10/6/02

FAITH BIBLE CHURCH - www.faithbiblechurch.net

RAY RUSS - PASTOR-TEACHER

MATTHEW:  THE KING HAS COME, WEEK 170  

TITLE: THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS, PART II

TEXT:  MATTHEW 25:24-30

INTRODUCTION: (1) I HAVE BEEN TO FEW SURPRISE PARTIES IN MY LIFE WHEN THE GUEST OF HONOR HAS BEEN TRULY SURPRISED.

* USUALLY SOMEONE SPOILS THE SURPRISE BY LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG.

** BUT SOMETIMES THE SURPRISE COMES OFF WITHOUT A HITCH.

*** WELL, THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE APPEARS TO ME TO BE IN OUR TEXT TODAY.

**** FOR AS WE COME TO OUR STUDY, THE 3’D SLAVE TALKED ABOUT IN THIS PARABLE OF THE TALENTS WAS SURPRISED BY TWO THINGS:

(2)  NO. 1 – HE WAS POSSIBLY SURPRISED BY HIS MASTER’S RETURN.  AND EITHER HE DID NOT EXPECT HIM TO RETURN OR DID NOT EXPECT HIM TO RETURN WHEN HE DID, FOR HE WAS NOT PREPARED FOR HIS RETURN.

* AND NO. 2 - I BELIEVE THAT HE WAS SURPRISED BY THE OUTCOME OF HIS LACK OF PREPAREDNESS.

** BY THE TALENT THAT WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM HIM AND BY THE JUDGMENT OF BEING CAST INTO OUTER DARKNESS A PICTURE OF HELL.

*** IT APPEARS TO ME THAT THIS GUY WAS TOTALLY SURPRISED.

**** AND LIKEWISE, ON THE JUDGMENT DAY, I BELIEVE A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE SURPRISED.

(3)  FOR THERE WILL BE MANY PEOPLE ON THAT DAY THAT WILL HEAR FROM THE LORD, I NEVER KNEW YOU.

* MATTHEW 7:21-23 SAYS:  (READ THEM).

** NOW OUR LORD WAS NOT SPEAKING ABOUT AN ISOLATED GROUP OF FRINGE FOLLOWERS.

*** FOR THERE WILL BE MANY ON THAT DAY WHO WILL STAND BEFORE JESUS SURPRISED AND EVEN STUNNED TO LEARN THEY ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE KINGDOM.

**** AND CLEARLY NO PAST EXPERIENCE – NOT EVEN PROPHESYING, CASTING OUT DEMONS AND OTHER WORKS CAN BE VIEWED AS EVIDENCE OF SALVATION APART FROM A DESIRE AND A LIFE GROWING IN OBEDIENCE.

(4)  BELOVED, THERE MUST BE A PATTERN OF DOING THE WILL OF THE MASTER.

* AND THE SLAVE WE WILL STUDY TODAY DID NOT DO THE WILL OF HIS MASTER.  AND I THINK HE THOUGHT THAT HE KNEW HIS SLAVEMASTER, IN TERMS OF TODAY, HE THOUGHT THAT HE WAS A CHRISTIAN.

** BUT HIS SLAVEMASTER’S EVALUATION OF HIM IN THIS PARABLE WAS HE WAS A WICKED AND LAZY SLAVE.  (I THINK A SURPRISE FOR HIM TO HEAR).

*** AND HE WAS NOT OBEDIENT TO HIS MASTER AS FAR AS USING THE TALENT THAT WAS GIVEN HIM TO GAIN MORE FOR HIS MASTER.

**** AND BEYOND THAT THE SURPRISE OF HIS JUDGMENT IN V. 30 MUST HAVE BEEN SHOCKING FOR WHEN A PERSON THINKS THEY’RE O.K. AND ON THE WAY TO HEAVEN AND FIND OUT THAT GOD HAS ANOTHER STANDARD THAN THEIRS AND THEY ARE NOT O.K. AND GO TO HELL, GOES BEYOND SURPRISE TO SHOCK.

(5)  WELL, TODAY I WANT TO FINISH THIS PARABLE THAT WE STARTED AT THE END OF AUGUST, SO I’VE SIMPLY TITLED OUR MESSAGE TODAY, THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS, PART II.

* AND IN QUICK REVIEW, LET ME REMIND YOU THAT THE FIRST TWO PARABLES OF MATTHEW 25 DEPICT THE BALANCE OF BELIEVERS LOOKING FORWARD TO CHRIST’S COMING WITH ANTICIPATION, WHILE LIVING IN PREPAREDNESS FOR HIS COMING THROUGH FAITHFUL SERVICE.

** AND THOSE PARABLES IN THE MIDST OF THE OLIVET DISCOURSE WHICH COVERS MATTHEW 24&25 TALKS ABOUT THE 2’D COMING OF CHRIST TO THE EARTH.

*** AND WHEREAS THE PARABLE OF THE VIRGINS OR BRIDESMAIDS IN MATTHEW 25:1-13 URGES US TO PROVE OUR READINESS FOR CHRIST BY PATIENTLY WAITING FOR HIM.

**** THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS TEACHES US TO REMAIN READY FOR HIM BY DILIGENTLY WORKING.

(6)  WE NEED TO BE WATCHING, WAITING AND WORKING.

* AND SPECIFICALLY IN THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS, THE IMAGERY IS CLEAR.

** THE MAN GOING ON THE JOURNEY REPRESENTS CHRIST.

*** THE TIME HE IS AWAY ON HIS JOURNEY PICTURES THE TIME BETWEEN CHRIST’S ASCENSION INTO HEAVEN AND HIS BODILY RETURN TO EARTH, THE TIME WE ARE LIVING IN NOW.

**** THE SERVANTS OR SLAVES ARE PROFESSING BELIEVERS, TWO OF THEM BEING TRUE BELIEVERS, ONE A COUNTERFEIT BELIEVER, ONE WHO HAS PROFESSED FAITH, BUT DOESN’T TRULY KNOW CHRIST SHOWN BY HIS ACTIONS OR FRUIT AND HIS ETERNAL DESTINY IN V. 30.

(7)  AND THEN THE TALENTS REPRESENT A WIDE RANGE OF SPIRITUAL OPPORTUNITIES, PRIVILEGES AND RESOURCES, INCLUDING NATURAL ABILITIES, SPIRITUAL GIFTS, MATERIAL THINGS, MINISTRY RESPONSIBILITIES AND OTHER BLESSINGS GOD HAS GIVEN BELIEVERS AS STEWARDS.

* AND THE LORD WILL EVENTUALLY CALL US TO ACCOUNT FOR THAT STEWARDSHIP.

** NOW WITH THAT IN MIND, WE’LL LOOK AT VV. 24-30 AND FOCUS ON THE 3’D SLAVE IN THIS PARABLE.

*** AND WE’LL LOOK AT 3 THINGS.  NO. 1 THE RATIONALIZATION OF THIS SLAVE AS HE IS CALLED TO ACCOUNT FOR HIS TALENT, VV. 24&25; NO. 2 THE REPLY OF HIS MASTER TO HIM, VV. 26&27; AND NO. 3 THE RECKONING, THE JUDGMENT THAT WILL TAKE PLACE FOR THIS 3’D SLAVE, VV. 28-30.

**** AND WITHOUT FURTHER INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW, LET’S GO TO OUR FIRST THOUGHT TODAY, THE RATIONALIZATION.  LOOK AT V. 24 PLEASE.

I.  THE RATIONALIZATION, (READ V. 24)

A.  NOW THIS THIRD SLAVE, MADE NO PROFIT FOR HIS MASTER, HE WAS NOT A GOOD STEWARD AS HE DID NOT FULFILL HIS RESPONSIBILITY TO HIS MASTER BY USING THE ONE TALENT.  HE DID NOT USE HIS TALENT AT ALL, HE PRODUCED ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WITH HIS TALENT.

* YET INSTEAD OF ACKNOWLEDGING HIS GUILT AND TAKING FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS ACTIONS, HE GAVE AN INCREDIBLY BRASH AND ARROGANT REPLY.

** THIS SLAVE OFFERED AN EXCUSE FOR FAILURE TO MAKE A PROFIT.

*** HE SAID, “I KNEW YOU TO BE A HARD MAN”, IMPLYING THAT IF THE MASTER HAD NOT BEEN SO HARD, THEN THE SERVANT WOULD HAVE TAKEN THE RISK AND INVESTED THE MONEY.

**** IN FACT, WILLIAM HENDRICKSEN SUMMARIZES AT THIS POINT IN HIS COMMENTARY OF MATTHEW SAYING:  “IN ORDER TO INVENT AN EXCUSE FOR HIS OWN DERELICTION OF DUTY, THIS FELLOW HAS THE AUDACITY TO ACCUSE HIS MASTER OF BEING HARD.”  (END QUOTE)

1.  AND THE GREEK WORD FOR HARD HERE, WHICH YOU CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN, SKLAY-ROS.

* AND IT LIT. MEANS HARSH, ROUGH, STIFF, STERN AND INTOLERABLE.

** WE DERIVE OUR ENGLISH WORD SCLEROSIS FROM THIS WORD AND ARTERIOSCLEROSIS IS WHAT?

*** HARDENING OF THE ARTERIES.

**** AND MY POINT IS, THIS SLAVE IS DEPRECIATING HIS MASTER’S CHARACTER BY CALLING HIM A HARD MAN.

2.  AND HE CLARIFIES HIS EXCUSE BY SAYING IN THE REST OF V. 24, YOU’RE THE KIND OF GUY WHO “REAPS WHEN YOU DID NOT SOW AND GATHERS WHEN YOU SCATTERED NO SEED.”

* MEANING:  HE CHARGED HIS OWNER WITH BEING UNMERCIFUL AND DISHONEST.

** HE PORTRAYS HIS MASTER AS AN UNPRINCIPLED OPPORTUNIST, SOMEONE WHO REAPS AND GATHERS WHAT HE HAS NO RIGHT TO, EXPLOITING THE LABOR OF OTHERS.

*** AND THIS IS A PRETTY HARSH ACCUSATION.  AND IT APPEARS THAT HE IS TRYING TO TURN AWAY THE MASTER’S DISPLEASURE BY PREEMPTING IT WITH A DELIBERATE SLUR AGAINST HIS MASTER’S CHARACTER.

**** AND IN V. 25, HE MAKES AN EXCUSE FOR HIS LACK OF WORK BECAUSE OF HIS MASTER’S BEHAVIOR.

LOOK AT V. 25 PLEASE.

B.  READ V. 25.  NOW THE EXCUSE IS “I WAS AFRAID”.

* AND BECAUSE HE WS AFRAID, HE BURIED HIS MASTER’S TALENT IN THE GROUND.

** AND THIS IS CLASSIC BLAMESHIFTING.  EXCUSE YOUR WRONG BEHAVIOR, EXCUSE WHAT YOU DO THAT’S WRONG BECAUSE OF WHAT SOMEONE ELSE DOES.

*** THIS GUY MUST HAVE BEEN AN AMERICAN CITIZEN, MAYBE HE WAS AN ATTORNEY BY TRADE.  HE CERTAINLY HAD A VICTIM’S MENTALITY (AND I’LL EXPAND ON BLAMESHIFTING IN MY APPLICATION

TODAY.)

**** BUT ON TOP OF THAT, HE HAS THE NERVE TO SAY AT THE END OF V. 25, “YOU HAVE WHAT IS YOURS.”

1.  IN OTHER WORDS, NO BIG DEAL, YOU DIDN’T LOSE ANYTHING, YOU RECEIVED YOUR INITIAL INVESTMENT, NO SWEAT, NO PROBLEM.

* HEY BE THANKFUL I KEPT IT INTACT, IT’S BETTER THAN THE STOCK MARKET WHEN YOU LOSE WHAT YOU’VE INVESTED.

** BUT IT WAS A PROBLEM.  FOR HIS MASTER HAD ENTRUSTED HIM WITH HIS MONEY AND HE HAD THE SAME OBLIGATION AS THE OTHER TWO SLAVES, TO USE THAT TALENT FOR HIS MASTER.

*** IT COST HIS MASTER MONEY.  IT WAS MORALLY LIKE EMBEZZLEMENT OR SQUANDERING SOMETHING THAT IS NOT YOURS.  THIS WAS NO LITTLE THING.

**** BUT THE SLAVE TRIED TO TURN IT INTO A LITTLE THING, AND THAT WAS HIS RATIONALIZATION.

2.  WHICH LEADS US TO OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE REPLY OF THE MASTER, LOOK AT V. 26 PLEASE.

II.  THE REPLY, (READ V. 26)

A.  NOW FIRST OF ALL THE MASTER CALLS HIM A “WICKED, LAZY SLAVE”.

* AND IN CONTRAST TO THE FIRST TWO SLAVES WHOSE WORK WAS “GOOD AND FAITHFUL” THIS MAN WAS WICKED AND LAZY.

** AND THE WORD WICKED IN THE ETHICAL SENSE MEANS EVIL AND BAD.  IT IMPLIES ACCORDING TO ONE SCHOLAR I STUDIED, SOMETHING THAT IS ETHICALLY REPREHENSIBLE.

*** TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, THE SERVANT HAD FAILED TO DO WHAT WAS ETHICALLY EXPECTED OF HIM, AND EVEN WORSE WAS HIS ATTEMPT TO EXCUSE HIMSELF BY BLASTING THE CHARACTER OF HIS MASTER.

**** FOR YOU SEE, BOTTOM LINE, THIS GUY WAS LAZY.

1.  AND THE LABEL LAZY INDICATES THAT THE MOTIVE FOR BUYING THE TALENT WAS NOT FEAR, BUT AN UNWILLINGNESS TO EXERT THE EFFORT REQUIRED FOR TRADE OR INVESTMENT OF THE TALENT.

* AND LET ME PAUSE AND SAY THAT WICKEDNESS AND LAZINESS ARE ALLIES, THEY GO TOGETHER AT TIMES.

** AND IT’S NOT ALWAYS THAT A WICKED PERSON IS LAZY, BUT CERTAINLY A LAZY PERSON IS WICKED.

*** THE REASON BEING THERE IS WARNING AFTER WARNING ABOUT SLOTHFULNESS AND LAZINESS AS SIN IN SCRIPTURE, BECAUSE IT EFFECTS MANY OTHER THINGS.

**** AND I’M GOING TO GIVE YOU A LIST OF VERSES THAT DEAL WITH THIS SIN AND SOME OF IT’S CONSEQUENCES ON THE SCREEN THAT YOU CAN WRITE DOWN AND LOOK UP ON YOUR OWN SOMETIME.

2.  PROVERBS 6:6-11; 10:5; 13:4-5; 15:19; 18:9; 19:15, 24; 20:4, 13; 21:25-26; 23:21; 24: 30-34; 26:13-16; ECCLESIASTES 10:18; II THESSALONIANS 3:10-12.

* AND AS SOME OF YOU ARE WRITING DOWN THESE VERSES, LET ME QUOTE A FEW TO YOU AND COMMENT ON THEM, PROVERBS 18:9, PROVERBS 20:13, PROVERBS 23:21, PROVERBS 26:14 AND II THESS. 3:10 (READ THEM).

** NOW FROM THESE VERSES WE CAN SEE THAT LAZINESS IS A WICKED SIN BECAUSE OF IT’S CONSEQUENCES.

*** AND AS WE GO BACK TO MATTHEW 25:26, WE SEE THAT THE SLAVE TALKED ABOUT HERE WAS WICKED AND LAZY.

**** BUT ALSO NOTICE THAT IN THE LAST PART OF V. 26 THAT WHEN THE MASTER SAID TO THE SLAVE, “YOU KNOW THAT I REAP WHERE I DID NOT SOW, AND GATHER WHERE I SCATTERED NO SEED” THAT HE WAS NOT SAYING THAT WAS TRUE.

3.  BUT IN ESSENCE USING THOSE WORDS TO CONDEMN HIM, USING THAT CLAIM AS A LOGICAL ARGUMENT TO SHOW THAT THE SLAVE WAS LYING.

* FOR YOU SEE IF THE SLAVE REALLY BELIEVED THAT HIS MASTER WAS THAT KIND OF GUY, THEN WHY DID HE BURY THE MONEY?

** THE SLAVE WAS VERBALLY HANGED WITH HIS OWN ROPE, YES HE DUG A HOLE FOR THE TALENT, BUT LITTLE DID HE REALIZE HE WS DIGGING A HOLE FOR HIMSELF, LOOK AT V. 27 PLEASE.

B.  READ V. 27.  NOW AGAIN THE POINT HERE IS, IF THIS SLAVE ACTUALLY BELIEVED THAT HIS MASTER POSSESSED SUCH A GREEDY AND DEMANDING NATURE, THEN WHY WAS THE MONEY BURIED INSTEAD OF PLACED IN THE BANK TO EARN INTEREST.

* I MEAN IF HE HAD REALLY FEARED THE MASTER SO MUCH, THE VERY LEAST HE COULD HAVE DONE WAS PUT THE MONEY IN THE BANK, GIVE IT TO THE MONEY EXCHANGERS OF THAT DAY, WHERE IT WOULD BE EARNING COMPOUND INTEREST.

** SO IF THERE HAD BEEN ANY TRUTH WHATSOEVER TO THE SLAVE’S COMPLAINT, IT STILL DID NOT EXPLAIN THE SLAVE’S BEHAVIOR.

*** AND THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER WAS THAT THE SLAVE HAS NEITHER FEAR NOR AFFECTION FOR HIS MASTER.  HE WAS TOTALLY INDIFFERENT.  HE DISREGARDED HIS DUTY, HE WASTED OPPORTUNITY AND HE REALLY DIDN’T KNOW HIS MASTER LIKE HE SAID HE DID.

**** FOR WHEN YOU TAKE AWAY HIS EXCUSES, HIS BLAMESHIFTING AND HIS ACCUSATIONS HE WAS WICKED AND LAZY.

- WHICH LEADS TO JUDGMENT, OUR THIRD AND LAST POINT TODAY, THE RECKONING.  LOOK AT V. 28 PLEASE.

III.  THE RECKONING, (READ V. 28)

A.  NOW A PART OF THE PUNISHMENT FOR THIS WICKED LAZY SLAVE WAS HIS TALENT WAS TAKEN FROM HIM AND GIVEN TO THE SLAVE WHO ORIGINALLY HAD FIVE TALENTS AND DOUBLED THEM.

* AND NOW THE WICKED LAZY SLAVE WOULD HAVE NONE, AND THE FIRST GOOD AND FAITHFUL SLAVE WOULD HAVE 11.

** FOR OBVIOUSLY THIS SLAVE WOULD MAKE BETTER USE OF THE TALENT FOR AS YOU GO BACK TO V. 15, THIS ONE HAD MORE ABILITY AND HAD SHOWN HIS FAITHFULNESS AND COMMITMENT TO HIS MASTER BY GAINING THE MOST TALENTS IN NUMBER FROM HIS ORIGINAL TALENTS.

*** AND I’LL EXPAND ON THIS IN V. 29.  LOOK AT V. 29 PLEASE.

B.  READ V. 29.  NOW A POSSIBLE DIVINE PRINCIPLE HERE IS THOSE WHO TRUST IN CHRIST WILL GAIN EVERYTHING AND THOSE WHO DO NOT TRUST IN HIM WILL ULTIMATELY LOSE EVERYTHING.

* THE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT RECEIVED MORE, AND THE WICKED AND LAZY SERVANT LOST EVERYTHING ENTRUSTED TO HIM.

** FOR THOSE WHO DEMONSTRATE BY THEIR SPIRITUAL FRUITFULNESS THAT THEY BELONG TO GOD WILL BE GIVEN GREATER OPPORTUNITY TO BEAR FRUIT FOR HIM.

*** BUT THOSE WHO DEMONSTRATE BY THEIR LACK OF FRUITFULNESS THAT THEY DO NOT BELONG TO GOD WILL LOSE THE BENEFITS THEY ONCE HAD OF COMMON GRACE AND BLESSING.

**** FOR BELOVED, THE THIRD SLAVE WAS NOT SIMPLY UNFAITHFUL BUT FAITHLESS.

1.  FOR A TRUE CHRISTIAN WHO WASTES HIS ABILITIES, SPIRITUAL GIFTS, AND OPPORTUNITIES WILL HAVE HIS WORKS BURNED UP, AND HE SHALL SUFFER LOSS OF REWARD, BUT HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED, YET SO AS THROUGH FIRE, I COR. 3:15 (READ IT).

* YET IN CONTRAST TO THE PERSON TALKED ABOUT IN I COR. 3:11-15, THE THIRD SLAVE HAS NO FAITH AT ALL AND THEREFORE DOES NOT KNOW GOD.

** ONE DAY THAT PERSON WILL BE SURPRISED BY THE WORDS “I NEVER KNEW YOU; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS”, MATTHEW 7:23.

*** AND THIS IS THE FINAL OUTCOME, THE FINAL JUDGMENT OR RECKONING FOR THIS WICKED LAZY SLAVE, LOOK AT V. 30 PLEASE.

C.  READ V. 30.  NOW THE FINAL JUDGMENT FOR THIS SLAVE WAS ETERNAL HELL.

* V. 30 PRESENTS A SEVERE AND CLIMACTIC END TO THE PARABLE.

** THE WICKED AND LAZY WAS CAST OUT, FLUNG OUT, THROWN OUT, SENT OUT FROM HIS MASTER’S PRESENCE, THE PLACE OF LIGHT, FOR GOD IS LIGHT, AND IN HIM IS NO DARKNESS AT ALL, INTO OUTER DARKNESS, THE DARKNESS FARTHEST FROM THE LIGHT.

*** DARKNESS IS USED AS AN IMAGE FOR HELL, AND OUTER DARKNESS IS A COMMON N.T. DESCRIPTION OF HELL.

**** AND LIGHT SIGNIFIES GOD’S PRESENCE AND DARKNESS SIGNIFIES HIS ABSENCE.  AND HELL NOT ONLY IS ETERNAL DARKNESS BUT ETERNAL TORMENT.

1.  AND IN THAT PLACE ACCORDING TO THE END OF V. 30, “THERE SHALL BE WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH”, SIGNIFYING THE UNRELIEVED ETERNAL AGONY OF BEING SEPARATED FROM GOD AND HIS GOODNESS IN A PLACE OF EVERLASTING FIRE.

* BELOVED, HELL IS A PLACE OF INCONSOLABLE GRIEF AND UNREMITTING TORMENT.  AND JESUS USED THIS PHRASE 3 OTHER TIMES BEFORE THIS IN MATTHEW 13:42 & 50 AND MATTHEW 24:51 AS A PLACE OF JUDGMENT, A FURNACE OF FIRE, READ MATTHEW 13:50.

** AND THIS PLACE IS THE FINAL END FOR ALL WHO DO NOT TRULY KNOW CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR.

AND AS I WRAP UP THINGS TODAY:  (1) LET ME SAY THAT THE LORD’S POINT IN THIS PARABLE IS TO COMMUNICATE READINESS FOR HIS RETURN BY DILIGENTLY WORKING.

* LIVING IN PREPAREDNESS FOR HIS COMING THROUGH FAITHFUL SERVICE.

** AND IF THERE IS NO WORK AND NO SERVICE, NO FRUIT, IT SHOWS THAT THAT PERSON IS LOST EVEN THOUGH THEY MAY THINK THEY ARE SAVED.

*** BELOVED, THIS SLAVE WAS WORTHLESS IN V. 30, MEANING OF NO USE, BECAUSE HE WAS NOT CHRIST’S. SAVING FAITH IS SERVING FAITH, JAMES 2:26, READ IT AND EPHESIANS 2:10.

**** FOLKS, TO DO NOTHING IS PROOF THAT WE DO NOT LOVE JESUS CHRIST, DO NOT BELONG TO HIM, AND HAVE NO SHARE IN HIS KINGDOM.  IT IS TO PERISH FOREVER.

(2)  AND WHAT A SHOCK AND A SURPRISE FOR MANY SOMEDAY.

* AND LET ME SAY FINALLY IN APPLICATION TO THE UNSAVED AND TO THE SAVED.  TO THE UNSAVED, THERE WILL BE NO BLAMESHIFTING ON THAT DAY.

** YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO JUSTIFY YOURSELF TO A HOLY ALL KNOWING GOD.  YOU MAY TRY TO ACCUSE HIM OF BEING TOO HARSH OR TOO DEMANDING NOW, BUT THAT STRATEGY WILL NOT WORK ON THE JUDGMENT DAY.

*** AND YOU MAY BLAME YOUR PARENTS NOW FOR YOUR PROBLEMS, OR YOUR ENVIRONMENT, OR NOT BEING TREATED RIGHT BY PEOPLE AROUND YOU.

**** BUT IT WILL NOT WORK.  “EVERY MOUTH WILL BE STOPPED AND ALL THE WORLD WILL BECOME GUILTY BEFORE GOD”, ACCORDING TO ROMANS 3:19.

(3)  AND LIKE THE WICKED SERVANT IN THIS TEXT, YOU WILL BE CONDEMNED BY YOUR OWN WORDS.

* AND THEN BELIEVER, LET’S REMEMBER THAT WHEN WE EXCUSE OUR SIN AND BLAMESHIFT OUR SIN AGAINST OTHERS, WE ARE STILL ACCOUNTABLE.

** THERE IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR OUR SIN.  I COR. 10:13 SAYS:  (READ IT AND ROMANS 14:12, COL. 3:25)

*** AMD BROTHERS AND SISTERS, REALIZE THAT WE CAN’T BLAME OUR SPOUSES, OUR PARENTS, OUR SIBLINGS, OUR TEACHERS, OUR ENVIRONMENT, OR THE DEVIL FOR WRONG SINFUL BEHAVIOR.

**** WE ARE RESPONSIBLE BEFORE A HOLY GOD FOR OUR ACTIONS REGARDLESS OF WHAT HAS BEEN DONE TO US, AS WICKED AND HEARTBREAKING AS IT MAY BE.

(4)  WE HAVE THE POWER TO OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD, WE CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST THAT HE WANTS US TO DO, FOR HE STRENGTHENS US.

* LET’S NOT BLAMESHIFT BUT TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY AND CONFESS AND FORSAKE OUR SIN, PROV. 28:13.

** AND I REMIND YOU WE ARE NOT VICTIMS, BUT VICTORS IN CHRIST.  AND MAY WE YIELD TO THE SPIRIT, BE SANCTIFIED IN THE TRUTH, USE THE RESOURCE OF THE POWER OF PRAYER AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH.

*** MAY WE ALLOW THE LOVE OF OUR MASTER TO COMPEL US TO CONFESSION OF SIN AND BLAME SHIFTING, TO LOVE HIM MORE BY OUR OBEDIENCE, WATCHING, WAITING AND WORKING UNTIL HE COMES.  (LET’S PRAY)