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ENTRY & END TIMES | Don't Waste Your Talents | Matthew 25:14-30 | Philip Anthony Mitchell
00:57:30
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Be seated if you are guest 2019. We welcome you to these sacred gatherings, these holy assemblies, this body of believers where we are serious about the spread of the gospel and the multiplying of disciples to all of our digital disciples. Watching me live right now across the country and around the world. You are our family. I want you to hear my heart. We love you. We pray for you every week. You mean everything to us. And I just thank you for being a part of this gathering, wherever you are. And if you're not a follower of Christ, if you're outside of the kingdom, man, I am praying for you that in a moment, during prayer or during worship or during the proclamation of God's word, you would. You would hear something that would move you from where you are towards the light, from darkness towards the light, from the kingdom of darkness towards the kingdom of God. That you will come upon this ark of safety before it's too late. For tomorrow is not promised to you, my brother, or my sister, for we make plans for tomorrow, and we are.
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Not guaranteed to see tomorrow.
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And so if you're sitting in that first overflow, or if you're sitting in that second overflow, if you're in that double overflow, you all the way at.
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The back, I'm talking to you right across this camera, I'm talking to you that today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to repent. Today is the day to trust in Christ with all of your heart. Today is the day to know Jesus as your savior. Today is the day to do that. For you are not even guaranteed to get home when you leave here today. If an accident will take you when you left this building, would you be prepared to meet the Savior you don't believe in? I'm talking to you in that double overflow. I'm talking to you in that second overflow. I'm talking to you in this room. I'm talking to you across that camera.
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Death should awaken us to our mortality, remind us that we are not finite. We are weak individuals in desperate need of a Savior. We are in the last two messages in a series called Entry and End Times. We are walking through Matthew, chapter 21 through 25. Together, we are studying the final actions and the final prophetic words of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to say to you for the last two times this week and next week, God willing, that final words are very important.
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And that they.
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Are more important when a person is facing death.
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And they are no more, more important.
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Words than the final words of the.
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One we call Lord and Savior. And I feel passionately about these words because of the times that we're living in. And I feel passionately about these words because I want you to do more than just come to church. I want you to hear the words of Christ and I want you to take them serious. I want you to hear the words of Christ and I want you to go home and read and study. I want you to hear the words of Christ and appropriate them in your life. I want for you church to be more than just gatherings. I want it to be something you hear the proclamation of God's Word and something in you wants to go out and live out what you hear and lean into what you hear. That we value the words of people more than we value the words of the one who saved us. We put more stock in men than we do the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want you to get to a place in your life where you learn to love these scriptures when you read them for yourself, when you study them, you lean into them. You stop saying, I can't hear God, but you don't read, knowing that all of this book testifies of the Lord Jesus Christ. For we search these scriptures for in them, Jesus said to the Pharisees, you're trying to find life. But it is them that testify of me. All of it testify of Christ. And I plead for you that you would love Christ more than anything in this life. Man, I shed tears over you this week and I cried out over you and my children sitting over there that you learned to love Christ more than any person in this life, more than Pam, more than your favorite preacher. You would love him and adore him. He will be the object of your worship and your affection. And you would not make idols out of men, but we would worship and deify the one who rescued you. No man did that for you. And that these would not just be sermons, but there will be rally cries from our Savior to his children.
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Amen.
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Anybody? Our text is coming from Matthew, chapter 25, verse 14 through 30. And the title of our message is.
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Don'T waste your talents, Spirit of the living God. Just minister to us. I pray you would pour into us a hatred for just the depravity and the ugliness of humanity, a hatred for it that would move us towards prayer and tears and brokenness and gospel witness. Let us hear your words proclaimed to us today with humble hearts and open ears. And Lord, you've seen my tears this week and you know my weakness and my frustration. I want to be home. But help me Lord, in my weakness to just for the next few moments to share with these the brothers and sisters I love with my whole heart. Give us stamina to listen and our heart to take it serious. I ask in the mighty, in the majestic and the matchless name of our Lord and soon coming King Jesus Christ. Amen and Amen. And Amen. Don't waste your talents. Last night as I was sitting up in bed and just meditating on this text, I was reminded that in 2009, when Lena and I lived in Columbus, Ohio, attending Bible college, I was reminded how my wife was serving in the children's ministry at that church and I was serving in an outreach ministry that was responsible for going into the inner city of Columbus, Ohio. And we would preach the gospel in the streets and preach the gospel in the projects. We would give out food and we would give out clothing. And there was a particular project in downtown Columbus that we sort of adopted. We have an affinity for this particular project. And we would go through those projects and knock on doors and go into homes and sit down with junky mothers and sit down with junky fathers and we would hold crack babies in our arms and we would sit there and let people blow smoke in our face while we try to teach them about the Lord Jesus Christ. Never judging them for what they did not know, but just loving them and meeting them where they are. And it was during that season that my team and I fell in love with a group of teenagers who became very dear to me. I don't know where any of them are today. They are probably in their 20s or 30s now. But I had a deep affinity for this specific group of teenagers who most of them had no father and some of them had no mother and they were living in homes that were really ratty and torn.
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And the only time they felt life is when we would show up each.
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Week to just sit with them and love on them and listen to them. I just want to remind somebody that sometimes children does not spell love G.
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I F T, but they spelled love.
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T I M E. And what they.
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Wanted from us was just time.
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And we would just sit there and enjoy them and sit in their presence.
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And on one occasion when I was leading the evangelistic ministry, the campaign on that day, I took that group of teenagers outside of the projects and we walked towards downtown Columbus. And as we walked, we came to a graveyard. And I stopped in front of the graveyard and I tapped all of them. I said, look out there in that graveyard and tell me what do you See? They responded. They said, oh, brother Philip, we see tombstones. And I said, good. What else do you see? We say, brother Philip, we see memorials. I said, good. What else do you see? He said, brother Philip, we see grass and trees and flowers. I said, good. What else do you see? We'll see, brother Philip, we don't see anything else. I said, are you sure? Look again. Tell me, what do you see? They said, brother Philip, we don't see anything else. And I will never forget getting those teenagers to focus for just a moment. And I said, look out there. Let me tell you what I see. I see unfulfilled potential. I see ministries that were never started. I see books that were never written. I see marriages that were never formed, children that were never born, visions that were never realized. I seen wasted potential out there in that graveyard. I seen anointings and giftings and callings that people carried with them to the grave. I told them, look out there in the graveyard. You see now the wealthiest place on earth. For out there in their graveyard, there are many people who carried with them to their grave things that God placed on the inside of them that was supposed to come out of them while they was in this life. And for whatever reason, whether excuses or hard times, challenges, ignorance, they carried with them to their graves the things that God had intended for them to do in this life. And I never forgot that moment. This is a tragedy of modern humanity, that there are people dying every day and going to the grave, carrying inside of them things that they were supposed to do in this life. This is even a greater tragedy in Christianity of people who talk about callings and talk about giftings and talk about anointings that have all this show of all these things we do. And yet there are Christians leaving this life every week and every day carrying to their grave things that the Master intended for them to do while they was here, intended for them to accomplish while they was here, intended for them to pour out while they was here. But for whatever reason, they made excuses. They were busybodies in church, man. They died having gone to the grave with the figurative babies that was inside.
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Them they were supposed to give birth to. They aborted those babies for whatever reason, and now they got to give an account to the Messiah for that.
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This is the tragedy that we approach at the center of our text, the tragedy happening in this room, in the overflow, in the double overflow. This is what we approach at the center of our text, a very serious passage of Scripture. But Christ, you know this for the final two Weeks has come to the final days of his life. He is just days away from being executed for your sins and for mine. He is on top the Mount of Olives where I was in Jerusalem, just outside of the city walls. And there he's surrounded by his followers. And they're asking him a question at this time, are you going to restore the kingdom back to Israel? They're asking him, when will these things be? They're concerned about the coming of his kingdom. They want to overthrow Rome. He begins to prophesy to them about the signs of the end of the age. And I said to you last week, I said to you this week, and I'm going to say to you next week, man, we are seeing the beginning of these things happening right now in our society, man. I was sitting with my children last night doing our homework, because I gave you homework, you know, And I was sitting with my children right over there reading through Revelation 19:20 and 21. I let them read and I taught. They read and I taught. They read and I taught and I made it aware to them. Do y' all see some of these things in this text? I'm showing them videos on TikTok and Instagram. Do you see how some of the things happening in society right now is reading right out of the pages of the scripture and they are shocked, eyes wide open. I'm showing them right now about the increase of another great monotheism that has taken over all of the east, has taken over all of England, it's starting to take over American cities. I read to them in the text, if you did your homework, where it said, during the tribulation period, Christians will be beheaded for the witness of Christ. There's only one type of militia, one type of religion that takes joy in beheading other people. That's why they're the fastest growing religion on the planet. And while we play in church and playing conferences and not paying attention, I was showing my children from social media and the scriptures together how right now we see all the pieces aligning all over the earth. God preparing the world for the coming of the sun. The scripture talks about the alliance between Russia and China. They are hidden in biblical prophecy. I showed my children on social media how the president of Russia was just with the president of China just two weeks ago. While people are not paying attention, I talked to my children about the rise of cryptocurrency and the rise of digital currency and the devaluation of paper money. The scripture tells us in the last days there will be one world Currency. Can't have one world currency with paper. That's why we see an increase in digital currency and plastic and cards and tap for get cash. Let's just tap for get cash. Let's have crypto. Forget castles. It makes it easier for the Antichrist to control the world. And I'm showing my kids from the scriptures and from their phone how God is allowing things right now, all over the earth, preparing the world for the coming of the sun. While you just want a sermon, don't want to live on mission, don't want to pray like people on mission. You just want a sermon. You want to go to Chick Fil A and then you want to chill out the rest of the week. You want to Netflix and chill. Never mind. God called you to be on mission. And I'm showing them from the scriptures and from social media how the words.
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Of God is colliding with the things we see.
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And here is the Lord prophesying about these end times, prophesying about the return of His. And I'm telling you, we're living in the beginning of these times. Now we might be the generation that sees the rapture, the tribulation and the return of Christ, which the Lord said, all these things will happen in rapid succession, like birth pains.
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We might be the generation to see all those things.
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And my question for you is, are you ready? And the Lord prophesies His return. And on the backside of that prophecy, he gives his followers and everybody who will listen to three parables, a trilogy of short stories to communicate the seriousness of his second coming. The first one, the parable of the faithful servant and the wicked servant, to communicate faithfulness. The second one, the parable of the ten Virgins, to communicate some people will be ready and some people will not be ready. And on the heels of that second parable, he gives us this last parable before he will be executed. The parable of the talents. Matthew, chapter 25. Matthew, who was the eyewitness recorded this passage. He recorded what Jesus said. Verse 14. Jesus continues teaching. He says, for it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. I want to draw your attention to the word it. The word it there is speaking of the kingdom of God. This is a continuation from the parable of last week. He started the parable of the 10 virgins by saying the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins. He finishes that teaching. He goes right into the second one. So the kingdom of heaven will also be like a man going in A long journey, the kingdom of heaven, the sphere of God's rule in the earth. And we see in God's rule in the earth there were virgins who were wise and virgins who were foolish. Because in the sphere of God's rule in the earth, there are people who are truly saved and people who are not truly saved. He goes straight into this one. He says, the kingdom of heaven. And the ending will also be like a man who went on a long journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. Now I want to draw your attention to the man in the text. He said, the man went away on a long journey. The man we see is akin to a type of Christ who also went away on a long journey. The Lord is saying this in the first century A.D. he's trying to help his followers understand there will be no overthrow right now in the first century. My brothers, I am about to bounce for a very long time. And what they did not see is what you and I are living in right now. The church age, which has been happening for over 20, 25 years. This man has been gone for a very long time. Two millennia this man has been gone. But when the man left, he did not leave his servants empty handed. No. He entrusted to them his property. I want to draw your attention to the Word, his property. And the Word entrusted to Jesus again reminded his followers. And as I remind you that you and I are stewards of everything that God has given to you, that the earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof. There is no one under the sound of my voice who is a owner of anything. But everything under your fingertips you have been given to steward. And I want to say to you again, and next week I might say to you again, that the most important things you are stewarding, write them down. You are stewarding your time, your resources, your opportunities, your assignments, your relationships. These are the five most important things that you are stewarding. You are managing these things for the glory of God. I want you to notice, he said his property and his servants, because you also are a stewardship, your personal life, because you belong to the Lord if you are saved. So we are only stewards, we are only managers. And your management is a test in this life for what you will enjoy in the life to come. Verse 15 to 1 He gave five talents to another, two talents to another one according to his ability. Then the Master went away. So I want you to notice that the man did not leave these servants empty handed. He did not leave them to be idle, but he gave Each one of these servants. Talents, plural. To one man, he gave five talents. To another man, he gave two talents. To another man, he gives one talent, then he bounces and been gone for 2,000 years. Now, I want you to notice the talents. Historically, the talents was a sum of money in silver. In the first century, it weighed collectively somewhere between 50 and 85 pounds for one talent. One talent was equivalent to some 10 to 20 years of wages.
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So to give a person five talents.
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Is to give them a large sum of money. To give a person two talents is to give them a large sum of money. Shoot. To give a person one talent is.
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To give them a large sum of money. So the first thing the Lord entrusted.
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To these servants was resources. It's the same thing God has entrusted to you and I. One of the most important things God has entrusted to you, listen to me, is resources. I harp on this because this is the only thing that God ever exalted to the status of a God. Lord said that you cannot serve God and money at the same time. So one of the most important things that you are stewarding in this life are resources. God gave it to you. Your check, your job, your businesses, your ministries, all the income that comes into your house is a stewardship in the eyes of God. Now, this is very important because this is the one part of your life that is very private. See people see your posts, they see your preaching, they see your podcast, they see your ministry, they see you serving, they see you on the line, they see you as an usher, they see you in a room, but they don't see your bank account. And the stewardship of money is very important. Listen to me. Money is amoral. Like a dollar. $20. Let's go higher. $100.
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I wish somebody just gave me $20. Like, just give me some money.
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Oh, I forgot.
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Y' all Gen Z's, y' all tap money. Oh, come on. You're not getting that back either.
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Money. Money is amoral. It has no heart, has no eyes, it has no soul, has no thoughts, it has no will. But when it lands in the hands of a human being, it takes on a personality. With this $20, I could go buy groceries and give $5 to the poor and put a dollar in the offering. Or with this $20, I could go get blow and snuff out for the rest of the week. The money has no will of its own. It only has a will when it lands in the hand of a person. Why? Because money reveals what's in the heart. If you want to Know what's in people's heart, Just give them resources. As soon as resources lands in a hand, it reveals what's in the heart, where the heart is so your treasure will be also. So money in and of itself is not evil. People are evil. And so if you want to know what's in people's hearts, just put money in their hands. As soon as resources land in a person's heart, we see what's in their hands. We see what's in their heart. So the first thing that you are.
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Stewarding are resources for the glory of God.
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No, I didn't beat you up for a tithe. I just told you to be a.
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Good steward of the resources God has given you.
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Why? Because he's watching how you handle.
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This thing right here is not a God.
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Although some of you worship it and you bow down to it and you exalt it like an idol in your heart. You hold it so high, you're afraid to part from it. You're afraid to share it. You're afraid to invest it into the kingdom. This is so temporary. It's going to be gone. You ain't going to be using this in the millennial kingdom. The Lord is just allowing you to manage a little bit of it, just to see how good you can handle it. It's crazy to me that some of you be praying to be a millionaire, but you can't steward a few thousand dollars. You're praying for God to bless your business, but you can't steward a check. You're praying for God to increase your finances, but you can't steward what you have. And so the first thing he gave them to steward was resources. But I think the parable does not just stop with money. I think the parable is broader than money because of the key word ability, which speaks about work and tasks and assignments. So your talents, I believe, are not just only resources, but your talents are the opportunities God has given you to serve and to have assignments and to do tasks and to carry out functions. So what God has given you is the ability and the responsibility to steward.
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Resources, to steward opportunities, to steward assignments. Now, pay attention.
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Watch. In the text, we see that there.
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Is a tiered system of allocation.
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To one man, he gave five talents. To another man, he gave two.
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To another man, he gave one.
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Watch this according to their ability. This is very important. This means that for every human being, God has already assigned them a certain level of cognitive ability, a certain level of acumen, a certain level of work ethic, and then he will give Them resources and assignment according to their ability. This is the love of God because he's not going to give you something you cannot handle. This is very important because too many of us be praying and asking God for things that you don't have the character to handle and you don't have the ability to store it and God gave it to you, it will hurt you. See, I got people around me who are like five talent people. If you give a five talent person a one talent assignment, they're going to be bored and frustrated. If you give a one talent person a five talent assignment, they're going to feel overwhelmed and crushed. God, who is very wise is not going to give a five talent person a one talent assignment. And God, who's very wise is not going to give a one talent person a five talent assignment. This is why we need to stop being jealous of other people's assignments. Come on, man, I'm talking to y'.
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All.
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This ain't about competition and this ain't about condensation or being condescending towards somebody. This is, you watch having a personal awareness to embrace whatever level you on and just be faithful on whatever level you're on. The Lord is not asking you for more than what you can give. He just wants you to be faithful on what you want. So if Billy Graham is a five talent minister and Philip Anthony Mitchell is a two talent minister and some other man is a one talent minister man, am I jealous of Billy? Should I condemn the one talent man? No. I should just be in the middle trying to be faithful to what God has called me to do. There is some man in the country who got 50 people in his church, but he loves his family, loves his children. He's faithful to the Lord Jesus. He prays. He's a good steward. He's not cheating money from the, from the. He's faithful. Is he any less of a minister than I am? Am I any greater of a minister than he is? No. If we're faithful on our level, that's all God wants from us. All God wants for you is for you to be a faithful servant on.
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The level that he's given you.
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But it's only our brokenness in humanity. Why that we like to exalt five talent people and make them gods and.
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Put down one talent people and make them trash. But why condemn somebody if that's the limit of what God gave them?
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And why exalt a man if that's.
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What God gave them?
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Man? If that person is a five talent, that's God's. Grace. And if they have one talent, that God's grace ours is to be honest.
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About what level we on and just.
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Be faithful on our level.
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I'm trying to, daughter. That's all God wants for us to.
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Just be faithful on our level.
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So I don't have to be jealous of a five talent person.
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All I got to do is be.
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Faithful what God has given me. Verse 18.
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But he who had received.
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Well, verse.
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16, he who had received the five talents went out and at once he traded and he made five talents more.
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And also the one who had two.
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Talents went out and traded and made two talents more. So I just want you to see that the first two servants immediately went out and they began to trade. They did not wait. Immediately they went out and they began to multiply their talents. They did not sit on what God gave them, but they multiplied what God gave them. The man who had five multiplied his talent. The man who had two, he multiplied his talent. They had some sense of purpose, some sense of meaning. They knew God gave them an assignment and immediately they set out to do that assignment. I just want you to draw some attention to you. I want you to draw some attention to some things in the text. I want you to notice the words at once. They did not wait. They recognized that they were saved. They recognized that they were given gifts and talents. Immediately they put their life on the altar. They they went out to serve God. The man who had five multiplied. The man who had two multiplied. What does this look like in context? What multiplication looks like in context is you watch using the potential God has given you and maximizing that potential to do everything God has called you to do. So what this looks like in context, everybody look right. This is if I've been saved for five years or 20 years, I should be a better husband today than I was when God saved me. I should be a better father today than when I was when God saved me. I should be a better steward today than I was when God saved me. I should be a better preacher today than I was when God saved me. If 20 years go by and you're still the same person, you are not multiplying your talents. If 20 years go by and you're not a good steward with money, you are not multiplying your talents. But if we would multiply our talents, my brothers and my sisters, that as time goes by, you will show fruit, that you're being transformed in different areas. You're becoming a better husband, you're becoming a better wife, you're becoming A better friend. You're becoming a better person who stewards money. You should be growing. And that's how you multiply the things that God has given you. That is man. You should be more obedient. You should be more faithful. The Lord should be able to look at you 20 years down the road and say, I don't have to fight you when I talk now. Now when I talk, you obey right away. When I first find you, you had the reason for three months before you carried out anything. But now when I talk to you, you move right away. You don't even need all the answers. You just trust my voice when I speak. So if you're becoming better in character, you're becoming more like the person of Christ. You're becoming more obedient, you're becoming more faithful. You're doing the things God has called you to do in your sphere of influence. That is how you multiply your talents.
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You multiply talents by giving God back something that he has deposited into you.
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But verse 18.
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But he who had received the one talent, he went out and he dug in the ground. He buried his master's money.
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The first two dudes producing what they supposed to.
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And the Lord doesn't work from the five talent person more than what he gave him. And he doesn't work from the two talent person more than what he gave him.
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I want to help some of you.
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Man who be feeling burdened all the time. You think the Lord wants from you things he did not ask of you. So you crucify yourself all the time. You condemn yourself all the time.
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You beat yourself all the time.
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Now look, the Lord listen, if you're a two talent person, the Lord is.
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Not asking you for five talents. He just wants you to multiply what you have.
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But then we see this last brother right here. Too many of us are like this last brother.
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You have gifts, you have abilities, you have talents, you have money, you have resources. But.
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But you don't use it for the kingdom of God.
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You're not developing in character. You're not growing as a man and a woman. That's what this brother is. He goes out and he buries his talent in the ground. Now, burying his talent is not uncommon. In the first century when banks was embryonic, if people wanted to protect something that was assets, they would dig a hole in the ground, put that thing in the ground and cover it up and come back and find it later. That's how they protected assets. I just want you. Look, I just want you to pay attention that the man had to dig a hole in the ground to bury that talent. It takes effort to dig a hole. It is activity to dig a hole. So the brother is busy, but he's not fruitful. The brother has activity, but he's not obeying his master. And there's too many of us who are just like this brother. We have all this activity in our life, but we're not fruitful for the kingdom. We are busy bodies, but we're not fruitful bodies. We're running here and there. We're doing all these things, and we're saying yes to all these people. You're building this over here, and you're building that over there, and you're running here. You're doing all that stuff. But my question is, are you doing what God has called you to do? Are you doing what God has purposed you to do? You can be busy and not fruitful. You can be full of activities and not fruitful. Some of you are running from conference to conference, but you still have not.
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Obeyed the last thing God called you to do.
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So I want you to see that this brother dug a hole and he put his resources in the hole. And I'm trying to stop some of you from continuing to do that. In fact, I'm trying to strip you of your shovel. My prayer today is, some of you.
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Will lay down that shovel that you have that you're always busy doing everything other than the Father's business.
- [33:01]
B
You got time for everything except the Father's business. You're too busy to pray, too busy to read, too busy to fast, too busy to love, too busy for your wife, too busy for your husband, too busy for your children. You're too busy for everything except the word of God. You're too busy for everything except what God called you to do.
- [33:19]
A
My brother and my sister.
- [33:20]
B
Listen to me, man. Give me that shovel, man. Leave that shovel in the room today. Leave it in the overflow. Leave it in the second overflow. Leave it on the couch. I'm talking to those of you who are always active, but you're not fruitful, man. Leave that shovel here today. Lay it down. Take inventory of the things that you're doing and ask yourself a question.
- [33:42]
A
Is this in line with what God has called me to do? Verse 19. Now, after a long time, the master of those servants came and he settled accounts with them. This is a picture of the second coming of Christ. I want you to notice not because Christ is delayed. That doesn't mean he's not coming. Christ is delayed, but Christ is also coming.
- [34:11]
B
When the Master comes, look at the first thing that he does. He comes and immediately he settles everyone's accounts. That is, nobody is going to escape Christ. The atheist will not escape him. The Muslim will not escape him. The unbeliever will not escape him. The fake Christian will not escape him. When the Lord returns, in return he shall. He will settle everyone's accounts. If you did your homework, you would have read that books are going to be open. And in those books he will look at what everybody has done in his life. And then according to those books, people will either be judged or people will be rewarded. You would have saw that in your homework, that when Christ comes, he's coming to give watch. A time for everybody to stand before Him. And then all of us are going to have to give an account for how we manage the things. How did you steward your children? How did you steward your resources? How did you steward your time? How did you steward your opportunities? We will give an account for how we stewarded the things that he gave us in this life. Nobody escapes that account. Verse 20. And he who had received the five talents came forward during the account, bringing five talents more and saying, Master, you delivered to me five talents. Here I have made five more talents. His master said to him, I know.
- [35:27]
A
You want to hear these words, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little.
- [35:35]
B
I will now set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. This is what's going to happen at the end. The Lord makes it no darkness for us to know. Verse 22. And he says to the other one who had two talents. He came to him saying, master, you delivered to me two talents, here I've made two more. His master said to him, well done, you good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little things. I will now set you over much.
- [36:00]
A
Enter into the joy of your master.
- [36:03]
B
So I just want you to see.
- [36:04]
A
From the words of Christ that in the end, when we all give an account man, some people will be commended for what they have done. These two servants, they are ready for their account. They come with excitement in their voice. And you could hear it in the.
- [36:17]
B
Text, Master, look, you gave me five talents, I give you back 10. You gave me two, I give you back four. We hear in them men who had a sense of assignment, a sense of mission, men who was living on purpose, people who understood that their life mattered. We hear in them men who were serious about the time they spent in the earth. This is what I want for you. This Is what I shed tears for you. I want you to be men and women that live with a sense of purpose, live with a sense of assignment, live with a sense of mission. I want you to get up in the morning thinking, man, God has anointed me for whatever. Fill in the blank roles he has given you to be a mother, a father, a minister, a speaker, a teacher, whatever it is. These men aren't ready for their account. They say, lord, look, you made an investment in me. I give you back your investment. This is powerful. This is me being able to stand before the Lord and say, lord, you saved a brother from Queens. And look at all of the good that has come out of my life. I messed up a few times. I fell down a few times. I made a few mistakes. But look, there are souls in heaven because of my preaching. Look, my children made it because of my discipleship. Look, people love you because of my preaching. Look, they love the Bible. He wants to see our ROI on your salvation. He wants to know that when I saved you, I got something out of you on the Day of Judgment. What the Lord wants to see is that what your salvation was, not a waste. And he does not have to regret that I saved you from sin, man, I want to arrive in heaven with the Lord having no regrets. Like man, that brother, man, he was difficult in the beginning, but, man, he cleaned up really good after 20, 20 years, man, like man, he really started listening. He really started praying. He was reading. He really started preaching from the Bible, man, he was serious about study. Like, I want the Lord to.
- [38:04]
A
I want to be able to stand.
- [38:05]
B
Before him, say, lord, look, you rescued me. This is what you gave me.
- [38:07]
A
I give you back more than what you gave me.
- [38:10]
B
I want to be able to do that with joy in my heart. And look at the commendation they get.
- [38:15]
A
This is the commendation we're living for. Well done, you, good and faithful servant. I know you got that on your T shirt. And I just want to remind you he didn't say that to people just because they were believers. Well done, my good and faithful servant is not an empty platitude. Well done, my good and faithful servant was attached to good stewardship. And there'll be a lot of believers who might die and arrive in heaven and never really hear that. You hear that at every funeral, we always say, man, well done, my good and faithful servant. How are we saying that about somebody in a box that hated Jesus and never went to church?
- [38:51]
B
The preacher is a liar.
- [38:53]
A
Well done, my good and faithful servant is for believers who were good stewards in this life.
- [38:58]
B
So if you want to hear those.
- [38:59]
A
Words from your Savior, you have to start taking serious. The stewardship of everything that God has placed under your care. If you will hear from your Savior, well done, my good and faithful servant. You don't hear that for going to church. You hear that for being a good steward.
- [39:13]
B
He says, watch. You were faithful over a little.
- [39:16]
A
Now I'm going to make you ruler over much. I want you to pay attention to the word little and the word much. He said, everything y' all did in this life was little.
- [39:27]
B
That means the biggest ministry in this.
- [39:29]
A
Life in the eyes of God, little.
- [39:31]
B
The biggest fortune in this life in the eyes of God little. He said everything in this life. You were just rulers over things that were little. But he says, now, man, come in here. I will make you a ruler over much. This is important because I want you to see. We're not going to be in heaven floating around on clouds and playing harps all day and being bored. He said to him, for those who are faithful in this life over little, I'm going to make you ruler over much. That your service in this life is going to translate into a greater service in the next life. Man, this ministry 2019 is little in the eyes of God, But I can't even get if he calls this little. Just imagine what I'm going to be ruling over when I come into glory with my Savior. Man, if you think the things you have now are big, just imagine what you're going to be ruling over when you come into glory with your Savior. Man, the things we're studying right now are small. They're nothing compared to what God is going to give us. Now, the wisdom of Paul makes sense, man. No eye has seen and no ear has heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those of us who love him. Man, the biggest thing you admire in this earth, the biggest ministries, little or not. If these things are little, just imagine what you're going to rule over in eternity. We're not going to be flowing on Cloud's board. No, we're going to have rulership. We'll have assignments. We'll serve God at another capacity. We'll serve him with joy. And we'll be over things much greater.
- [40:54]
A
Than anything that we can imagine. Enter into the joy and the rest of your master is what he said, come now, be rewarded for your labors. Verse 24. But he who had received the one talent came in and said, master, I knew you was a Hard man. Reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter seed. So I was afraid and I went and I hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours. Family. This is a tragedy right here, that I'm trying to protect as many people as possible from being in this position, that there are too many people. Look, he appeals to the master with two things. He appeals to the master with an insult, and he appeals to the master.
- [41:44]
B
With a felt need.
- [41:45]
A
He's hoping the master is going to feel sorry for him.
- [41:48]
B
He tells the master, I knew you was a hard man. Reaping where you have not sown, harvesting where you have not planted. He is accusing the master of taking.
- [41:56]
A
What does not belong to him.
- [41:57]
B
Like the scripture didn't say the earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof. He is now arguing with the master based on bad theology. And there are a lot of people, man, who have poor hermeneutics and bad theology. You're going to arrive in glory before God. You're not going to be able to get into glory. And in that moment, you're going to argue with God with bad theology. That's why you should love biblical teaching. That's why you should read the Scriptures for yourself, so you don't die and come into a place of shock. This brother now is shocked. He makes an excuse for why he wasn't faithful, why he wasn't fruitful. He makes an excuse, I knew you was a hard man. He insults his master. And then he tried to appear with some felt knee garbage. I was afraid, he said, I was afraid. Too many of us are like that. We paralyze with fear. So because of fear, we don't do anything that God has called us to do. This man said, I was afraid. And I just want to remind some of you who deal with fear. I need to say this before I finish this text. There are some of you, man, you.
- [43:02]
A
Are waiting for everything to be perfect.
- [43:04]
B
For you to obey. You're just like this dude.
- [43:06]
A
You battle in fear. You're not like the two dudes that.
- [43:08]
B
Immediately went out and did what they were called to do. I want to tell you something and you're not going to like it. Some of you, you're waiting to be ready before you do what God, it ain't coming. You've been dating for 25 years and you said, when we get enough money, then we're going to get married. It ain't coming. God is calling you to be obedient in some area and you say, when I feel ready, I'll start the ministry. I'll write the book. You're never going to feel ready. You need to just obey and do it afraid. You need to just be faithful. Afraid. You need to just jump out on faith and let God catch you. You're waiting for the planets and the stars to align before you choose to be obedient. Man. I'm telling you right now, today, some of you, what you're waiting for, it ain't coming. When I started this ministry, I wasn't ready. When I changed the name of the church, I wasn't ready. When I started traveling and preaching, I wasn't ready. Everything I'm doing right now, I had to do it afraid. I still get up on Sunday mornings and sometimes feel afraid. I still battle with insecurities. You're never going to feel perfectly ready. What broken human being is going to feel perfectly ready? You need to just do what God is calling you to do with all of your fears and insecurities. Just do it afraid and do it insecure.
- [44:21]
A
He gives the Lord an excuse. I was afraid, so I went and I buried what you here. Lord, I give you back the talent that you gave me.
- [44:32]
B
The Lord don't want back the talent he gave you.
- [44:34]
A
He want back more than what he gave you. And this is too many of us right here. I'm talking to you.
- [44:45]
B
This is all.
- [44:46]
A
This is just coming here. Listen to Pam. But not going out there and multiplying your talents, not being intentional about growing as a man, growing as a woman, growing as a disciple, growing in character.
- [45:03]
B
Growing in faithfulness, growing in obedience, growing.
- [45:07]
A
In knowledge of God's word, growing in peer. Where's the intentionality in those areas?
- [45:12]
B
The Lord wants to be able to look at you when he calls you home and see that he got something out of your life. I gave you assignments and you carried them out. I whispered to your ear to be obedient in that area and you carried that out. I told you to be a better husband and you took that serious. I called you to be a better wife and you took that serious. I told you to be a better mother or father to these children and you took that serious. I told you to be faithful at your local church and you took that serious. I told you, start giving some of your income to missions and to gospel ministries and you took like, I want to get something out of your life. The Lord made an investment in you. He put his spirit in you. He wants something out of you. He does not want to look at you at the end and say, man, I made a mistake in serving way saving this person. No, man, no. He wants to be able to say, this woman, I saved this man. I saved. Look how much I got out of them. I got songs out of them and albums out of them and sermons out of them. I got a better husband out of them. I got a better father. Look what I got out of this man. Look what I got out of this woman. Look at all that came out of them. And nobody else saw in them what I saw. I saw something in them. I. I gave them my spirit. I gave them assignments, I pulled out of them.
- [46:38]
A
Not like this brother who buried his talent.
- [46:42]
B
Not like this brother who's going to give the Lord wrong theological excuses. The Lord said, shoot, if you was going to do that, verse 27, you should have put my money in the bank, Woodrus and Brianna, and give me some investment. Give me some interest in me. Give me something back. That's what the Lord was saying was you going to disobey me half your life? At least give me something back. Give me some roi for saving you. I didn't save you. To just sit in rooms like this and be a churchgoer for 50 years, die and be disobedient. Give me something back for my investment. Give me something back is what the Lord said.
- [47:17]
A
Give me something back. And for those of you who think like.
- [47:27]
B
Tired of that brother yelling at us.
- [47:29]
A
I ain't taking that serious. Yeah, verse 28 and 29 and 30.
- [47:33]
B
Is for all of you.
- [47:35]
A
The Lord says, for the one who comes in the end. So take that talent from him, that wicked and lazy servant, and give it to the one who has 10 talents. For everyone who has will be given more and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away from him. The Lord says in the end he will strip every disingenuous servant, every fake Christian, everyone who arrives in glory with an excuse.
- [48:04]
B
He said he's going to strip people of what?
- [48:06]
A
The assignments. He's going to give it to somebody else.
- [48:09]
B
Man, this is going to happen in the judgment. I like to think, man, this may even be happening right now. There may be people right now. You are living out somebody else's assignment.
- [48:18]
A
Maybe there was somebody else the Lord.
- [48:20]
B
Was trying to get to be obedient and they wouldn't be obedient, so you had to strip them of that assignment and give it to you. Maybe there was somebody else that was supposed to change your family. He stripped them of that assignment, and he gave it to you. Maybe you are the man to change the trajectory of your family. Maybe you are the woman to change the trajectory of. Some of you may be living in assignments that some other person could not be faithful to. So he gave it to you. Your uncle could not do it, he gave it to you. Your father could not do it. He gave it to you. Your mother could not do it. He gave it to you. Man, people are going to be stripped of things they were supposed to do. It's going to be given to people else. And then those of us who are faithful are just going to have an abundance of God's blessing for our faithfulness.
- [49:09]
A
Verse 30. And cast that worthless servant into outer darkness, and in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The Lord is saying, in the end, for those who are going to bury their talent, they're going to be poor stewards of money, poor stewards of opportunities, poor stewards of relationships, poor stewards of assignments. Those who are not going to take stewardship serious, those who are not even really believers, they're going to be exposed in the end when they stand before the Lord, and he's going to say, take that, lazy servant. You didn't give me back what I put in you.
- [49:46]
B
Take that.
- [49:46]
A
Throw him into outer darkness, and in that place, hell, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. There will be a consciousness of suffering for not being good stewards. And if we're hearing the voice of our Savior, seriously, man, we.
- [50:01]
B
We. We go to our houses tonight.
- [50:03]
A
We kneel down, we pray, we say, lord, I repent.
- [50:06]
B
I'm sorry for every place.
- [50:07]
A
I've been a mismanager of your resources.
- [50:09]
B
Lord, help me to be a good steward over everything you've entrusted to me. Lord, you saved me. I want to give you our return on that vestment. Here is my cry for you. I want everybody in this room to die empty.
- [50:21]
A
Empty.
- [50:23]
B
Look at me. This is what I want. As your pastor and as your friend and as your brother, I mean this with my whole heart. I'm praying that everybody, under the sound of my voice, you die empty. You arrive in glory, not carrying anything that God intended for you to pour out in this life. I want you to arrive before heaven. Say, lord, I wrote the book. I made the songs, I did the album, I started the ministry, I did the podcast. I became a man. I'll be looking at Lena. This word to my mother, I'd be looking at. I'll be looking at her. I'll be Looking at in bed at night, I roll over and I'd be staring at her saying, lord, I want to be a better husband to this woman, man. She's. She's put up with a lot. She's been through a lot. She sacrificed a lot. I've heard her a lot. I'll be staring at her like, lord, I want to be a better husband to these women. I'll be looking at my children like, man, I miss time with them. When I was young and trying to build a ministry. I want to be a better father to them. I want to be available to them. Man, I cut my sermon prep short yesterday to hang out with them. And we went to Bar Taco and we went to Ponce City Market, and we was running the streets. I'm supposed to be in the house on Saturday. I never go out the house on Saturday. But I'm running the streets with them kids because I'm in there working on my message and I'm feeling broken. I said, bamboo. I closed the computer, said, I'm going to spend some time with these kids. And I text Izzy, said, I'm coming upstairs. I'll take y' all wherever y' all want to go. I do whatever y' all want to do. Say father. That's why I didn't call me Father, Father. She don't call me dad no more. Father. We want to go to Bar Taco in the city. We want city. We want vibes. We want vibes, Father. I said, I'll be up at 3 o'. Clock. Be ready. And we in the streets on Saturday. But I'm supposed to be consecrating and being in the glory for. No, I'm with them. I want to be.
- [52:18]
A
I missed time with them when they were young.
- [52:20]
B
I want to be a better.
- [52:21]
A
This is me trying to give God.
- [52:22]
B
A better return on his investment.
- [52:33]
A
I'm back there before for this gathering on my. On the floor in the green room, crying, saying, lord, I'm a mess today. I'm all over the place. I'm heavy. I'm frustrated from all the things that happened this week, Lord, I feel like my proclamation is like, it's off today. And I'm saying, lord, I just.
- [52:49]
B
I need to do better.
- [52:52]
A
I'm conscious of the fact that I'm stewarding this.
- [52:56]
B
And when I suck, I want to.
- [52:57]
A
Say I want to do better.
- [52:58]
B
I don't.
- [52:58]
A
I don't want to just suck and.
- [52:59]
B
Walk off and then go get, go, go get Kava. No, I want to be Kava's dope I want to be green like Kava. Like, I want kava when I leave, like Kava's dope. But. But I'm back there crying like, Lord, I'm struggling today. I'm legit struggling. I want to go home. Lena's out of town. I'm daddy daycare. I want to just go be with my kids. Like, come home, Lena. Like, I want to. I want to. I'm struggling, struggling today. I'm doing dishes last night. I'm trying to. What are we going to eat for dinner? The boys? I'm struggling this week. And I'm back there at the 8:00'. Clock. Like, Lord, I'm struggling in my preaching.
- [53:49]
A
I'm over time.
- [53:50]
B
I'm a mess.
- [53:53]
A
Help me to do better. I'm talking like that because I'm a steward.
- [54:01]
B
That's how stewards talk.
- [54:03]
A
They want to be better managers of the things that God has given them. So, so, like I would get on my knees and beg you, this is my desire for you that you would. You would lay down your shovel. You will stop being busy and not being fruitful. You will learn to start saying no to things that have nothing to do with you. You will start being faithful to the things God has called you to do. You will start looking at your relationships and want to be a better steward. You will look at your marriage. You want to be a better steward. You look at your children and want to be a better steward. You look at your ministry and want to be a better steward. You look at your assignments. You want to be better on your job. You want to be better in your service. You want to be better as a servant leader, a better squad leader. Like, Lord, I want. I want to give you more than what you gave me. You're not going to have a wasted investment in me.
- [55:12]
B
Your salvation was too pricely.
- [55:14]
A
Your spirit was too costly.
- [55:15]
B
The cross was too costly. You will get a return out of me.
- [55:21]
A
This is my I lay down the shovel. Be a good steward over everything God has entrusted to you. That is my prayer. Eternal God and ever wise. Father, I am. I don't know. I'm just everywhere. God, I pray for my brothers and my sisters. I do pray for them. This will be more than a sermon. Something in them look in the mirror today and see a steward. They would look around and see all that you have blessed them with. And they would marvel over your goodness and your kindness. And that goodness would bring them to a place of greater accountability, where they said, I want to be better in this area. Lord, you're going to get a return out of me. I pray for the five talent person they would multiply and for the two talent person they would multiply and for the one talent person they would multiply. Deliver us from jealousy and covetousness of other people's talents. Help us to embrace who we are and the level that we are on. I pray there'll be an explosion of fruitfulness in 2019. Now local and digital disciples. I don't know what else to say or do. Lord, this is my humble prayer. I pray over them in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our soon coming King, the Lord Jesus Christ and all the stewards under the sound of my voice said it.