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ceive this reward. "For we must all
appear before the judgment seat of
Christ; that every one may receive
the things done in bis body, accord–
ing to that he hath done, whether it
be good or bad"
(IJ
Cor. 5:10).
Produce a Hundredfo ld
J esus Christ, in the parable of the
sower, revealed that sorne will pro–
duce no fruit whatsoever; others will
bear only thirtyfold or sixtyfold. But
sorne will produce one hundredfold.
Should we be content merely to
produce thirtyfold? Or sixtyfold? Or
ninetyfold? Or should we strive to
produce one hundredfold- thereby
making God supremely happy?
Remember, Christ revealed that it
is God's will that we bear-not thir–
tyfold, or sixtyfold- but one hun–
dredfold! "Herein is my Father glo–
rified, that ye bear much fruit; so
shall ye be my disciples" (John
15:8).
But how will Christ judge us?
How will He determine whether we
have borne n:mch fruit? Whether we
have borne thirtyfold, or sixtyfold or
one hundredfold?
lt
is vitally important that each
Christian know how God Almighty,
in the person of Jesus Christ, will
judge him at Christ's second coming.
Be absolutely certain of this: Christ's
judgment will be completely honest ,
fair and true.
Talents According to Ability
God Almighty clearly reveals to us,
especially through Christ's parables,
how we will be judged.
The parable of the talents (Matt.
25: 14-30) reveals part of the answer
as to how Christ will judge us.
T his parable clearly shows that we
are not all born equal! We are not all
born with the same innate talents and
abilities! "And unto one he gave five
talents, to another two, and to another
one; to every man according to bis sev–
era! [individual] ability" (verse 15).
Certainly, sorne people are born
with far greater talents and abili–
ties-greater mental andjor physical
dexterity-than others. God expects
each one to make the most of what–
ever He has given him.
This parable of the talents reveals
that God expects each one of us to
The
PLAIN TRUTH March 1979
employ our talents in sorne gainful
way so that we can gain other talents
in addition to what we have been giv–
en by God at birth!
Finally, the Lord reckons with the
ones to whom He has given the tal–
ents (verse 19). The one who had
been given five talents doubled bis
and now had ten. Christ said to him,
"Well done, thou good and faithful
servant: thou hast been faithful over
a few things, 1 will make thee ruler
over many things: enter thou into the
joy of thy lord" (verse 21).
Likewise, the one who had re–
ceived only two talents had doubled
his , and in like manner the Lord said
to him: "Well done, good and faithful
servant; thou hast been faithful over
a few things,
J
will make thee ruler
over many things:·enter thou into the
joy of thy lord" (verse 23).
~~
The parable of the
talents shows that we are
not born equal. At birth
each person receives
di.fferent talents.
' '
Did you notice that Jesus Christ
said "Well done" to each of these dil–
igent servants? Each had doubled the
talents given to him, and each was
highly commended by the Lord for so
doing.
But the one who had received only
one talent looked upon God as "an
hard man"-thought He was dishon–
est- and didn ' t do anything with his
talent (verses 24-25). Christ com–
manded,
·~And
cast ye the unprofita–
ble servant into outer darkness"
(verse 30).
Reward According to Effort
The parable of the pounds (Luke
19: 12-27) shows a different aspect of
how God will judge His people.
In this parable Christ called His
ten servants and delivered unto each
a pound. He told them, " Occupy till 1
come" (verse 13). This word "occu-
py" means to gainfully use or profit–
ably employ by trading.
Verse 15 reveals tha t when J esus
Christ returns, after having received
the Kingdom, He will call His ser–
vants to an accounting to see "how
much every man [has] gained by
trading" (verse 15).
The most diligent of the ten ser–
vants will come, saying, "Lord, thy
pound hath gained ten pounds. And
he said unto him, Well, thou good
servant: because thou hast been
faithful in a very little, have thou au–
thority over ten cities" (verses 16-
17).
Yes, this diligent servant was giv–
en a great deal of responsibility-be–
cause he had already proved he was
able to wisely use the responsibility
placed upon him.
The second servant carne to reckon
with bis Lord. He hadn't been quite ·
so diligent. He said, "Lord, thy
pound hath gained five pounds. And
he said likewise to him, Be thou also
over five cities" (verses 18-19).
Notice that Christ doesn't call him
"thou good servant"!
But what will Christ think of the
slothful servant- the one who looked
upon God as "an austere man"? The
one who thought God was unrigh–
teous (verse 21 ) ?
Christ will severely rebuke tbis in–
dolent servant, saying that he should
have gainfully employed the pound
which he had been given, so God
could have received His original in–
vestment plus interest (usury). "Take
from him the pound, and give it to
him that hath ten pounds" (verse
24).
The servants who were standing by
thought this seemed unwise, if not
unjust. They said, "Lord, he hath ten
pounds" (verse 25).
But Jesus will plainly reveal that
those who have already proved they
can exercise greater authority–
greater responsibility, greater ruler–
ship-are more deserving and capa–
ble. T hey are to be given added re–
sponsibility.
This same lesson is also pointed
out by Christ in the parable of the
talents (Matt. 25:14-30). T he one
who had only one talent (and who
didn ' t do anything with it) had his
talent taken from him and given
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