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Matthew 25:14-30 reveals that we must be faithful in service in the Lord’s gifts to make a profit for Him so that we may enter into the joy of the Lord in the coming kingdom:
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The Lord likened Himself to a man going abroad (into the heavens) and delivering to his slaves his possessions; his possessions signifies the church (Eph. 1:18) with all the believers, who constitute God’s household (Matt. 24:45).
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To one of his slaves the master gave five talents, to another two, and to another one — to each according to his own ability — 25:15:
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Talents signify spiritual gifts (spiritual skills and abilities) — Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:4; 1 Pet. 4:10; 2 Tim. 1:6.
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All the members of the Body of Christ are gifted, and all are gifts — Rom. 12:6a; Eph. 4:7-8.
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Own ability signifies our natural ability, which is constituted of God’s creation and our learning — Matt. 25:15; cf. Acts 7:22:
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The natural strength and ability become useful in resurrection for our service to the Lord in order to make us both pillars and pillar builders for the fulfilling of God’s eternal purpose — 1 Cor. 15:10, 58; cf. 2 Cor. 6:1-2; 1 Kings 7:13-22 with footnotes; Eph. 4:8, 11-12, 16; Gal. 2:9; Rev. 3:12.
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Moses, Peter, and Paul’s natural ability passed through the cross and came up in resurrection to be used by the Lord for the building up of His Body — Acts 7:22-36; Luke 22:32-33; 1 Pet. 5:5-6; Acts 22:3; Phil. 3:5-8, 14; Gal. 2:20; 2 Cor. 4:10-12; 2 Tim. 2:11.
Morning Nourishment
Matt. 25:14-15 For the kingdom of the heavens is just like a man about to go abroad, who called his own slaves and delivered to them his possessions. To one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability. And he went abroad.In Matthew 25:14-30…his possessions signifies the church (Eph. 1:18) with all the believers, who are His household (Matt. 24:45)….Talents in this parable signifies spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:4; 1 Pet. 4:10; 2 Tim. 1:6)….The New Testament... speaks of the church of God (Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 1:2), the church of Christ (Rom. 16:16), and the church of the saints (1 Cor. 14:33). The church is the possession of all the saints, the believers.
You cannot say that you are not gifted…. For this reason I have always encouraged you to function….This is not my teaching; this is the Bible’s teaching (1 Cor. 14:24, 26, 29-32)….Do not just be stuck to your chair….You have to jump up to say something. For you to speak is to minister food to the Lord’s household at the proper time.
All the sinners [also] belong to the Lord; they are all the Lord’s possessions….The Lord has surely delivered to us the church with all the believers and all the sinners that we may take care of them for His sake. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 5, “The Way to Practice the Lord’s Present Move,” pp. 515-517)
Today’s Reading
Matthew 25:14 says that [a] man delivered his possessions to his slaves. The slaves signify believers in the aspect of service (1 Cor. 7:22-23; 2 Pet. 1:1; James 1:1; Rom. 1:1)….I believe that the possessions delivered to the slaves include the gospel, the truth, the believers, and the church…. If you do not care for these things, you will not have any talents.We should not wait in an indifferent way for the Lord to give us something. No, we must diligently seek the gospel and the truth. We should be eager to know the fall of man, redemption, regeneration, salvation, the cleansing of the blood, and the washing of the Spirit. All these are aspects of the full gospel…. We need to [also know and] experience the truth concerning the church, God’s eternal purpose, and God’s economy. Eventually, these truths will become our talent. Then we shall be able to minister them to others. In this way, the Lord’s possessions become our talent. Furthermore, we need to pray, “Lord, I want to take care of the saints and bear their burdens. My heart is for them.” If we have a heart for the saints and are burdened for them, they, the Lord’s possession, will be given to us as a talent.
Do not drop any burden that the Lord has given you….The Lord has a vast work in His recovery. For this work, He needs thousands of young brothers and sisters to be raised up to bear the responsibility.
The talent is not something of your natural birth; rather, it is altogether related to your burden. If you take up a burden, you will receive a talent.
Although the talents are not our ability, but the Lord’s possession, they are delivered to us according to our ability. Our ability is constituted by God’s creation and our learning. The capacity of our ability is based upon the willingness of our heart. If we do not have any willingness in our heart, then we shall not have the capacity to receive the talent. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 759, 761-762)
Moses learned to serve God according to His leading and to trust in Him (Acts 7:34-36; Heb. 11:28)…. Although he was very capable, he did not use his natural ability. His natural ability was dealt with, so it became an ability in resurrection…. If our ability is not dealt with, it is separate from God’s move. But after being dealt with by the cross, our ability becomes one with God’s move. Actually, God was wrought into Moses’ ability. His ability eventually was full of God. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “Basic Lessons on Service,” pp. 143-144)
Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msgs. 83-85; CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “Basic Lessons on Service,” lsn. 20