Matthew 25:15, commentary and pictures

The departing master divides his own property among his own servants in different portions, five to one, two to another and one to another, measured by each one's ability to use it, and then leaves at once on a journey. The traveler is Jesus, who after redeeming the world ascended to heaven to appear before the Father and receive the kingdom, and who after a long absence will return at his second advent to reckon with those entrusted. What he entrusts is everything a person has and is, held as a loan from God by creation and redemption and not as personal ownership, including spiritual gifts, mind, body, time, means, influence, opportunity and truth to be traded and increased for him. No one is left without at least one talent and assigned work, and each is accountable only for what was received, so faithful doubling of two receives the same approval as faithful doubling of five, while smallness gives no excuse for idleness, envy or neglect. After a long time he returns to require an account with increase, when abilities faithfully used grow stronger and bring greater trust and entrance into his joy and eternal life, but what is buried through fear, selfish ease or worldly pursuit is lost and its holder is condemned as unprofitable.

Distribution Words and Journey

The master entrusts his own goods to his own servants before he leaves, giving five talents to one, two to another, and one to another, to every man according to his several ability, and then straightway takes his journey and departs. The distribution is not the same amount to all but different amounts measured by each one's capacity wisely to use what is placed in his hands. The talents are capital entrusted for profitable use while he is away, including his temporal means and money, possessions, opportunities and privileges, and spiritual gifts to be used until he returns and his church is complete. They are not merely natural, inherited or acquired faculties, and worldly goods and opportunities give no ground to claim one has no talents. After a long time the lord returns to reckon and settle accounts, approving as good and faithful those who trade with the five and the two and double them, while the servant who digs in the earth and hides his single talent cannot excuse himself, has his talent taken from him, and is cast into outer darkness. That reckoning belongs to Christ's soon coming and takes place before he comes in the clouds of heaven, in the judgment hour now present, instructing his people who are waiting for his coming during the investigative judgment and requiring faithfulness in the last days.

A talent was the highest denomination of Hebrew money, used as a unit of value of silver and gold. A talent of silver was estimated at $538.32 and a talent of gold at $13,809. The word has also come to mean intellectual and other gifts, which represent the gifts of God's Spirit and are entrusted in measure according to each person's ability to be developed and used in service to God and in the church till Christ comes the second time. Every person who comes into the faith has received such a gift to be used and not hidden or buried, and by using it members cease to be spiritual children and develop into strong workers until the whole church attains the unity of the faith and the full stature of Christ.

The parable of the talents was given two or three days after the parable of the pounds, and studied together the two make the lesson of human accountability more complete. The talents and the pounds are the same gifts from the same Lord for the same purpose and duration, teaching the same lesson of watchfulness, with each servant given a share according to ability for consecration and faithful use while God is the giver. The narrative is truly a parable even though Scripture nowhere calls it one, its parabolic character being known from the nature of the text and context rather than from any positive declaration, as with many generally acknowledged parables. It was spoken by Jesus to save men from the great theater of the world, not to be dramatized in a theater as a means of ethical and religious instruction.

Master Identity and Return

The traveling man is Jesus, who came to redeem the world, paid its purchase price by his death, rose victorious, and then departed. His journey is the ascension to heaven after the resurrection, where he appears before the Father at the close of his priestly ministry to receive the kingdom. That kingdom was not an immediate temporal kingdom to throw off the Roman yoke and give earthly sovereignty, and the disciples who still looked for that earthly redemption and asked about restoring the kingdom to Israel would afterward be brought by the Holy Spirit to understand it. The parable parallels the parable of the pounds in Luke 19 and covers the whole Christian dispensation between the ascension and the second advent, when he will return after a long time to judge the world, take possession, and reckon with his servants. Before leaving for the far country he entrusted his own servants with his goods in differing measures according to each one's ability to use them, gifts bestowed at his ascension for the advancement of his cause and the increase of what belongs to him, bringing both responsibility and encouragement. Those gifts are all of God's gifts and blessings, including spiritual gifts, intellect, affection, influence, health, strength, accomplishments and property, to be used faithfully until he returns, with increase coming through diligent use blessed by him so that reward is mercy and not earned debt. Having only one talent is no excuse for idleness, for each must work within the ability he has and not take another's burden, and even those beginning late share the reward of the faithful because the time before the return is short.

The heavenly Master is now absent on his journey, and the talents are now in human hands for a short gracious opportunity of probation. Every person must ask what of the Lord's is in his possession and how to trade with it today and occupy till Christ comes, because tomorrow probation may end and the account be fixed forever. God has given talents and ability to every believer according to ability for carrying forward Christ's work for the salvation of souls, with a place in the work and assigned labor for all, so that no one is excused because he cannot do as great a work as others. Timidity, self-distrust, doing nothing, and complaining when wanted work or pay is not offered are rebuked, for the willing faithful worker takes hold wherever opportunity points, accepts obscure duties and work with small apparent results, aims to make a success of whatever comes to hand, and will find his proper place. When one excuses himself the burden rests more heavily on others who must do his part as well as their own, and all weak inefficient efforts, indifference, indecision, wasted hours and selfish actions will meet a record in the day of final judgment. Time and means faithfully invested in the Lord's work are not lost but bring heavenly reward, while children as talents entrusted to parents like worldly goods belonging to him show that parents are responsible for how they care for and train them. Faithful unselfish use in advancing God's cause and relieving the widow and fatherless glorifies God, gathers rich blessings and gratitude from those helped, makes the soul like a watered garden whose waters fail not, and gives inexpressible joy at reaping time in seeing gathered sheaves as the recompense of fidelity, whereas talents abused for pride, position, extravagance, vain show, ambition and profligate selfishness reflect a terrible curse.

Those who know the Master is about to come are to use what has been entrusted to spread the light about his coming and to prepare to meet him in peace. The talents are laid out for the Master in diligence and activity while awaiting his return, for each servant has a task small or great to carry out while the master is away, and what matters is faithfully doing the assigned work or fulfilling a place of watchful waiting with God-given powers. The parable teaches the solemn duty of unselfish, watchful labor for God, which helps prepare people for the second coming, yet labor alone does not perfect Christian character but personal piety must be cultivated alongside diligent service. Love for Jesus is shown in zeal, devotion, intensity and perseverance in making any sacrifice to make the world better and bring others the heavenly gift. The differing gifts and abilities remain a trust until his return, when each must give an account and faithful service will meet the commendation Well done.

Meaning of Entrusted Talents

The talents are the various gifts of the Spirit bestowed by God as he wills upon those consecrated to him, given in differing measure according to each servant's ability to use them for building up the church and carrying out its work and sharing God's message. They include apostleship, prophecy, teaching, evangelism, pastoring, healing, helps, governments, tongues, wisdom, knowledge, faith, miracles, discernment and ministry, together with the gifts described in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4 and others not listed in any one passage, including liberality and the ability to earn and save money honorably. They are Christ's valuable goods entrusted for profitable use while he is away until he returns and his church is complete, to be used in the church till the second coming as long as needed until the whole church attains the unity of the faith and the full stature of Christ. They are not natural, inherited or acquired talents, faculties or abilities, but spiritual gifts whose distribution is determined by the giver and not by human choice, with every person who comes into the faith receiving at least one for service and not to be hidden or buried. Their use is how members cease to be spiritual children and develop into strong workers, bringing both duties and blessed privileges during the gospel age.

The talents are the Lord's own goods, capital, stewardship and loan belonging to God by creation and redemption, delivered by Christ as master to his own servants and not owned by the receivers, to be used according to the directions of his Word and not merely human judgment. They are something of value that can produce results, including money, temporal means, property, wealth, possessions, opportunities, privileges, soul, body and spirit, time, and all that a person has and is. The master distributes different amounts, five to one, two to another and one to another, not the same to all but to every man according to his ability, leaving each responsible for what is given. What is entrusted must be traded, improved, doubled and returned with increase and usury rather than buried in earthly possessions or spent on needless things, with gifts improving and multiplying when used in his service to advance his work and save souls. All property is placed in human hands only as a stewardship for a brief period, as cattle in the field, horses in the barn, acres of land, wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, money in the pocket and money at interest, to be cared for a time and accounted for when after a long time the Lord returns to reckon, a reckoning for Christians in the last days in the judgment hour now present before he comes in the clouds.

The talents encompass every spiritual, mental and physical ability, opportunity, influence and advantage that can serve people and be used to serve God and humanity, not money alone, given in different amounts in proportion to ability to use them. They include intellect, health, strength, influence, ability to gain property, speech, pen, voice, education, skill, tact, affection, sympathy, position, reputation, home, friends, light, truth and work assigned, with all temporal and spiritual blessings as gifts entrusted by God. They are powers and means given to carry on his work, a figure for the different abilities entrusted to each person to be used wisely, for which everyone will give an account, a principle applying to God's people in every age and more fully in the last days. As these gifts are used well, more will be added.

Particular trusts named are time with its hours, lent time, intellect and mental powers with the highest use of the intellect and careful thought, influence and moral influence, pen, voice, money, and means. They include received truth, light, privileges and gifts, present truth and light and knowledge of the thrilling truths that herald the second coming, too precious to be hoarded and hid in the earth but to be put to work, shared to enlighten those in unbelief, and used to make men wise unto salvation and to win souls by establishing the work in cities and towns without waiting for ordained ministers. They include children entrusted to parents and the church to be guided and trained for the Lord's service rather than directed toward worldly things that bury talents, human life and the soul itself, personal knowledge of Christ, grace as the word within, youth and its years, sociability, writing, business judgment, schoolwork, and missionary papers, with influence and opportunities to share the light of truth to be actively used for salvation. At the reckoning what is required is not how successful in gathering means but what was done with what was given, what was done for him in the person of the poor, the afflicted, the orphan, the fatherless, the sick, the hungry and the destitute of clothing, with neglect bringing guilt when every motive is brought under scrutiny in the judgment.

Natural gifts and endowments already existed before the talents were given, and the talents were distributed according to that ability, of which the Lord is the best judge, so that no one should measure responsibility by own sense of weakness, unworthiness or inexperience. The talents are not merely natural, inherited or acquired faculties nor merely worldly possessions such as farms or money, though what was received could be increased, in some cases tenfold. They are the same gifts as the pounds in Luke's parable, given by the same Lord for the same purpose and duration, with each servant who belongs to the Master given a share, the servant's part being consecration and faithful use while God is the giver. For every talent people are indebted to the One who gave them existence. Whatever ability, talent, wisdom or success anyone has is not manufactured by himself but is sacred trust received from the Source of wisdom as the Lord's entrusted capital, to be wisely employed in his service to his glory, leaving no place for strife for supremacy, self-exaltation, being lifted up, or calling attention to one's own defective self, for Jesus alone is to be exalted.

Proportionate Responsibility Rule

The distribution is made on the ground of distinct individual ability, to each according to his own separate particular capacity and not according to a common ability shared with others. The Owner who apportions is the Creator who knows each one best and judges ability best, and He does not give capriciously but gives to one able wisely to use five five talents, to one able to improve two two talents, and to one able wisely to use only one one talent. The talents so assigned are His own goods entrusted as capital to produce results, not wages earned and not merely natural or acquired faculties, and they may include money or property, opportunities, privileges, agencies and rights to undertake useful work. No one should lament receiving smaller gifts or measure responsibility by his own sense of weakness, unworthiness or inexperience, for what is called inability may be unwillingness or lack of reliance on God.

Every servant receives at least one talent and assigned work, so that no one is left without a field of labor and even the one-talent man has a task for which he must answer. Responsibility is measured only by what is possessed and to the extent of what was given according to ability, for God requires return only according to what a man has and not according to what he does not have. He accepts faithful improvement of one as readily as of five, and failing to improve one brings the same condemnation as failing to improve five. He does not require a ten-talent increase from the one-talent man, nor what a person is unable to do, nor alms from the poor nor strength from the feeble as from the healthy, and no one is condemned for not receiving more.

Faithfulness is measured in proportion to what was given and not by equal amounts, for the servants with five and two each doubled what they had and received the same commendation and the same kind of reward in sharing the master's joy with greater responsibility. Reward depends on faithful use rather than number received, while greater gifts bring greater responsibility and a greater return required, and small duties test fidelity so that contempt for them bars further trust and cheerful performance prepares for more. The rule "according to his several ability" governs both the giving of gifts and the requiring of results, making the reckoning righteous because requirements are proportionate to endowments and rewards commensurate with improvement. God does not expect small vessels to contain what larger contain, but distinguishes men in abilities and opportunities, opening to one an expansive field matching five talents, to another a position matching two, and to another work for His glory with one, even making one rich and another poor and giving great intellect and facilities to one and small abilities and limited opportunities to another.

Each must answer for his own talents and not another's, using his own gifts well and returning interest proportionate to what was given, and is accountable only for what was entrusted with divine help while the Lord is absent yet mindful. Having fewer talents is no reason to neglect or bury what was received, and having only one is no excuse for idleness, for each is to work within the ability he has and not take on another's assigned burden. No one has cause to complain of receiving less or to boast of receiving more, since the gifts were not earned, and no one should aspire to handle greater gifts merely because others received them. Having less is no reason for envy, jealousy, or wishing for another's position, for the master knows what each can handle and assigns fitting responsibility, so that one may serve better and receive full credit in a lowly station than in a higher one, and difference in gifts is reason to be glad others can do what one cannot and to do all one can even when others can do more.

Reckoning Reward and Loss

After a long time the lord comes back to settle accounts, and every servant must answer for the use of what was placed in his hands. Those who traded with five and with two and doubled them are approved as good and faithful, welcomed into the joy of the master, which is sharing Christ's joy in souls saved through service, effort, example and sacrifice, and sharing his glory. That entrance brings greater responsibility and eternal life. The servant who dug in the earth and hid his single talent cannot excuse himself, but is judged unprofitable, wicked and slothful, has his talent taken from him and given to the faithful user, and is cast into outer darkness.

What is entrusted must be actively traded, improved and returned with increase, not merely preserved intact. Returning only what was given does not satisfy Christ, for he calls for his own with usury, and every provision has been made to make increase possible through what he died to place within reach. Talents are like money that grows on interest when wisely used, able to increase to almost three times the amount, while what is shut up to self is lost and what is buried in the world forfeits a share in his joy. To hold aloof from the most active service leaves them unimproved, which is foolish, unprofitable and dangerous, and at the judgment every man must give account of his stewardship and should appear with his talents increased by wise and diligent use.

There is a law that there is no standing still, but either progress or loss. Abilities neglected decline, grow weak, dormant and lost, and may be taken away, so that the light in him becomes darkness, while use develops them. Faithful use improves and multiplies talents, strengthens and increases every faculty, rouses dormant energies and palsied faculties to new life, enlarges the heart to receive more of the Spirit's power and to do more and better work, and brings greater gifts and greater ability for service. Reward depends not on how many talents were received but on how well they were used, so faithful use of a few can be great.

Success is not chance or destiny but the outworking of God's own providence, the reward of faith and discretion, of virtue and persevering effort. God does not supernaturally endow missing qualifications, but while what is given is used he works with the worker, yielding as instruments for the Holy Spirit's working lets grace deny old inclinations, overcome powerful propensities, form new habits, and cherishing and obeying the promptings of the Spirit prepares for more and better work. The actual reward is measured by developed ability to continue serving, for all faithful servants receive the same Well done, yet each builds his own cup, and though every cup runs over, the one who by faithful service develops the largest degree of ability to serve and uses it in actual service receives the greater reward of greater ability to continue to serve the same Master. Therefore the reward of the faithful servant is life eternal with time and power in full measure for service, the work begun on earth reaching its consummation in a higher and holier life to endure throughout eternity, while he who refuses service and work to the measure of his ability has chosen death and will be refused the privilege to serve in any degree, with neither time nor power for service, because in the doing of God's work is the salvation he desires to give. The unfaithful servant's excuse treats the master as harsh and the work as yielding too little return to justify the effort.

Prophetic Setting and Timing

The verse belongs to the great prophetic discourse recorded most fully in Matthew 24-25, to be studied together with Mark 13 and Luke 21, with Matthew supplying the key to its interpretation and the data to rightly divide its teaching. It was spoken on Mount Olivet near the close of Christ's ministry under the shadow of the cross, covering the whole Christian age and giving signs of the second advent though not the day or hour. Its immediate and primary reference to the destruction of Jerusalem and the tribulation attending that period, the utter political destruction of the Jewish nation with its civil, political and religious polity and the end of that dispensation, is soon lost sight of in greater and more appalling events it symbolizes. The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans and the sacking of the temple do not fill up its lines, which pass to the establishing of the Christian dispensation, the kingdom of Heaven, the separation of tares from wheat and righteous from wicked, the final destiny of each class, and the greater events that usher in the end of the world spoken of by Daniel and elaborated in the Apocalypse. In that discourse Christ's second coming is the center of Christian faith and life, to be believed, looked for, loved, longed for, and kept in constant regard in conduct, when He will come in glory, sit upon His throne, and bring the final reward. It belongs with Matthew 24 as one of the long chains of prophecy spanning to the present as the last link on the verge of the day of God, making certain the personal second coming to punish the ungodly and reward the saints and bring peace and restitution, and it shows the present condition of the world continuing until Christ returns to judge it with no millennium of holiness intervening before His return.

The lesson was given for Christians living in the last days and waiting for His coming during the investigative judgment now present, requiring faithfulness in the use of what belongs to the Lord. The talents here are not merely ability to preach and instruct from the Word but temporal goods and money placed in human hands as stewards, five to one, two to another, and one to another according to ability, to be rightly used and laid out for the Master with diligence and activity. After a long time the Lord returns to reckon for their use, and that reckoning for His soon coming takes place before He comes in the clouds of heaven, in the judgment hour now present when each name comes up in review before God and each is accounted worthy or unworthy of the resurrection. The parable thus illustrates the last general judgment and a condition in the church just before His coming, points to the time of the investigative judgment when salvation depends on relation to Christ and His work in the heavenly sanctuary, and presents similar instruction about watchfulness for the Lord's coming. Its warnings apply to the period just before that event, with the waiting time after the 1844 disappointment a time of spiritual darkness in which believers must keep watch, pray, and remain ready without setting a definite time until the coming of the Son of man, and faithfulness will be tested at the judgment now in session.

The chapter outlines the history of His people from His own day to the end, with each prominent waymark marking a change in work and trials, and gives the order of events leading to the Saviour's glorious appearing. The virgins going out to meet the bridegroom represent the Advent movement prompted by the signs that the Son of Man is near, the cry announcing the bridegroom calls God's people to arise, prepare, and go out to meet Him, and the ten virgins' parable was fulfilled when believers went forth with the midnight cry in about the middle of July 1844. The giving of talents to every man according to his ability before the master's journey stands within that predicted order fulfilled in Advent history, proving this is the time to expect the introductory scenes of Christ's coming, and a message about the nearness of the judgment and the coming of Christ will be proclaimed by the church living at the close of this dispensation. After disappointed expectation and a period of darkness the parable teaches the duty of watchfulness, with the wise prepared by faith in God's word discerning from signs when night is far spent and day is near, calling for watchfulness without setting a definite time. Understanding the signs must produce everyday Christian service — feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming strangers, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, and caring for prisoners — for only such a practical compassion gives power to proclaim the warning about Christ's coming and the judgment hour, while those who joined only nominally or half-heartedly were unprepared when the bridegroom came.

On the judgment taught here, people are judged before receiving reward or punishment and not summoned from heaven or hell after already receiving it at death, for the chapter's account of the final judgment emphasizes judgment before recompense and makes the Judgment prominent in Jesus' teaching. Throughout the whole scene Christ acts as executor of judgment rather than judge conducting the trial, for Matthew 25:1-46 does not describe the great trial of character but the separation between righteous and wicked accomplished by the resurrection of the just, after which Christ addresses each party and shows why the separation was made. The terms for all men are limited rather than universal, the coming of the Bridegroom in the chapter of the ten virgins is not Christ's appearing to this earth, and the verse does not support continued missionary work after death nor salvation without knowledge of Christ. The wise virgins' entry to the marriage cannot represent the ascension of the resurrected just if the bride is the church and the marriage occurs at or after their resurrection, for that would make the foolish virgins' later appeal represent the ascension of the unjust. Beside this, those who held a differing view taught that the conversation concerns the general judgment, the destruction of Jerusalem, and questions natural to Christ's kingdom which was intensely Jewish and probably relates to the end of the world, but not to what is usually called the presence of Christ, which is non-material spiritual presence and power.

Faithful Use in Service

Every believer has work assigned according to ability in the vineyard, with no one left without a field of labor, and responsibility rests on all servants rather than on ministers only or a favored few. Youth and child as well as man and woman are entrusted, and smallness, unfitness, or shame excuses no one, for even duties that look small must be done with might because faithfulness in them prepares for a more extended field. The work is not to wait for ordained ministers, but men and women of intelligence are to establish the work in cities and towns, lift up the cross, and win souls, while leaders are to search out hidden talents for the third angel's message, the book field, schools, and city work. Christ gives different portions, five talents, two talents, and one talent, to every man according to ability before taking his journey, which requires earnest vigilant labor, waiting, watching, praying, and working with personal consecration and heart-holiness and no spiritual declension to prepare the way for the second coming. Large capabilities bring large responsibilities, yet those placed in a humble sphere with only one or two talents must trade diligently, for God does not expect small vessels to contain what larger vessels contain, nor alms from the poor, nor active energies that infirmities forbid, and devoted earnest humble workers are needed in all parts of the wide harvest field.

Faithful trading is active labor for others rather than merely giving money while neglecting personal effort, and it advances the cause, distributes truth, saves souls, and relieves the widow, fatherless, poor, sick, and suffering. It includes preaching, canvassing, circulating publications and missionary papers, teaching, and giving means, together with everyday service from home such as earnest conversation with a neighbor with a tract, a kind word, a smile, a cup of cold water, listening, encouraging, and home care, all to be returned with interest. Gifts differ but together equip servants to work with Christ, to build up the church, and to bring people into the one fold, so everyone is responsible to some degree and must not remain idle. True missionary life requires a heart warmed by love to God and neighbors, learning the blessedness of self-denial and doing good, and such activity revives spiritual life while inactivity brings sleep, weakness, and decline.

Burying or hiding the talent is failing to work for others and not doing all that might be done with what was entrusted, and it must be answered for in the judgment. It comes from a distrustful fearing spirit, fear, half-heartedness, worldly pursuits, selfish ease, and blaming the giver, and it may look only like shrinking sensitiveness or harmless inefficiency rather than riotous spending, wasting, or sinking in debt, yet it is sin that forfeits all and brings condemnation as wicked, slothful, and unprofitable. It includes hoarding means, tying them in earthly investments, farms, buildings, and speculative ventures, withholding truth, spending on needless things, being busy only with one's own soul, fearing hard self-denying service and rebuff, feeling too simple and unlettered for counsel, and leaving the widow and fatherless to abler others. A gift is buried when neglected or covered by earthly concerns, which wastes opportunities and buries part of oneself and one's life, for the ground that receives one talent could receive five, while faithful service for souls may require giving up ease and pleasure and spending time, care, thought, prayer, and tears even with little visible return. Gifts cannot be hidden or returned whole, because letting them lie idle is wasting them, leaving both God and others without benefit and depriving the holder of heavenly treasure.

Having only one talent does not remove responsibility, and smallness is no excuse for idleness, for even the least receives a talent to be used and a work to be done for Christ with fidelity, diligence, and increase expected however small the honor or gain may seem. Modest ability such as managing a home with care and giving time, love, and support, speaking a language, listening, or small offerings like the widow's mites and the lad's loaves can be put to fruitful use, accomplish what God intends, contribute to others' success, and receive the same Well done when faithfully doubled. A talent is a gift lent by God to be wisely spent for the Giver rather than hoarded, and each must answer for it, with faithfulness meaning putting even a small gift to work rather than despising or neglecting it through fear or sloth. One with little means is as responsible as one with more and may be just as tempted to cling selfishly, so all are to use what they have with self-denial of effort and means that the Master may receive it back with increase when he comes.

Rightly understood, the entrusting bars covetousness, which is idolatry, and requires practical benevolence worked out in the life, transforming selfish covetous worshipers of mammon into earnest faithful coworkers with Christ in the salvation of sinners and giving spiritual life to thousands of nominal professors mourning over darkness. Proper use brings glory to God, while perverted use for selfish gain, pride, extravagance, worldliness, or Satan's service robs the Giver, becomes a curse rather than a blessing, and shuts out from eternal riches. Every person, whether serving God or pleasing self, remains under obligation for the trust, and refusing to acknowledge God's claims does not lessen guilt, for choosing the black banner of the prince of darkness through this life means standing unconfessed by Christ in the day of final accounts. The parable does not teach accumulation of worldly wealth as faithful service, so farms, stores, or stocks cannot be made its measure, nor does serving mammon bring exaltation in Christ's kingdom.

Stewardship of means tests loyalty and faithfulness, including faithful return of tithe from income, self-denying giving, economy in dress and expense, investing for missions, sustaining workers, freeing houses of worship, and making wills and lifetime disposition rather than leaving buried wealth. Talents represent goods entrusted by God, especially means that can be invested to advance his work and save souls, whose ownership includes the world and all it contains, and stewards hold them for a limited time and must answer in the judgment for their use. Hiding the talent in the earth is claiming a right to do what one pleases with possessions and withholding the Lord's money from his cause, so souls are not saved, and keeping resources selfishly while the poor suffer and the Redeemer's cause lacks fails in stewardship even without enormous riches. The servant who buries his talent pictures those who keep means tied in earthly investments rather than spreading truth, who spend on needless things and make excuses when called to account, and embezzling what the Lord entrusted means losing both talent and eternal life, with withholding bringing robbery, unbalanced account, and judgment.

God first tests by small duties and present opportunities, and doing them cheerfully and well prepares for greater responsibilities, greater trust, and the gift of everlasting life, with the Master expecting return on what he entrusted at his coming. Each is to trade diligently and conscientiously on the Lord's goods according to the directions of God's Word for upbuilding truth, doing his utmost to glorify God, keeping self out of sight, holding Christ before the world, without selfishness or worldly ambition, doing his best to be perfect, and talents improve and multiply as thus used. No one is to compare or long for other work but to do his best where called, cultivating every faculty, redeeming time, striving to increase capabilities for continually better work, and matching work to ability in fitting roles including missionary labor in Northern Europe, Washington, Australasia, and island fields. Talents are like money growing on interest when wisely used, able to increase almost threefold, while holding aloof from active service leaves them unimproved, which is foolish, unprofitable, and dangerous, and every man must give account of stewardship at the judgment.

Use reveals character and affects eternal standing, for faithful unselfish use glorifies God, blesses others, invests for fellow men's salvation by advancing the cause and relieving the widow and fatherless, gathers rich blessings and gratitude, makes the soul like a watered garden, and gives inexpressible joy at reaping time in gathered sheaves as the recompense of fidelity. Neglect through pride, fear, silence, or inaction makes the servant accountable as a robber of God, with judgment taking account of good left undone, evil resulting, and every hour of inaction, and thinking one talent too little for God leads to burying it until the Lord comes to require it with usury, finds it corrupted, takes it away, and leaves the unfaithful with those who lose all in the second death. The one-talented man needed besides knowledge of God to understand himself and his destiny, for a wrong conception of the master and of self as a mere slave makes work feel hard and compulsory, so the talent can at best be kept wrapped in a napkin and buried and will never increase. The one who knows himself as a child of God and not a slave has freedom and confidence to make large investments for the kingdom without fear, knowing returns are sure, while the wicked servant's spirit shows he would not have used five well either, and faithfulness in little shows character fitted for greater responsibility, commendation, and joy. What people possess is assigned according to ability and held in accountability for its use.

Being a woman is no excuse for burying or limiting gifts, for the parable applies equally to women and men and both are accountable for developing and increasing what God entrusted rather than merely preserving it. Much ability in the church lies unused like talents buried in the earth or wrapped in napkins, and Sabbath-school service can bring that undeveloped ability into use. Faithfulness in ordinary duties shows love and loyalty to God, for stewardship begins when he accepts a person into service, lasts until the final accounting, and tests character as a high responsibility. Such unselfish watchful labor helps prepare for the second coming, yet labor alone does not perfect Christian character, for personal piety must be cultivated alongside diligent service. Ministers must use their powers wisely and to the fullest with zeal joined to knowledge rather than wasting energy or mental ability, for neglecting a talent is sinful and squandering it is worse.