Matthew 25:1-30 (#89.2024.03)

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:02

Hi. If you're looking for greater hope, assurance, and confidence through the shifting sands of life, then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the bible to discover rock solid truth for life and living from the God of the bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. Hi, and welcome to today's episode. As always, for a deeper experience, you can go to the show notes and download the blank insight sheet. Fill in the blanks along with the group. Depending on how you're listening to this, there will be a link to the episode website at beholdingbibletruth.com, and a sheet with the answers is included as well. While we're going through the, book of Matthew, Jesus is telling us be on the alert that there's tribulation coming, and he's coming again.

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:56

And just about when you'd say, okay. I get it. I get it. He's telling us 2 more parables. Right? And in there, he's reminding us this as, important on his agenda, his now agenda and his future agenda, and he's reminding us to make it important on our agenda as well. So stand with me if you will. We're gonna read the first parable together. At the top, Matthew 25:1 through 13.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:29

Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 5 of them were foolish, and 5 were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil and flasks along with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight, there was a shout. Behold, the bridegroom, come out to meet him. And all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:12

But the prudent answered, no. There will not be enough for us and you too. Go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves. And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. Later, the other virgins also came saying, lord, lord, open up for us. The answer, truly I say to you, I do not know you. Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour. The word of the Lord.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:50

Thanks be to God. So, again, parables are parables. They are filled with fruits, but, you know, it's a reminder that every detail is not in there in order to prove something or to show something. They are indeed parables with truths inside of them. So people have gotten, wrapped up and twisted telling us that the kingdom of heaven will be comparable. It will be light. Right? So he's giving us some kind of sense of this. It's he's giving us this picture of 10 bridemaids.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:37

So, essentially, he's telling us, be alert because the bridemay the bride bride bridemaids Brides bride Bridesmaids? No. Bridesmaids. Bridesmaids. I should say put together together because then I tend to think pro or both on bridesmaids. Bridemaids, were to light the way. That was their fundamental purpose. They were to light the way. So a Jewish wedding had 3 stages.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:11

First of all, the engagement. This was the formal agreement made by the fathers. They made the arrangements for the marriage of their daughters. The betrothal, which was the ceremony where the mutual promises were made, if you will, the covenants were made, and then the marriage itself. And that's where the bride groom came for the bride unexpectedly. Sometimes, it was a year later. Not really known when, but the bridegroom would show up, and the bride needed to be ready. But this is about the bridemaids.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:51

So the bridemaids went out. They all went out, and they had what was probably it's not really clear, but what would probably be torches, like rags wrapped around, you know, a stick. They were dipped in oil, and they were lit. So they had to bring extra because I tend to think of my camping. You know, when I think of this, I think of my camping lantern. You know, my Coleman lantern, and it was said oil and refill the lantern, and it could have been something like that. But most likely, for most, it was just a rag dipped in oil. So it would burn for a time with the oil that you had on it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:05:31

But at some point in time, you had to trim it or put it in order is literally what the Greek means when it says trim. In other words, right, you have to re soak it and relight it again. So that was their job. So they if this would be if you can put a star, this would be between the patrol and the marriage. Right? This would be right before the marriage where the bridegroom was coming. So all of the bridesmaids went out with oil soaked rags, and it says some were foolish because they were unprepared. They were not prepared, and some were prudent, and they were fully prepared fully prepared. So, again, you would not know for certain how long it was going to be.

Scott Keffer [: 00:06:20

It was some period of time when they were getting ready for the for the, bridegroom to come out. So they had to sit out there ready with their with their with their lamps, if you will, their torches. And when he showed up, then they had to light the way. So they literally were in procession with the bridegroom. So the foolish took their their torches, but they brought no oil. And the prudent took their torches, and they brought oil together. So a couple of things when you think about that, the foolish, where was the oil? Could have been back at home, in which case, I'm not bringing all of that oil. Could have been, I have no oil.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:07

Could have been who knows? Right? But they didn't bring oil with them. And the the context says they were foolish. In other words, foolish in the sense of, they knew what the responsibility was, and they either didn't take it seriously. They certainly didn't come prepared. And so we get this picture that all the bridesmaid bridesmaids are together. Some are foolish, some are not. And so I couldn't help but thinking about the the picture of the wheat and tares where Jesus says leave them together because at the end of the at the end of the time, he will come back and harvest. He will come back and separate them.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:48

Right? So the bridemaids were together and, therefore, some were and some weren't. Some were foolish and some weren't. And it seems to say that it well, it says it was a long time. It was a long time. While the bridegroom was delaying, they got drowsy, and they all nodded off. They're snoozing. Doesn't say anything wrong with that. They were all there, but it seemingly was a long time, longer than expected.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:24

It took long. Then the shout came. Right? The shout came, and, it's a reminder that the lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout. The lord of heaven will the lord will descend from heaven with a shout. And then I was thinking about that. So what was the picture? So the picture was those who were prepared. It says they they went into the wedding feast, then the door was shut. And the ones who were unprepared came to the others and said, can we buy your stuff now? Right? The bridegroom is here.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:02

Hey. Can we have some of yours? And, again, the picture is the reminder that once he comes, you can't buy it after he comes. When the bridegroom comes, it's too late. It is indeed too late. The door will be shut, and he says, I do not know you. I do not know you. And a great reminder for me in this in as much as it is appointed for men to die once and then comes judgment no matter what. We'd like to think, no matter what some would say, there's no opportunity after death.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:45

Right? Which means to me, there's no reason to pray for the dead. You need to pray for the dead's family. You need to pray for those who are still around, but no reason to pray for the dead for as much as it appointed for men to die once and then comes judgment. So when when And he reminds us in that picture before the wheat and tears, many will say to me on that day, lord, lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not cast out demons? Did we not perform miracles in your name? And and he says, then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. This is a great reminder that is it is about not you say when you think about this because we tend to say, when I accepted the Lord, when I did this. Right? And scripture reminds us, no. It's when he does it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:51

I know the Lord. No. As it says in Galatians, it's not important that you know the Lord. What's important is that he knows you. And then, of course, that we know who he is after that, but the idea of salvation is that he knows you. So they said, oh, yeah. I know the Lord. I'm doing stuff for him.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:07

And he says, no. I never knew you. That's really important. It's not as if I knew you and now I don't. It's I never knew you. So at the end of the day, salvation is the fact that the lord that you are the lord's. You are his. He found you out.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:25

And he says, I never knew you. And he says to them, the door is shut. I do not know you. Is that about the scariest thought? Yeah. The the door is shut. And he says, I never knew you. Or he says, I do not know you. Knock, knock, knock.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:40

Can we come in? After the fact, it it is too late. It is indeed too late. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. And, of course, that's what we pray, and that's why we light the way. That's why we pray, and that's why we light the way, don't we, for others to say the bridegroom is coming. Right? That's why the bridesmaid the bridesmaids are out there. What are you doing out there? I'm out here with my oil. I'm taking my oil, and I'm I'm lighting the way for the for the bridegroom.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:14

He's coming. Oh, so we like the way. That make sense? Because if you don't know him, when he comes, you can't get in. And that's a scary thought, isn't it? So that's why we share the gospel. I'm sort of talking with somebody who said, you know, I mean, the idea that the Lord would, send people to hell for eternal punishment doesn't make sense to me, and I said, k. I get that. So I said, so if that's the case, why would we share the gospel? Why does it say bring the gospel to the ends of the earth? If everyone's saved, there is no hell, then there's no gospel to to to be shared. Right? Then all will be saved, and all will not be saved.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:00

And that's why we light the way or to be the light. So the last thing I thought is I was thinking about these bridemaids that the prudent had oil, and they spent it. They spent it or they invested it. So you can cross through spent and put invest. They invested their oil. What did they invested in? Waiting for the bridegroom, lighting the way. Right? So they invested in and waiting for the bridegroom. There's precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:48

Right? So that's the picture. They had oil at home. They had to take up their oil and use it. They invested it to light the way for the bridegroom to be a part of the wedding, if you will. Right? The foolish, it says a foolish man swallows it up. In other words, the foolish spent it on themselves. The foolish spent it on themselves, which means either the bridesmaids had it and weren't gonna use it. I'm not using it for that, keeping it for me, or they didn't have it because they already ate it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:29

Used it up, if you will. Right? That make sense? So we see, be alert to light the way, and we see this idea of, am I a part of it? Right? And and and and am I engaging in this royal event, if you will. Right? The the wedding. So he tells the story of 10 bridesmaids. Then he's gonna tell another story, which presumably each one of these stories takes a truth and just turns it. Right? He's giving us kinda like a diamond would do. He's giving us different facets of the story so we can see something else. Does that make sense? Yes.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:11

So he's giving us this story, then that story. We got the story of the the fig tree, then we have this story, then we have the servants. Right? So he says, for it is just like a man, about to go on a journey. He calls his own slaves, and he entrust his possessions to them. To 1, he gave 5 talents to another 2, to another one, each according to his own ability, and he went on his journey. Immediately, the one who had received the 5 talents went and traded with them. He gained 5 more talents. In the same manner, the one who had received the 2 talents gained 2 more.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:48

But he received the 1 talent, went away, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money. After a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. The one who'd received the 5 talents came up and brought 5 more talents saying, master, you entrusted 5 talents to me. See, a gain 5 more. A gain 5 more. And, his master said to him, well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:24

Enter into the joy of your master. Also, the one who had received the 2 talents came up and said, master, you entrusted 2 talents to me. See, I've gained 2 more talents. His master said to him, well done, good and faithful slave. You are faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master. And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, master, I knew you

Audience [: 00:16:55

to be a hard man, reaping where

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:58

you did not sow, gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid. I went away and hid your tail on the ground. See, you have what is yours. In other words, here it is. Here it is. But his master answered and said to him, you wicked lazy slave. You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:21

Then you ought to put my money in the bank. And on my arrival, I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore, take away the talent from him and give it to the one who has the 10 talents. For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will he and he will have an abundance. But from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Well, I said to this guy, weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:00

Well, not just the picture. Yeah. But not a good picture, is it? Weeping and gnashing of teeth. So in the first, we see these bridemaids who are to be alert to light the way. Here, we see these who double the master's money, double the master's talents, double the master's talents. So the rule of 72 helped us figure out how long will it take to double. Right? Because the talent is money. How long will it take to double? So the rule of 72 says you can divide it by whatever interest you earn, and you can figure out the number of years.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:46

So if you put it in the bank today at 2%, 3% interest, let's say 2%. 72 divided by 2 is how much? 36. If you're in 2% interest, it'll take you 36 years to double your money. 36 years. Right? If you earn 6% on your money, 72 divided by 6 is how much? 12. It will take you 12 years to double your money. The rule of 72. You have 2¢.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:18

So the picture, of course, is to double your money takes time. And, of course, that's earning consistent interest on that over that time. It's the same interest compounded over that period of time. It takes time. If you want to shorten the time, you have to risk more in order to do that. Right? Everybody get that. Right? So here's the picture. That does they doubled the the master's talent, rule of 72.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:47

So the slaves were entrusted with different talents. Different talents at different amounts. Now, a a talent was a sum of money equal to 6,000 denarii, which 6 denari was a a a day's wage. So each one, one talent was 20 years of work. 20 years of work. So one got 20 years of work. 1 got 40 years of work. 1 got a 100 years of work, literally equivalent.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:28

So start to do the math. Take your salary, multiply by a 100. Make your salary right? It's by 20 and then by fives. So you can see. So each one was given a different number of talents according to, underline this, ability according to ability. So the master understood that there would be some who could take the 5 talents and put it to work, some who could take 2 talents and put it to work, and some who could only take one talent. They had a different set of abilities, and he gave them the freedom to employ it as they saw fit. That should be deploy it as they saw fit.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:17

Deploy as they saw fit. So he starts with the 5 talent slave. The 5 talent slave, it says, underline immediately Immediately. He didn't waste a minute. He went right at it, suggesting a sense of priority. Right? And he figured the importance of it. And it says in the same way, the one with 2 talents in the same way. So immediately, the ones with 5 and 2 talents went and they traded.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:54

So it literally means put to work for profit. People apply the application more broadly to all talents, but this has literally took money and put it to work for profit. Right? Put it to work for profit, and they doubled the master's talent. They didn't earn some, but they doubled, which would suggest, of course, time and the fact that they put it to work, put it at risk, right, went out and were, were able to deploy it in a smart and intelligent way. And, again, no different than did everything they deployed it in work. No. It didn't. Right? It wouldn't be any different today.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:45

If you if you had 20 years or 40 years or a 100 years of your money, you can't put it to work and everything's gonna work. So that means you have to be savvy. You have to be, attuned to what's going on. Right? You need to be you need to get counsel. I mean, think about all of that that goes into that. You're going to double, right, double your money. Essentially, they went and doubled their money. The one with one talent buried the talent.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:16

So it says he went away, literally strolled away, buried it, and left it there, which means he went back to life as normal. He went back to life. I'll put the thing in the ground. I've got other stuff to do. So he put it in the ground, and he said, I'll just go back to my regular stuff. What's the sense? Will he come back if comes back? I mean, I don't know all of that, but if if so, I got it buried in the back. Right? And when he came back, you know, I I I suspect it probably wasn't it was still probably covered with dirt. Right? You just gave it back to him.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:03

He said, here's your here it is. Right? Here it is. Too busy to do anything. And it says after a long time after a long time, the master returns to settle. He's settling up. I mean, red Ben Hur, same idea, goes away. Here's my stuff. I'm coming back.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:31

Right? I'm coming back. Right? He he he he entrust it to someone who's trustworthy, who's gonna look after it as if as if it's their own. He comes back to settle accounts, and each one is judged individually. You entrust it, see, I gained. In other words, when the master, he doesn't bring them back together, he brings them back individually. It's a great picture, that the master will deal with each of us individually. He doesn't deal with the us. He deals with the me.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:11

So he meets with each one individually. The master's commendation, well done. It's commendation. Good and faithful. Good and faithful slave. Spurgeon said, it's not well done, thou good and brilliant servant. He says, for perhaps the man never shown at all in the eyes of those who appreciate glare and glitter. In other words, right, he didn't he didn't use it to buy Bing for himself, if you will.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:43

Right? And he says, and it's not well done, thou great distinguished servant, for it's possible that he was never known beyond his native village. That a great reminder? It's good and faithful. Right? Whether so the picture is the the from the master standpoint, you were faithful, but the many things you did, nobody saw. Did we get that? That the many things that were done to be faithful for the master are not seen by folks. Not well done, now well known servant or well accoladed servant or, you know, well celebrated servant. The master's commendation is well done, good and faithful slave. Then he talks about the master's reward. The master's reward.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:42

Interesting, he says. I will put you in charge of more. Some would say, well, wait a minute. I don't wanna be in charge of more. Well, here's the thing. God is a worker. Right? And his work is eternal. We're not gonna lay on clouds, right, strolling harps forever.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:07

God has work for us to do. He says, I will put you in charge of more things. We have eternal work to do. What would that be like? I don't know. But it will be rewarding work because god is a worker. He worked for 7 day he worked for 6 days, and he rested. God is a worker. We we need not, issue work.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:33

Work is good. That's who he is. Right? We're not made for rest. We're made for work. He says, I will put you in charge of more things. He entrusted them with more authority, and lastly, he shared his joy. That's wild. The master shared his joy.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:57

So we see the master's commendation, the master's reward, and lastly, the master's con condemnation. Condemnation. So what was the deal? He was wicked, and he was lazy. He was wicked and lazy, which means wicked means he had no desire to be, a steward. He was about himself only, and, he was lazy to boot. He was wicked and lazy. So he said, I knew you to be if you think about that, he says, I I I knew you to

Audience [: 00:28:45

be a hard man reaping.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:47

So these are these are accusations.

Audience [: 00:28:50

I knew you to be hard in reaping where

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:52

you did not sow, gathering where you scattered no seed. And the master said, if you knew that to be the case, you should have put my money in the bank. Right? If you really did if you really did believe that. Right? He says he says the master, the 3rd knew not the master's character. And at the end of it, he had no time. I have no time for that. I got my own stuff I'm doing. And he says the the condemnation is they'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:24

Scary again. Scary again because it's just not that the door is shut, but there there's an eternal consequence along with his condemnation is the eternal consequence of that. Scary again. Right? Scary again. So what are the principles for us? What are the principles for us? One of the songs that makes my teeth grind is, what's the line? He didn't want heaven without us. He didn't want heaven without us. Like, god is up there, and he missed us. This is a an utter I don't know what to say.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:15

I'll lose my salvage. Sometimes. If I could. Like, it's just it it's the way we have twist is this thing that is God at the center. He is the the origin, and he's the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega, the a and the zed, if you will. He is the all, and we've made it about us. We've made it about us. And so it's a reminder here, this is not our story.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:51

This is not our story. In the one, they were bridesmaids in someone else's wedding. Here, they were slaves with someone else's money. This is not our story. As much as we love debate, this is all about us. Amen. He wants the best for you. He thinks you're really valuable.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:17

I mean, if you and and it's really woven into the the music of our day, but it that music of a day comes from the mindset of our day. Kai just loves me. And he does love me, but it's not because I'm so important. No. He loved the world that he gave his son. Yes. But we we take that to mean this is all about me. And so it's a reminder, this is not our story, and we are not the main character.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:46

If we were so valid so so if we had earned his right. Yeah. That that would be right. If we had earned it. Right? And it's just a reminder for me because I wake up in the morning, and it's all about me. And I don't need any help. I don't I don't sit there and and and, you know, review 7 things to remind myself, this is all about me. I just wake up.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:09

It's all about me. Right? I wake up with the Copernicus problem. I must be the center of the universe. Right? The same thing you go through when your kids, when they become teenagers. You're not the center of the world. And then we grew up and we're the same way. Right? I must be the center of the world. The story must be all about me in character.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:31

I am included in God's story, but he is he is the hero. He is the main character. And it's a reminder, right, that that's really a good thing because there's a greater story and a higher purpose. We're a part of a greater story that spans all of time, and there's a higher purpose. If it were all about me and my story, how little would it be? Think about it. How it'd just be a little teeny story in the breadth of time. It says that there will be 1,000,000, millions. It says myriads of myriads and 1,000 upon 1,000, which means that you look in every direction, bowing before the throne, and you won't be able to see an end to that.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:25

And that's because he's the center. He will be the center of that that that story, and he is the center, the lamb who was slain. Worthy is the lamb who was slain. So there's a greater story and a higher purpose. That should give you great confidence that he has invited you and me and us into that story. And we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, and they're not even the key part of the story. He is and his son is. Right? And his son is.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:02

So it's a great reminder. And that the heavenly father and Christ our lord own it all. They own it all. The world is mine and all it contains. Right? I get I get some of it entrusted to me, some for our, you know, enjoyment and the gifts that God gives us, and some to be, be deployed. Right? So he owns it all. Dang. Hang.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:36

Dang. Thought it was mine. It reminds me, remember the lord your god, it says in Deuteronomy 8, for it is he who is giving you power to gain wealth. He who is giving you power to gain. Both riches and honor come from him, it says. Right? King David, when he when he ended. Both riches and honor come from the end and thou dost rule overall, and in thy hand is power and might, and it lies in thy hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. God gives you power, right, and position and and and wealth.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:11

He's given it, but he reminds you. Right? It's mine. And the sense is, you know, when you, use it, I don't need it. God doesn't need your money. He said, would would I call you if I were hungry, would I call you? I own the cattle on a 1000 hills. Like, the whole lord needs my money, but the lord doesn't need your money. He says, I wouldn't I wouldn't ring you up if I were hungry. Right? So the heavenly father of Christ, our lord, own it all.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:43

The next is this stunning sense that that in that first story, the the the story is the story of the bridemaids who were in someone else's wedding. But the reality is that is not anywhere near the reality of what we have in Christ because the reality is he's the bridegroom, and we're the bride, and we're the church is the bride. I know that. I can answer that question. Right? Who's the bride of Christ? The church is the bride of Christ. So on a multiple choice question, 100%. I got that. 100%.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:37

But stop and think that the god of the universe would send his son. How about just save us and say, be here? No. I'm not gonna save you. You're the bride of my son. What? Why would he do that? The holy, righteous, immovable, unshakable, unchangeable ones, the rock of all rocks. He who was and who is and who is to come would bring us into an intimate relationship where he would be the bridegroom and we would be the bride? In the sense that the at the end of time, they're gonna say hallelujah. For the lord our god reigns, and the marriage of the lamb has come. Marriage of the lamb has come, and we'll be a part of that.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:29

And his bride has made herself ready. So the picture is, right, if the bridemaids were snoozing, I'm guessing the bride wasn't. Right? In that picture, the bride was expectant and ready. You'll be ready. Right? You'll be ready. That's the picture. Right? Be ready. Be ready.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:50

Be ready. Why? Because you're the bride, not the bridemaids. Next, he says, to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Just like talents were given out differently, gifts and blessings and favor are given out different. Be grateful for your talents. No talent envy. No talent envy. It's our nature to have plot envy and talent envy.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:20

I wish I had those 2 talents. Right? I wish I had 5. I wish I had 1. I wish I had wish I had less. I had right. You want some might want less. Too much responsibility. To whom much is given, much is expected.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:35

Oh, dang. It's likely for those in here that you're all 5. Likely, you're all 5. Just because I know most of you, that would mean god is giving you 5 talents, so put it to work. Put it to work. So 5 calendar. No talent envy. So it says immediately, they did what? They traded.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:02

Immediately, they traded after a long time. So I thought of 3 things. Urgency, immediately. Right? There's that sense of get to work. I mean, urgency, priority, and longevity. This is what we talked about last time. Be ready in the moment, but operate as if it's 30 years or 20 years. Right? It's that both.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:28

It's urgency, priority, and longevity. Well, gee, that's hard. But they invested for the long term, but they were urgent about it. So so I would say that, expanding on what that money does matter. This is about money. It is about money. It's about time. It's about energy.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:55

It is about what the resources that god has given us. It's about faithfully deploy. Faithfully deploy. Faithfully deploy. What do I deploy? What has he given me? My life. Right? Money, time, energy. That's what I have. I invest.

Scott Keffer [: 00:40:18

You don't save time. You don't manage time. You invest time. You don't save my you you the the the idea and we're investing it to multiply it. We are faithfully deploying whatever god has given me, money, time, and energy, faithfully deploying it. So if you were to rate yourself before he shows up on a scale of 1 to 10, faithfully deploying what he's given you. Right? Not worrying about somebody else's talent, somebody's else's money, time, and energy. But my money, time, and energy, the one the man what he's given me, let's give it 1 to 10.

Scott Keffer [: 00:40:59

How would you rate yourself? I hate that Keffer does this. Better now than when he comes. Right? Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and cultivate. What is cultivate? Seed, weed, profit, right, and and and and and water. And, I mean, that whole idea is he's given us a basket, right, of money, time, and energy, the talents to faithfully deploy the money, time, and energy to multiply it. The whole idea is to multiply it. Because that picture is, right, that it's a long time.

Scott Keffer [: 00:42:02

So I'm in I I'm I'm investing my money, time, and energy with the idea that it may be a long time. And when he comes, I wanna be able to give a good report. I faithfully deployed what you gave me. Because the picture let's see the flip side other than, oh, this isn't to beat me with a board. This is really to say, as time goes on, you will tend to lose your edge. Am I right? As time goes on, you'll tend to lose your edge, and that you will, you know, tend to slack off. It's just our nature. As we get older, we seek comfort.

Scott Keffer [: 00:42:40

Right? As we get older, the you know, we lose our edge. That's the that's the picture. As time goes on, right, there's that tendency to snooze. That's just the picture. Just okay. Just remind yourself. Okay. We're here to faithfully deploy.

Scott Keffer [: 00:42:55

They're his. Right? He says deploy your oil, deploy your talents, invest your oil and your talents, however you wanna look at that. All the assets that God has given you to multiply. And, also, fully employ we deploy our oil and our talents, and we employ our spiritual gifts. He says, each one has each one as in everyone has received a special gift. Put it to work. Put it to work. We want a fully fully engaged.

Scott Keffer [: 00:43:40

Right? No unemployment in god's gift economy. Right? There's no unemployed, fully employed. And he says it as good stewards of of the manifold grace, the many layers of grace for god. So how are you doing fully employing god's spiritual gift? How are you doing fully employing god's spiritual gift? This is one of those that's more fun to rate someone else, you know, than yourself. And so however you do it, just think about it. How do I think about that? You know? Is that on an annual basis, on a quarterly basis, on a monthly basis, some basis where we just ask ourselves, how am I doing? Faithfully deploying the money, time, and energy God has, entrusted me with? How am I doing fully, how am I doing faithfully deploying the money, time, and energy and fully employing the spiritual gift? Makes sense? Because they're woven, of course, woven together in how I apply that. And then he reminds us, remember, right, the time will feel long. You will tend to wanna snooze.

Scott Keffer [: 00:45:26

Right? So he reminds us there are unimaginable rewards. Underline, they're unimaginable rewards. Why? Because you start thinking, why am I doing this? Right? Why am I doing this? We will want to think, I'm just gonna stick it over here, and I'll put it over here in the in the ground, and I'll do my other stuff because it ain't really coming back. He's saying that's the that is man's nature. We'll start to do that over time. So he reminds us that the the the there is greater work for us. There is an abundance. He said to to those whom have, more will be given, you'll have an abundance, and there's a share of his joy.

Scott Keffer [: 00:46:10

There's a share of his joy. We feel like they'd like that more joy. How about unending joy? How about eternal joy? Right? So he says, in the meantime, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain. Not in vain. You'll tend to feel like after a while, don't you think? Why am I doing this? I could just bury it in the backyard and do the stuff I wanna do. And he says, in thy presence is fullness of joy, and at thy right hand are pleasures forever. He said there is unimaginable rewards for those who are faithful. There are unimaginable rewards for the faithful.

Scott Keffer [: 00:47:01

So he reminds us. Right? It's not our story. We're not the main characters. He owns it all, and he is the bridegroom, and we are the bride. That there's there there can't be a more intimate or personal picture of his relationship and his talent. For us. Right? And, we're to be grateful for our talents with urgency, priority, and longevity, faithfully deploying and fully employing, and we are to continue because the rewards are unimaginable. Alright.

Scott Keffer [: 00:47:44

Write down the insight application. We'll share a few. He's rescued us from the ones who would take what god has given us, and we'd stick it in the hole, and we'd go do our life. I mean, that's just the picture. That's where we've been rescued from. That's what he saved me from. I'm I'm the wicked lazy slave. I am the wicked lazy slave who would take my stuff and bury it in the ground I did for 28 years.

Scott Keffer [: 00:48:08

We get to join him. He scripture said we're co laborers so that god would give me his stuff and say, here it is. Right? I'm giving you according to your ability. Now use it. Use it to do stuff that matters. That should be bring great purpose to our life. Our our our life is not just, like, let's just, you know, make it to the end and even though it feels like that sometimes. Right? I just want I'm just hanging on till the end, but he's saying I'm I've I've worked for you to do.

Scott Keffer [: 00:48:39

I'm giving you resources to do that. Money, time, and energy. Giving you a spiritual gift. Right? You have your life matters. And he wants us. He wants us to be employed. No matter where you are, there's times in your life where you feel like, you know, I'm too tall old. I'm too tired.

Scott Keffer [: 00:48:56

I'm too sore. I'm too whatever. Right? That's what we tend to feel like. You wanna snooze, and you just remind us. No. I still have work. There's still work for you to do, and I've I've I've I've given you what you need to deploy and employ so that you can make a difference. Right? Yeah.

Scott Keffer [: 00:49:12

We've we've been in places where we had and where we hadn't. Right. And, you know, that's why it's money, time, and energy because even in times when there's very little money, we still have time and energy. Right? So he's he's given us a breadth of resources. So it's a great reminder. He's faithful in all all seasons. All seasons. Talent is a good picture of it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:49:36

And yet at the same time, it's very, it's very measurable. Right? He he doesn't he doesn't it it's broad application, but he's he goes right to the center of it. This is very measurable. I took it, and I doubled it. Right? And so it's it's really that's why I say it's about deploying and employ employing. Right? When it's given it. So cool. Who else? May the grace of the lord Jesus Christ, the love of god the father, and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with you now and always as you deploy and employ all that he's given.

Scott Keffer [: 00:50:09

May he bless you and keep you. Amen. Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance, and confidence in your life and a deeper trust in the God of the bible and his son, Jesus Christ. Until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may the Lord lift up his countenance on you and give you his peace, his shalom in your soul and in your life. Until next time, may God bless you and keep you.