We shall now consider in greater detail the principles by which believers will be rewarded for their service. These are set forth by Jesus in the form of two parables: the parable of the talents (see Matt. 25:14-30) and the parable of the minas (see Luke 19:11-27).

Assessment of Christian’s Service

  The central theme of both parables is the same. Each concerns a man of wealth and authority who commits a certain sum to each of his servants to administer on his behalf and then takes a journey to a distant country. After a considerable lapse of time, this wealthy man returns and holds an individual reckoning with his servants as to the way in which each has handled the money committed to him.

  In both parables three servants are mentioned individually: the first two are faithful in administering their master’s money; the third is unfaithful. This is how the money was distributed in the parable of the talents:

And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability (Matt. 25:15).

  (A talent was a considerable quantity of money, perhaps as much as fifteen years’ wages.)

  Notice that this verse reveals the principle according to which the talents are distributed: “to each according to his own ability.” That is, God distributes to each believer the maximum number of talents that his own ability will permit him to use effectively. God does not give to any believer either more or less than he is able to use effectively.

  In this parable the first two servants each achieved an increase of 100 percent. The servant who had received five talents gained five more; the servant who had received two talents gained two more. The lord assessed the faithfulness of these servants not by their net gain but by their percentage increase. The servant who gained five talents was not considered more faithful than the servant who had gained two talents, although his net gain in talents was greater. Rather, each of these servants was considered equally faithful because each had achieved the same proportionate increase: 100 percent.

  This is indicated by the fact that the words of commendation spoken to these two servants, recorded in Matthew 25:21 and 23, are exactly the same in each verse.

  His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”

  Each of them had originally received the maximum number of talents that his ability would allow him to use effectively; each of them had achieved the maximum gain possible – 100 percent. It is on their faithfulness, as expressed in the percentage increase achieved, that their judgement is based. The fact that one man originally received five talents and the other two is not the basis on which their faithfulness is assessed.

  In this parable of the talents the third servant merely hid the one talent he had received and later brought it back to his lord in exactly the same condition in which he had received it. For this he was not only deprived of any reward, but he was also totally and finally rejected and cast out from his lord’s presence.

  But his lord answered and said to him, “You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. Therefore you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 25:26-30).

  There can be no doubt whatever about the meaning of these words. This third servant not only received no reward; he was actually deprived of the one talent which he had originally received, and he himself was cast out from his lord’s presence.

  Let us now turn to the parable of the minas in Luke 19. (A mina was a quantity of money equivalent to about three months’ wages.)

  In this parable ten servants are mentioned, although only the cases of three of them are described in detail. Originally, all ten servants received the same amount committed to them by their lord: one mina each.

  Of the three servants whose cases are described, the first gained ten minas, the second gained five minas, and the third merely hid his mina away and eventually brought it back in the same condition in which he had received it.

  It would appear that each of these three servants possessed equal ability, since each received the same amount committed to him. However, they were not equally faithful. The first gained twice as much with his mina as the second. For this reason his reward was twice as great.

  Then came the first, saying, “Master, your mina has earned ten minas.” And he said to him, “Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.” And the second came, saying, “Master, your mina has earned five minas.” Likewise he said to him, “You also be over five cities” (Luke 19:16-19).

  We notice that, in two respects, the reward of the first servant was greater than that of the second. First, the first servant was specifically commended by his lord as a good servant; the second servant received no such special commendation. Second, the first servant was given authority over ten cities; the second servant was given authority only over five cities. That is to say, their rewards were in exact proportion to the increase which each had achieved.

  One further conclusion we may draw from this parable is that rewards for serving Jesus faithfully in this present age will consist in positions of authority and responsibility in the administration of Jesus’s kingdom in the following age. In other words, faithful service in the present age leads to continued and extended opportunities of service in the next age. For those who truly love Jesus there can be no greater joy or privilege than that of continuing to serve their Lord. For those who are faithful, this privilege, begun here in time, will be extended throughout the ages of eternity.

  In this parable of the minas, as in that of the talents, the third servant was condemned for being unfaithful and failing to make any use at all of the mina committed to him.

And he said to him, “Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?” And he said to those who stood by, “Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas” (Luke 19:22-24).

  In this parable, as in that of the talents, the unfaithful servant not only received no reward, but even the one mina he had originally received was taken away from him. The final end of the servant with the one mina is not revealed in this parable. However, it seems reasonable to conclude that, like the unfaithful servant in the parable of the talents, he was rejected and cast out from his lord’s presence.

  In both these parables alike, failure to make active use of the talent or mina committed to each servant is described by the very strong word wicked. In each case the lord commences his judgement of the unfaithful servant by the phrase “you wicked servant.”

  From this we learn that, by God’s standards, wickedness consists not only in actively doing that which is bad, but just as much in the failure to do good when it lies within our power to do it.

  Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin (James 4:17).

  In other words, the sins of omission are no less serious than the sins of commission.

  The same thought is contained in Malachi’s prophetic revelation of God’s judgement.

  Then you shall again discern

  Between the righteous and the wicked,

  Between one who serves God

  And one who does not serve Him (Mal. 3:18).

  Here we find a clear and sharp distinction made by God between the righteous and the wicked. The righteous are defined as those who serve God; the wicked as those who do not serve God. Once again the lesson is plain: Not to serve God is in itself wickedness.

It was this wickedness that led to the condemnation and rejection of the unfaithful servant in each of the two parables we have studied. In neither of these parables did the rejected servant do anything evil; in each case the ground of his rejection was merely that he failed to do the good which it was in his power to do. In both these parables Jesus indicates that this same principle of judgement will be applied to all those who claim to be His followers and servants.

  In a previous session we examined the passage that speaks about the Christian’s whose works are rejected and burned up in the fire of judgement, yet he himself is saved (see 1 Cor. 3:11-15). On the other hand, in the parables which we have now considered, it appears that the unfaithful servant is not only deprived of any reward, but he himself is rejected and cast out forever from his lord’s presence.

This naturally leads us to ask an important question: What is the difference, in God’s estimation, of these two cases? Why should it be that, in the case described by Paul, the man’s works are rejected but he himself is saved, whereas in the parable of Jesus the unfaithful servant not only loses his reward but is himself also rejected and cast out?

  The difference appears to be this. In the case described by Paul, the man actually did try to do something active for his master; in fact, the examples of wood, hay and straw suggest that he did a great deal. However, his work was not of the kind or quality that would stand the test of fire. Yet this activity of his – though misguided and unrewarded – did at least serve to prove that his actual faith in Jesus was genuine. For this reason the salvation of his soul was assured even though his works were burned up.

  On the other hand, the unfaithful servant with the one talent did nothing at all for his master – either good or bad. This failure to act at all showed that his profession of faith and service was vain and insincere.

  Faith without works is dead also (James 2:26).

  A faith that does not result in activity of any kind is a dead faith; it is empty, worthless, insincere. Not only does it fail to produce any works of service which can be rewarded; it even fails to secure for the one who professes it the salvation of his own soul. A person who professes faith in Jesus without ever seeking to serve Jesus actively is a hypocrite.

  For this reason, the judgement of such a person is to be cast “into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” A careful examination of passages concerning similar judgements (see Matt. 24:51 and Luke 12:46) shows that this place of outer darkness, with its weeping and gnashing of teeth, is the place reserved for the hypocrite and the unbeliever. The unfaithful servant who does nothing at all for his master must take his place in this same category; he is in reality a hypocrite and an unbeliever. The place appointed for him is outer darkness.

  Angels Will Eliminate All Hypocrites  

  This judgement upon the hypocritical servant leads us to one further important conclusion in connection with the events that will lead up to the judgement seat of Jesus.

Before the true  professing Christian’s are admitted to the place of Jesus’s judgement seat, all hypocrites and false  professing Christian’s will first be separated out from among God’s believing people and will receive the judgement due to them for their hypocrisy and falsehood.

  This judgement of hypocrites is described in two parables concerning the kingdom of heaven (see Matt. 13). These two parables are the parable of the wheat and the tares and the parable of the dragnet cast into the sea.

  In studying these and other parables in this chapter it is important to determine what is meant by the phrase “the kingdom of heaven.” In Matthew 12:25-28 and in Luke 11:17-20 Jesus speaks about two kingdoms which are in opposition to each other: the kingdom of God (or of heaven) and the kingdom of Satan. Until the present age closes, these two kingdoms will continue to coexist. The kingdom of God includes all created beings who are submitted to His righteous government; the kingdom of Satan includes all who are in rebellion against God’s government.

  In Ephesians Paul reveals two levels of Satan’s kingdom. He describes a host of wicked angels who had followed Satan in his initial rebellion against God (see Eph. 6:12). Paul also speaks of human beings who are in rebellion against God. He calls these latter “the sons of disobedience” and indicates that they are controlled by Satan as “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2).

  The “gospel of the kingdom,” proclaimed by Jesus and His apostles, is an invitation extended by God to rebellious men – but never to rebellious angels – to escape from Satan’s kingdom and to enter into God’s kingdom. All who desire to accept this invitation must fulfil two conditions: They must repent of their rebellion and submit themselves in faith to Jesus as God’s appointed ruler.

  These two parables – the wheat and the tares, and the dragnet – both reveal that some of those who appear to belong to God’s kingdom have not, in fact, fulfilled these two conditions. They have made an outward pretence of repentance and submission, but it did not come from a sincere heart. Consequently it did not produce the deep, inner reformation of character which alone is appropriate to the kingdom of God. One main purpose of both parables is to reveal the special judgement of God which will come upon these hypocrites at the close of the present age.

In the first of the two parables the servants ask the owner of the field if they should attempt to pull up the tares.

  But he said, “No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them” (Matt. 13:29).

  This indicates that it would have been very hard for the servants to distinguish the tares from the wheat. Obviously this would not be true if the tares represented people who had not made any profession of faith in Jesus. Jesus goes on to give a full interpretation of the whole parable.

  He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matt. 13:37-43).

  Jesus identifies the tares as “the sons of the wicked one.” Their presence in the field is no accident. They have been deliberately sown among the wheat by the devil. In other words, it is part of Satan’s strategy to plant hypocrites among the true  professing Christian’s. It is one way in which he seeks to discredit the testimony of the church.

  Jesus goes on to say that, in the judgement at the end of this age, the angels will first gather out all false  professing Christian’s from among the true and cast them into a place of fire, where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. After this has been done, “then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” In other words, the false  professing Christian’s will first be separated out and cast into a place of fiery judgement. After that, the true  professing Christian’s will be manifested in their resurrection glory.

  The parable of the dragnet contains the same revelation!

  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 13:47-50).

  In this parable the dragnet cast into the sea represents the gospel of the kingdom proclaimed in all the world. The various creatures caught in the net represent all those who have made a positive response to the gospel invitation. These include people of every kind – both good and bad, both just and wicked.

  At the close of the age, the angels will separate out the wicked from the just and cast them into a place of punishment. Only after that will the good and the righteous go on to receive the blessings and rewards of eternity with Jesus.

  In this revelation we see yet another reason why the judgement conducted before the judgement seat of Jesus will not result in final condemnation for any who appear there. Before this judgement of the true believers takes place, the angels will already have separated out and cast into a place of punishment all hypocrites and false  professing Christian’s. Thus those who appear before Jesus’s judgement seat to receive their rewards will be only the true and righteous believers, the salvation of whose souls is eternally assured through their sincere faith based on Jesus’s own righteousness.

  The Psalms prophetically refer to this process of separating out the hypocrites and false believers prior to judgement of the true believers.

  The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous (Ps. 1:4-5).

  In this prophecy the ungodly are compared to the chaff, while – by implication – the righteous are compared to the wheat. Before the wheat is gathered into the barn, the chaff is first driven away. Before the righteous enter into their eternal reward, the wicked are first separated out from among them and cast out into a place of punishment.

For this reason the psalmist goes on to say that the ungodly and the sinners will never be allowed to take their place in the judgement of the righteous (before the judgement seat of Jesus), nor will they ever be admitted to the congregation of true believers in eternity.

  We may state this conclusion as follows: Only true, sincere believers will appear before the judgement seat of Jesus. Prior to this, by the intervention of angels, all hypocrites and false  professing Christian’s will have been purged out and cast into a place of fiery punishment.