Now we may consider some passages in the New Testament concerning the function of life. Ephesians 4:7 to 16 shows us a principle related to our functioning. There is a difference between gifts and function. Many Christians do not differentiate these. With our two ears there is the function of hearing. However, the two ears themselves are a gift to the body. If there were no ears in the body, we could not hear. We would be short of a gift. We praise the Creator that He gave two ears to the body as a gift. Now this gift of two ears has the function of hearing, and this hearing function depends on life and the growth of life. The two ears of a baby have life, but with those ears there is the shortage of growth. The principle is that all the functions of the different parts of the body require a certain amount of growth. When the members come up to a certain extent of growth, they have the proper function. The member is a gift, but the function of the member is not a matter of gift. The function depends on the growth of life.
The gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4 are persons as the members, the big members—apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers—and the smaller members (vv. 7-8, 11, 16). We might not be an apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd, or teacher, but we truly are members. Every member is a gift to the Body. If the Lord had not given me a stomach, how could I take in food? Even the tongue is a real gift from the Lord, the Divine Giver. How many times have we thanked the Lord that He gave us a tongue? We enjoy all the goodness from many different kinds of gifts, but we may never be grateful to the Lord, the Giver. However, if we were to lose one of our members, we would realize that is was a real gift.
Praise Him, all the members are gifts, and with every member as a gift there is a certain kind of function. The ears are a gift, the nose is a gift, and the two lips are a gift, but their functions are different. The function of the ears is to listen, the functions of the nose are to breathe and to smell, and the functions of the two lips are not to gossip but to praise the Lord and to take in nourishment.
The gifts in life in Romans 12:4 through 8 are different from the gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4:8, which refer to the gifted persons given by Christ in His ascension to His Body for its building up. The gifts in life in Romans 12 are also different from the miraculous gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. The gifts in life are developed by the growth in life and by the transformation in life (Rom. 12:2), out of the inward initial gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1:7.
Matthew 25:14 through 30 is the parable of the talents. Before this, however, there is the parable of the ten virgins (vv. 1-13). The parable of the virgins is a matter of life. Then after this life matter, there is the parable of the talents, which is a matter of function. Whereas virgins are for a pure life, talents are for service, for function. Here again we have the principle that function comes from life. In life we must be virgins, and in function we must use our talent. We need to see the basic principle for function in this portion of the Word.
Matthew 25:14 and 15 say, “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.” The Lord mentioned five talents, two talents, and one talent. Since the Lord speaks this purposefully, there must be a meaning to it. Five is also mentioned in the previous parable. The ten virgins are divided into two groups of five each. This is very meaningful. According to the whole Bible, the number five signifies responsibility. Five is composed of four plus one. Consider our hands. The hand works, that is, it bears responsibility, by being four plus one. Four signifies the creature in creation, and one signifies the Creator. Four plus one is the creature plus the Creator to bear responsibility. We are the creatures, and the Creator has been added to us. Now we as the four plus one have to bear responsibility. The Lord numbers the talents from five because five signifies responsibility. Originally we were four, but since we received Christ into us, we are no longer four; we have become five.
Be careful when you read the Word, and learn the proper way to study it. On the one hand, we forget about mere teachings, but on the other hand, we need to have the right teachings. The Word of God is unique. No human mind can understand it in a mere human way. Rather, we must have revelation. Then the Word will be open to us. God is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (22:32). Can we understand that in this title of God there is the indication of resurrection? This is the way the Lord expounded the Word. In 25:15 the Lord starts with the number five. Then He skipped over four because we can never be four again. Likewise, we can never be three since three signifies the Triune God. We were four, but now we are no longer four but five.
Two signifies testimony, or witness. All the functions of life are a testimony, a witnessing. A man has two shoulders, two arms, two hands, two ears, and two eyes. Everything is in twos. This is for balance, testimony, witness, and function. Many functions are in two. The listening is of two ears, the seeing is of two eyes, the smelling is of two nostrils, and the speaking is of two lips.
Why then did the Lord mention one? A person is one, and his body as a whole is also one. One signifies a complete unit. Regardless of how little we have received from the Lord, it is a complete unit. We have received “one.” Someone may say, “I am too little a member.” Yes, you may be the least, even less than the least, but you still must realize that you are a complete unit; you are one. This is very meaningful.
In verses 16 through 18 there are two key words. The Lord used one word for both the five-talented member and the two-talented member, and He used another word for the one-talented member. The key word for the five- and the two-talented members is traded. The five-talented one went to trade, and the two-talented one also went to trade. However, the word for the one-talented member is dug. The one-talented one dug in the earth and hid his lord’s money.
The one with five talents made five more, and the one with two talents made two more. Why did they not make four, six, or seven more? We can never gain more than what the Lord gives us. In other words, we can never work out more than what we have received of the Lord. Whatever we work out must be the same as what we received from the Lord.
The principle related to function in this passage of the Word is that because we have been saved, we have received something, perhaps not five talents but two, or perhaps not two talents but one. If you say that you have not received even one, then you must not be saved. If we are saved, we have received at least one talent. Now we must go to trade, to use what we have received. This will produce something more. Five will produce five, and we will have ten. Two will produce two, and we will have four. At least one will produce one, and we will have double. The principle here is simply to function.
However, the one who received one talent did not function. Verse 18 says that he dug in the earth. Do you like to trade, or do you like to dig? It is easy to trade, but to dig is rather hard. Many brothers and sisters who do not function do a hard job day by day. They do the digging, not the trading. Those who do the digging are very busy not in the heavens but in the earth in order to hide their talent. The reason many Christians do not function is that they hide what they have. In their school they may never tell people what they have received of the Lord, and in the church meetings they also hide what they received of the Lord. The principle here is that we need to use the function that we have received. It should be normal for us to use it, not to hide it. We must encourage all the brothers, even the younger ones and the new converts, to use what they have received of the Lord and not to hide it.
The one who had the one talent said, “Master, I knew about you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow” (v. 24). Is this statement right or wrong? On the one hand, the Lord admitted to this, saying, “Evil and slothful slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not winnow” (v. 26). In another sense, though, it was not right for the evil slave to say that, because the Lord had sown one talent for him. The Lord did sow, and now He wants to reap something more. However, the Lord did not argue with the slave. He simply took his word to condemn him. Do not try to argue with the Lord. The more you argue, the more you will be condemned by your own word.
Verse 27 says, “Therefore you should have deposited my money with the money changers; and when I came, I would have recovered what is mine with interest.” The Lord’s money is His seed which He has sown. The slave should have deposited His seed, His money, with the money changers to make some interest. Here the Lord already had sown, and now He comes to reap. He had winnowed, and now He comes to gather. The slave should not have said that the Lord had not sown. He had sown one seed, one talent, into him. The slothful servant put the responsibility upon the Lord, saying, “You did not sow. You did not winnow. How can you reap and gather?” The Lord, however, returned the responsibility to his shoulder. The Lord did sow; He did give the slave one talent, so where is it now? The slave should have used the talent.