was walking away whenhis disciples came up to him to
call his attention to itsbuildings.
Do you see?
All these things, he askedTruly?
(04:27):
I tell you not one stone herewill be left on another,
everyone will be thrown down.
As Jesus was sitting on theMount of Olives, the disciples
came to him privately.
Tell us.
They said when will this happenand what will be the sign of
your coming?
And at the end of the age?
So once again, this passage isplaced within the Messiah's
(04:50):
message to the disciplesregarding the signs of the end
of the age.
It's important to know that aswe get into the parable of the
talents.
Another key observation herehappens in Matthew 24, verses 4
through 14.
This is how it reads.
Jesus answered Watch out thatno one deceives you, for many
(05:13):
will come in my name, claiming Iam the Messiah and will deceive
many.
You will hear of wars andrumors of wars, but see to it
that you are not alarmed.
Such things must happen, butthe end is still to come.
(05:36):
But see to it that you are notalarmed to be persecuted and put
to death and you will be hatedby all nations because of me.
At that time, many will turnaway from the faith and will
betray and hate each other, andmany false prophets will appear
and deceive many people.
Because of the increase ofwickedness, the love of most
(05:59):
will grow cold, but the one whostands firm to the end will be
saved, and this gospel of thekingdom will be preached in the
whole world as a testimony ofall nations.
And then the end will come.
So a key observation here isthat we are drawing near to the
end of days.
The signs are all around us.
If you see the world that welive in currently, conflicts are
(06:22):
rising, diseases, famine, falseteachers, people that are
claiming to be divine in naturebut yet having sin and demonic
inclinations towards themselves,and it would seem that we are
nearer than we were before.
And the answer is yes, we are.
But if you look at it in thecontext of what Messiah is
(06:45):
speaking here, this end of days,this end of the age, this
generation you'll see him speakthat language later in the text
is all referring to the timeframe from when he departs after
he's resurrected and goes tothe right hand of the Father
until the second coming, when hecomes back.
That is this period of time,and it's important to take hand
of the father until the secondcoming, when he comes back.
That is this period of time,and it's important to take note
(07:08):
of that because you'll see howthat's relevant in the parable
of the talents, as well as inthe parable of the ten virgins,
and he's going to begin todescribe some of these very key
words that we want to bring ourattention to.
So, as we continue to read inthe text, I want you to make
note of these ideas End of theage.
This generation will not pass.
(07:30):
There's a duration of time thatmust be lived through in order
for the Messiah to return, andhe's giving us some wherewithal
about how and when these thingswill occur.
Now, the next part of this.
We're not going to, of course,read all of chapter 24.
(07:50):
I'm picking particular passagesfor us to highlight One of the
things that I think is importantfor those of us that have been
grafted into the vine, those ofus that are disciples and
believers in Jesus and we followhis lead and we allow him to
direct and guide our lives.
(08:11):
This is a very encouragingpiece of passage, or a piece of
scripture, for you.
So Matthew 24, 24 through 27reads this For false messiahs
and false prophets will appearand perform great signs and
wonders to deceive, if possible,even the elect.
(08:32):
See, I have told you ahead oftime.
So if anyone tells you there heis out in the wilderness, do
not go out here.
He is in the inner rooms.
Do not believe it, For aslightning that comes from the
east is visible in the west, sowill be the coming of the son of
man.
I love this.
So the observation here is thechosen elect cannot be deceived
(08:55):
by the schemes of the evil one.
The chosen elect cannot bedeceived by the schemes of the
evil one.
And this is a very bold thingfor Messiah to tell the
disciples here in this lessonthat if you have Christ, if you
have the Holy Spirit, if you arein oneness with him, in
fellowship, you cannot bedeceived by a lie, because you
(09:18):
are embodying the spirit oftruth.
For false Christ and falseprophets will appear and perform
great signs and miracles todeceive even the elect, if that
were possible.
You see, that's what'sinteresting about this dynamic
of the verse here is that yousee that there's going to be a
great deception and thatdeception is going to lead a lot
of people astray, but the electare going to be saved from that
(09:42):
deception, but the deception isgoing to be very, very strong,
so strong that it could possiblylead those astray that are the
elect, could possibly lead thoseastray that are the elect, but
it's not possible with Christ,because with Christ, you can
resist and you have discernment,you have wisdom, understanding
of who is of the Father and whois not of the Father.
(10:04):
So it's important for us to digand dive deep into the Word, be
deep into fellowship andrelationship with Jesus, so that
we can have a clearunderstanding, so that we're not
led astray.
And you're going to see himweave this theme in later into
the passage too as well in termsof the individuals that are
(10:26):
going to persist to the end.
All right, so you are listeningto the Equipped for Life
podcast.
We are in a teaching of theparable of the talents.
Matthew 24 is the precursor toMatthew 25, where the parable of
the talents is placed within.
We are going through a study sowe can have an introduction to
know why Jesus said what he saidin Matthew 25.
(10:50):
All right, so the next part ofthis is a big, hefty part of
scripture.
I think that it's very, veryimpactful and I think it's
important for us to read this sowe know what he's teaching us.
So Matthew 24, 32 through 44reads like this Now learn this
lesson from the fig tree.
As soon as its twigs get tenderand its leaves come out, you
(11:15):
know that summer is near.
Even so, when you see all thesethings, you know that it is
near, right at the door.
Truly, I tell you, thisgeneration will not certainly
pass away until all these thingshave happened.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass
away.
But about that day or hour, noone knows, not even the angels
(11:40):
in heaven, nor the son, but onlythe father.
As it was in the days of Noah.
So it will be at the coming ofthe son of man.
For in the days before theflood, people were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving inmarriage up to the day Noah
entered the ark and they knewnothing about what would happen
(12:01):
until the flood came and tookthem all away.
That is how it will be at thecoming of the Son of man.
Two men will be in the field.
One will be taken and the otherleft.
Two women will be grinding withthe hand mill.
One will be taken and the otherleft, two women will be
grinding with the hand mill.
One will be taken and the otherleft.
Therefore, keep watch, becauseyou do not know on what day your
Lord will come.
But understand this if theowner of the house had known at
(12:25):
what time of night the thief wascoming, he would have kept
watch and would not have let hishouse be broken into.
So you also must be ready,because the son of man will come
at an hour when you do notexpect him.
This is a very poignant piece oftext.
Here there's also a lot ofthings to consider doctrinally
(12:45):
and theologically, because youhave a lot of individuals that
outside of the Christian faith,that will misconstrue visuals,
that outside of the Christianfaith, that will misconstrue
even those within the side.
The Christian faith will builddoctrines around one or two
verses that are in thisparticular passage.
But the idea that Jesus istrying to communicate here is do
not find yourself unprepared.
(13:06):
But for your notes, if you wantto get into apologetics, you'll
find lots of times that Muslimsas well as Jehovah's Witnesses,
you have certain factions ofthe Hebrew, israelites and
others that will use this verseas a argument to say that Jesus
is not God, and they will saythat he's just a man because of
(13:31):
verses like verse 30, 36, butabout the hour day no one knows,
not even the angels in heaven,nor the son, but only the father
.
This is not about knowledgepisto in the Greek, as we would
understand knowledge but more sothat has to do with authority
to speak Right.
So what he's saying here isthat your concern should not be
(13:55):
when it's coming and the fatheris reserving that authority to
announce that to whom he chooses, right, it's not his place to
speak it.
It's not saying that he doesn'tknow it.
So I think that that's a bigmisconception in the text and a
lot of people have built falseteachings and false ideas.
(14:16):
The other thing here that youwant to be aware of is that you
see the two men going out, onebeing left, two women, one being
left.
This is a lot of the end timesdoctrine that gets communicated
through our evangelical circles,in the Protestant circles
predominantly.
When you see people building atheological perspective around
(14:39):
the rapture and what's going tohappen there, they build that
off of the verses that we justmentioned here.
So don't get sidetracked onthose two topics.
That's another conversation foranother day.
The main message here thatMessiah is communicating is do
not find yourself unprepared,because you do not know when
(15:00):
your Lord will come.
That is the main idea here, andthat theme is going to again
weave itself through into verse25 in the parable of talents.
So let's continue as we goforward.
Matthew 24, 45 through 51begins to lead us into the
(15:22):
primary teaching principle ofthe parable of talents.
This is a precursor to it, soit's important to recognize what
the Messiah is saying to hisdisciples here.
So let's read this 24 throughor verse chapter 24, verse 45
through 51.
(15:43):
Who then is the faithful andwise servant whom the master has
put in charge of the servantsin his household to give them
their food at the proper time?
It will be good for thatservant whose master finds him
doing so when he returns.
Truly, I tell you, he will puthim in charge of all his
possessions.
But suppose that servant iswicked and says to himself my
(16:08):
master is staying away a longtime and he then begins to beat
his fellow servants and to eatand drink with drunkards.
The master of that servant willcome on a day when he does not
expect him and at an hour he isnot aware of, he will cut him
into pieces and assign him aplace with the hypocrites, where
(16:28):
there will be weeping andgnashing of teeth.
Weeping and gnashing of teethis a very important phrase
that's used by Messiah inmultiple passages.
Whenever you see that, your earshould perk up.
Now we'll get into what that is, that meaning is, but we're
going to continue along thispath.
But the key principle here thatyou need to be aware of is that
(16:50):
we are not supposed to bewasting time and engaging in
fruitless endeavors.
We are not supposed to bewasting time and engaging in
fruitless endeavors.
That is a problem I think thatwe have as Christians.
We come to salvation, we getexcited, we have exuberance, we
(17:13):
have zeal, and then we gostagnant, we grow cold, we are
slow to respond and we are quickto revert back to old habits,
to the old man, to fleshlydesires, and we kind of shirk
and put off and are dismissiveabout the things that God is
(17:33):
calling us to do, and we wasteour time on things that bring no
value, that bring no benefit,that produce no fruit.
And so you hear, you see, a verystark warning to this
individual, this particularservant.
He thinks that he has all thetime in the world, and when the
master's gone, and because he'sbeen gone so long, he misuses
his time, he misuses his stewardresponsibility and he mistreats
(17:57):
others as well and engages inall manner of revelry.
And when that master comes back, he obviously is not pleased
with how this servant has beenconducting himself.
And so this is important for usNow.
Messiah is not talking to, heis not talking to non-believers.
He is communicating this to hisdisciples, individuals that
(18:22):
claim to serve and follow him,those that call themselves by
his name.
So it's important to note that,as you're listening, if you are
grafted into the family of Godand you are a Christian, you are
a disciple of Messiah, that heis speaking to you in this
manner.
Okay, examine your life, seewhat's going on, and do you find
(18:44):
yourself wasting time on thingsthat don't produce any fruit,
that have no value and are notbeneficial in any way to your
well-being and most certainlynot to the family of God?
Okay, so let's continue to go.
I'm really liking thisintroduction.
I think it's important for usto really again lean into the
(19:08):
parable of the talents and notrush into it.
There's a lot of richness here,and I don't want to take these
scriptures lightly, because thisis a very, very important
portion of text here that we'rekind of going through Now.
The set up verse to the parableof the talents is the parable
(19:31):
of the 10 virgins is the parableof the 10 virgins, and I love
this parable.
It's quite rich.
It allows you to kind of reallyimagine what's going on here.
If you've never heard thisparable before and I know that
some of these practices arearchaic for us, especially if
you are Western culture and weare a modern day society like we
(19:54):
are in America, are in Americathese things are foreign to you.
But it's great to look at, geta cultural glimpse back into
time to see how Israeliteculture handled things like
marriage.
And he's using this exampleonce again because our Messiah
was very good at relating topeople and he understood the
(20:15):
people of the day and how theywere thinking, and so that's why
I love these stories, becausethey would have really resonated
with them.
Now his truths are lasting tothe test of time, so they
resonate with us too.
But imagine being in thatsetting in this day.
I bet some of these storiesreally kind of stung and they
kind of popped out.
(20:36):
But Matthew 25, 1 through 13,reads like this.
At that time, the kingdom ofheaven will be like 10 virgins
who took their lamps and wentout to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish andfive were wise.
The foolish ones took theirlamps but did not take any oil
with them.
The wise, however, took oil injars along with their lamps.
(21:00):
The bridegroom was a long timein coming and they all became
drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight, the cry rang outhere is the bridegroom, come out
to meet him.
Then all the virgins woke upand trimmed their lamps.
The foolish one said to thewise Give us some of your oil.
Our lamps are going out.
No, they replied, there may notbe enough for both us and you.
(21:24):
Instead, go to those who selloil and buy some for yourselves
to buy the oil.
The bridegroom arrived, thevirgins who were ready went in
with him to the wedding banquet,and the door was shut.
(21:45):
Later, the others also came,sir, sir.
They said open the door for us,but he replied I tell you the
truth.
I do not know.
You.
Therefore, keep watch, becauseyou do not know the day or the
hour.
Point here is this If youchoose to ignore God's calling
(22:05):
on your life, you will be leftat the door.
If you choose to ignore God'scalling on your life, you will
be left at the door.
This is a very stark andpoignant point here.
A lot of times we look atsalvation and we say, okay, well
, I'm saved.
Many, many believers you meet inthis modern day context, they
(22:26):
are what we would call fireinsurance Christians.
They really just want to escapehellfire.
They don't really wantrelationship, right, they want
the benefits of being with Godwithout any of the commitment of
having a relationship with God.
They look at God as a geniethat they rub to help them with
(22:47):
problems and pain and life'sdifficulties and circumstances
to erase things, but they don'treally want to go into the
depths of relationship with him.
And so here you have these fivefoolish versions who were going
out, but they weren't prepared.
And then they wanted the oil ofthe women who were prepared,
but you can't give the oil away.
(23:08):
This is the oil.
Is is similar.
If you were to give a relatableidea to it, it's.
It's almost kind of like yourrelationship with God or your
relationship with somebodysignificant in your life, let's
say a spouse, right?
I can't give you the intimacythat I have with my spouse If
(23:30):
you want to develop a deepness,you're going to have to develop
your own relationship.
Now maybe it's more akin to afriendship or a family member,
because of course, you know, ifI have my wife, you can't have
her, obviously, but the timethat I am committed to and the
getting to know her is whatcreates the intimacy.
(23:51):
You see these bridegrooms inthis parable of the 10 virgins.
They were serious about beingwives and they were prepared and
they fell asleep because it wastaking a long time.
And once again, this is in thebackdrop of the end of the age.
Let's not forget about how westarted in the beginning of
Matthew 24.
(24:11):
Jesus is talking to disciplesabout the signs of the end age
and he's giving them severalexamples of what it's going to
be like when he comes back Inthis time period.
It's going to feel so long, butyou don't want to find yourself
unprepared and there is goingto be an expectation that you
(24:32):
are ready when he returns.
You are listening to theEquipped for Life podcast.
We are doing an introductioninto the parable of the talents,
matthew, verses 25, 14 through30.
But this is an introduction tothat, to give you guys an
understanding of where we are Onthe other side of this, we are
(24:55):
going to come back and we aregoing to cover the parable of
talents.
So if you're hearing thisepisode, stay tuned.
The parable of the talents,matthew 25, verses 14 through 30
, is next.
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