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The master says to the evil and slothful slave that he should have deposited the master’s money with the money changers (the bankers), and when he came, he would have recovered what was his with interest — v. 27:
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In a sense, we may say that the money changers (the bankers) are all the new ones, young ones, and backsliding ones; the best way for us to use our talent is to take care of others, to become interested in others and concerned for them in order to dispense Christ into them.
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As we spend time with the Lord and open to Him regarding whom we should take care of, He will burden us; as we contact and have fellowship with others by being one with the Lord in cherishing them with His presence and nourishing them with His riches, we will spontaneously use our talent.
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Then when the Lord comes, He will recover what was His with interest as the profitable result that we gain for the Lord’s work by using His gift.
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When the Lord comes back, He will settle accounts with us; this signifies the Lord’s judging at His judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:10) in the air (within His parousia) where the believers’ living, conduct, and work will be judged for reward or punishment (1 Cor. 4:5; Matt. 16:27; 25:19; 1 Cor. 3:13-15).
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The Lord’s reward is not related to the size and quantity of our work but to our faithfulness in using His gift to the fullest extent; Christ Himself will be our crown of life, crown of righteousness, and crown of glory as a reward to us for our enjoyment in the coming kingdom — Matt. 25:23; Rev. 2:10; James 1:12; 2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Pet. 5:4.
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In the coming kingdom the Lord’s gift will be taken away from the slothful believers, and they will be cast into outer darkness, but the faithful believers’ gift will be increased, and they will enter into the joy of their master (Matt. 25:21, 23); to participate in the Lord’s joy is the greatest reward, better than glory and position, in the kingdom — vv. 21, 30.
Morning Nourishment
Matt. 25:26-27 And his master answered and said to him, Evil and slothful slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not winnow. Therefore you should have deposited my money with the money changers; and when I came, I would have recovered what is mine with interest.If you have received one talent, you need to use it. Before you come to a meeting, you need to pray, “Lord, I believe that I have a talent. I don’t want to bury my talent by getting involved with earthly things. Rather, I would like to use it to take care of others.” Show some love to those whose heart has grown cold. Go to see them or invite them to your home. As you spend time with the Lord and open to Him regarding whom you should take care of, He will burden you. As you contact others and have fellowship with them, you will spontaneously use your talent…. In this way, the one talent will become two, the two talents will become four, and the five talents will become ten. The talents, God’s possessions which have been committed to us, will be multiplied. If we are all faithful to practice this, the Lord’s recovery will truly multiply.
Depositing the money with the money changers [Matt. 25:27], the bankers, signifies using the Lord’s gift to lead others to salvation and to minister His riches to them. Interest signifies the profitable result we gain for the Lord’s work by using His gift. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 769-770)
Today’s Reading
In a sense, we may say that the bankers are all the new ones, weak ones, young ones, and backsliding ones. We need to deposit the Lord’s possession with these bankers. The bankers are not the leading brothers, but the weaker ones, those who have problems. Suppose a certain brother is dissenting and speaks negatively about the church…. How good it would be for such a dissenting brother to be contacted, not by one of the elders, but by another brother in the church who loves him and cares for him! If a dissenting brother is contacted by a number of others, he will eventually come back to the church and praise the Lord for the church.If you use your talent in this way to take care of others, you will not only multiply the talent, but you yourself will be in the third heaven and will quickly grow and be transformed. You will be renewed in the spirit of the mind, and among us there will be a marvelous testimony of the Body to the whole universe. The universe will see that we are not a religious gathering, but a living Body. For this, we all need to use our talent, the Lord’s possession. The result will be multiplication….The more we take care of the saints and the churches, the richer we become.
Matthew 25:28 says, “Take away therefore the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.” Taking away the talent signifies that the Lord’s gift will be taken away from slothful believers in the coming kingdom. The giving of the talent to the one with ten talents signifies that the gift of faithful believers will be increased. To everyone who gains profit in the church age, more gift shall be given in the coming kingdom age; but from him who has not gained profit in the church age, even the gift he has shall be taken away from him in the coming kingdom age [v. 29].
Verse 30 says, “And cast out the useless slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.” This word, the same as in 24:51, indicates that 25:14-30 is a completion to 24:45-51 concerning faithfulness for the Lord’s work.
In our service we need to be faithful….Our faithfulness in service is related to the reward. If we are... faithful, …we shall be rewarded when the Lord comes back... [which] is to participate in the authority in the coming kingdom age. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 770-771, 773-774)
Further Reading: Life-study of Matthew, msg. 66; CWWL, 1972, vol. 2, “The Kingdom,” ch. 38