Matthew 25:28 and 29 say, "Take away therefore the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has, more shall be given, and he shall abound; but from him who does not have, even that which he has shall be taken away from him." These verses show that we can lose our gift because of our slothfulness. If we do not use our talent, the Lord will take it back from us when He comes back, and we will lose our gift. If we do not use our gift, this means that we waste it.
The outer darkness is the darkness outside the Lord's coming glory in the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 25:30; 8:12). To be cast out into the outer darkness is not to perish; it is to be dealt with dispensationally, to be disqualified from participating in the enjoyment of the kingdom during the millennium, for not having lived by Christ an overcoming life. In the millennium the overcoming believers will be with Christ in the bright glory of the kingdom (Col. 3:4), whereas the defeated believers will suffer discipline in outer darkness.
When we stress these points, some of the saints may be curious about what outer darkness is. We should simply tell them that we have never been there, so we really cannot say what is there; but we surely know that this is not a good place to be. This kind of darkness is not for the ones who will suffer eternal perdition. Those ones will spend eternity in the lake of fire. The outer darkness outside of the Lord's glory is neither the lake of fire nor the section of torment in Hades where all the perished sinners are (Luke 16:26, 23a, 28). It is a place of dispensational punishment for the defeated believers.
Some may say that this kind of teaching damages God's complete salvation. We should tell them that we have received the Lord's complete salvation and we believe in it. We also believe that if we are not faithful to the Lord today, He may chastise us. If the Lord chastises us in this age, this chastisement does not damage His complete salvation. Since this is the case, how could His chastisement in the next age damage His complete salvation? It is illogical to say this.
The Lord told us that when He returns, He will chastise His unfaithful servants (Luke 12:46-48). This is not our word. This is the Lord's word. We have to be faithful in teaching the Lord's word. We cannot cut off any verses. We have to present all the aspects of the Lord's word to the saints. It is wise to take heed to the Lord's warning (Luke 21:34-36). We need to impress the saints to take heed to the facts in the Bible.
Because we have been regenerated by the Lord, we are gifted. The Lord has given us at least one talent, at least one spiritual gift. If we do not use this gift faithfully, we cannot be in the place that the apostle Paul will be at the Lord's return. A saved person will not suffer eternally in the lake of fire. To say this is an insult to the Lord's redemption and salvation. But a saved believer may suffer some dispensational chastisement in outer darkness. He may be cut off from the Lord's presence in the manifestation of His kingdom. By that time the Lord's presence will be His glory. Thus, the defeated believers will have no share of the Lord's glory in the millennial kingdom.
This is not only scriptural but also logical. If we are living and walking in darkness today, how can we expect to participate in the Lord's bright glory in the next age? If we live in darkness today, we will be chastised in outer darkness in the next age. In this lesson we need to speak a practical word to the saints. We admit that we all have been saved and have received a gift from the Lord. But do we use His gift? Are we faithful? In this lesson we need to preach the gospel to the saved ones. This may help some of the brothers and sisters and stir them up to have a real hunger to serve the Lord. We all need to serve the Lord.
This word concerning the danger and loss of not using our gift is the word of our King. The Bible is not only composed of John 3:16 and Ephesians 2:8, which says that we are saved by grace. The Bible also includes Matthew 24 and 25, and we cannot neglect or put aside this portion. Fundamental Christianity shares the truth of John 3:16 and Ephesians 2:8, but they do not go on to share the truth revealed in Matthew 24 and 25. This is the teaching directly out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus. We cannot deny that we are slaves of the Lord, and each slave of the Lord has been given a talent. Now the problem is how we use this talent. We have to warn the saints that there is the danger and loss of not using our gift.