We have not only been regenerated that we may have the divine life to be God’s children, but we have also been talented to serve the Lord as His servants. In the parable of the talents, we see that the talents were given to the servants according to their ability. “Unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability” (Matt. 25:15). We all have some ability, and the talents given to us are according to our ability. The Apostle Paul had great ability; many talents were given to him. Brother Watchman Nee also had much ability, and many talents were given to him. However, all our natural ability has to be dealt with by the death of Christ that it may be brought into resurrection to cooperate with the Lord-given talent. Our natural ability is always a frustration to our usefulness in the Lord’s hand. In the Lord’s work, only the resurrected ability, not the natural, can match the talent which the Lord gives.
None of us should excuse ourselves by saying, “Praise the Lord, I don’t have much ability and not many talents have been given to me, so I don’t have much to do.” Whether we have been given five talents, two talents, or one talent, the principle is the same: we have to gain another five, two, or one for the Lord. If you have been given one talent, you should not use this as an excuse to be slothful. According to the parable, the danger is not with those of more talents but with those of one talent. The servant of one talent tried to excuse himself but received rebuke and punishment. Many fundamental Bible teachers, including C. I. Scofield, say that the one-talented servant was a false Christian. As we pointed out in the last message, these fundamental teachers, being Calvinists, were forced to say this because they could not reconcile such portions of the Word with the teaching that once we have been saved we are saved forever. Since they could not understand how a Christian could be cast into outer darkness, they had to say that the slothful, one-talented servant was a false believer. Calvinism does not see the matter of reward, which includes both prize and punishment. But the complete revelation of the Holy Word does not only show us the eternal salvation by faith but also unveils to us the dispensational reward (either prize or punishment) by works. The dispensational reward of a prize will be the coming Sabbath rest in the millennial kingdom. For us to enter into that Sabbath rest, we need, after being saved forever by faith, to live a watchful life as the wise virgins, and to do a faithful work as the faithful servants. Otherwise, we shall lose the coming Sabbath rest in the millennial kingdom and suffer some discipline.
Calvinists stress the matter of absolute grace, and Arminians stress human responsibility. But according to the Bible, divine grace is for human responsibility. On the day of Pentecost, Peter told the people, “Be saved from this perverse generation” (Acts 2:40, Gk.). Peter did not say, “Save yourselves.” as the King James Version renders it; he said, “Be saved.” To save yourself means that you do this yourself; to be saved means that someone else does it for you, yet you must allow him to do it. The Lord is saving us, but He needs our cooperation. For example, a mother may not say to her child, “Feed yourself”; she may say, “Be fed. Don’t be naughty and shut your mouth—open your mouth and be fed. Take the food and swallow it.” Although salvation is absolutely a matter of grace, we must be willing to be saved and willing to believe in the Lord. Even the Almighty God cannot do anything for us if we are not willing to believe in Him. Being willing to believe is our responsibility, the cooperation we render to God’s saving. Regardless of the grace extended to us, we all must be willing to believe in the Lord, look to Him, open ourselves to receive His grace, and allow it to work on our behalf.
If we only have ability, we cannot work for the Lord. In addition to our ability, we have been talented by the Lord. Once we have been talented, we must use our talent. Only when we use our talent will the profit come. The profit comes from the grace of God, but the coming of this grace depends upon our use of our talent, upon our function and exercise. If we do not use the talent, the grace will not come, for its coming depends upon our exercise.