On one hand, we are the virgins to Christ, but on the other hand, we are His slaves. We are not only the virgins going forth to meet Him; we are also the slaves serving Him. In the parable of the ten virgins we need the extra portion of oil, but in the parable of the talents, for the kingdom of the heavens we need the trading of the talents.
“For it is as a man who, going into another country, called his own slaves and delivered to them his possessions. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his own ability; and he went into another country. Immediately, he who had received the five talents went and traded with them and gained another five; similarly, he who received the two gained another two. But he who received the one went away and dug in the earth and hid his lord’s silver. Now after a long time the lord of those slaves comes and settles accounts with them” (Matt. 25:14-19).
“And he also who received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter; and I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth; behold, you have what is yours. But his lord 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 scatter. You ought therefore to have deposited my silver with the bankers, and when I came I would have recovered what is mine with interest. Take away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents: for to everyone who has shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him who has not, even that which he has shall be taken away from him” (Matt. 25:24-29).
It is clear that every slave received a talent. Not one slave failed to receive at least one talent. This shows that every one among us has some gift or talent. You should not say that you do not have any talent or gift. Every one in the Body of Christ has at least one talent. The problem, however, is this: he who has one talent frequently buries it. In the church, among the saints, it is easy for those who have the greater gifts to serve and to function. Those who have the smaller gifts, however, hide them and bury them. This means that they do not function. Look at this parable. The one who received five talents traded with them and made a profit. The one who received two talents did the same. He who received one talent, however, thought that to serve the Lord is a difficult task. He did not think that what he had received amounted to very much. Therefore, eventually he hid his talent and did nothing.
Many times we have the same concept the one-talented slave had. We feel that we are not able or qualified to serve the Lord. It seems that the Lord is demanding too much. We feel that we simply cannot fulfill what He demands. This means that we consider the Lord “a hard man.” However, it is quite interesting that the Lord did not argue with the one-talented slave when he said this. The Lord did not say, “You are talking nonsense; I am not that hard.” It seems to me that the Lord admitted that what he said was right. Many times the Lord sends us to reap where He has not sown and to gather where He has not scattered.
If you come to the meeting and merely look at yourself, surely you will say, “Lord, it is too difficult for me to function. You have not given me anything with which to function. You are reaping where You have not sown, and You are gathering where You have not scattered. You are requiring too much. You are a hard man.” Many times we have had such a concept. When the living Word tells us to function, we say that another brother can function, but we cannot. We consider that another one has the talents, but we have nothing. Therefore, we think that the Lord is really hard. The Lord, however, did not contradict the one-talented slave. He said, “Evil and slothful slave, you ought to have deposited my silver with the bankers, and when I came I would have recovered what is mine with interest.”
Whenever we have the concept that we have nothing to give and it seems too difficult to serve or to function, that is the time we need to stand up. It is then that we will see that the Lord is not so hard. If we will simply open our mouth to function and share something with others, the Lord will fill our lips. If we will not function, we cannot function. If we function, however, we simply function. Many times I have not had anything to minister, but I needed to minister something. Praise the Lord, at those times something from Him would come for me to minister. Many times, however, when I felt I had something worthwhile to minister, eventually it was not so good. Sometimes I have stood up when I did not even know what verse of Scripture I should use. However, I turned to the Lord, and when I opened the Bible, He led me to a certain passage. In my speaking from that passage, the Lord came through in a marvelous way.
It was in a similar way that the Lord gave us four words that have become rich and wonderful to us in these days: “O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!” In the early part of 1968 on one Lord’s Day morning, I was burdened to encourage everyone to function. While I was speaking, I said that everyone could say at least four words. However, to tell you the truth, I did not know what four words I could use that everyone could say. I was quite troubled. Then I received something from the Lord concerning these four words, one by one, and I said, “The four words are: number one, ‘O’; number two, ‘Lord’; number three, ‘Amen’; and number four, ‘Hallelujah!’” These four words came out in this way, and they have brought us much release in calling on the Lord.
We need to believe that the Lord is with us. If we open ourselves to Him and cooperate with Him, He will certainly do something through us. We should not count on ourselves; we need to count on Him. He has given each of us at least one talent. We cannot say that we have nothing. If we feel that we have nothing, we should pray, “Lord, although I feel I have nothing, I nevertheless believe in Your Word. I believe that You have given me at least one talent. Now, Lord, I am going to use it.”
If this is our practice, we will see some profit. I can testify that whenever I have stood up without anything to say, yet I stood up to function, eventually I received much interest. When we function, others receive the benefit, but we are the first to receive the interest. I encourage you to try it.
Listen to the Word of the Lord. The only way to lose our talent is not to use it, and the only way to increase our talent is to use it. By using it, we will receive more and more interest. Our talent will be doubled from the increase of its use. If we do not use our talent, if we do not function, we will lose what we have. May the Lord be merciful to us so that we will use what we have.
This is the New Testament service. In life, we love the Lord as virgins going forth to meet Him with a lamp in our hand. And in the work, we exercise ourselves to use what He has given us. We should not use our talent according to our feeling, but according to the Lord’s Word. Then we will receive the profit with interest. This is the service we need in the matters of life and work.