Joby Martin - Don't Waste Your Life - Matthew 25:14-30

how we do in southeastern noon okay you don't have to get up here a little bit for this hey yeah like like like you heard my name is Joe B Martin I grew up in a in a little nowhere town called Dillon South Carolina anybody ever heard of it all right my daddy said the best thing ever come out of Dillon is i-95 and that is a fact okay it is the land of the mullet and the wide tire Camaro and so that's where I growed up and I know that here at Southeastern you have had some brilliant preachers come before you and then today you got me so what the Lord is gonna do is sometimes I know when you see some of your professors and preachers you think oh man how am I gonna be able to do this but I'm telling you as I just kind of unpack HUDs word for us a little bit a little today it will give you great hope and encouragement cuz if God can use an overeducated redneck like me he can use anyone in fact when we planted our church we renovated an old Walmart and that's where our church is the the initial location and when I called my dad I said daddy we're gonna put the church in a Walmart he said boy I always thought you'd work at Walmart and so uh so offered him a job as a greeter and then there we go so that's where I'm from that's where I'm from and that's what I do and the first sermon ever preached in my life was that a little Baptist camp that I got saved at a few years later my football coach ran the camp and and this is before like you know Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin invented real worship and the guy was up there singing I am a seat remember that you might old enough to remember I am a see I am a CH I'm a CH re STI in now I'm from Dillon so I was about in the 11th grade before I realized what we were spelling I was so we were speaking in tongues and we were baptized I didn't know if we get in trouble so anyway he said there singing his little heart out and then coach Lee got let me to Christ leans over and says Joey Martin you always call him the whole name he said boy when the sing is done I want you to preach I was like in three minutes well coach I'm not I'm not real comfortable in front of people they said boy did you say comfortable do you think you think Daniel was comfortable in the Lions Den boy do you think Paul and Silas were comfortable in pressboard you think Jesus Christ will come from raus lastly no and I said well coach what do I talk about he said boy that's easy you talk about Jesus you talk about 30 minutes and that's what I've been doing since then okay and so if you got your Bibles I hope you do we're gonna be in Matthew chapter 25 and our time together here today I want to talk with you about the parable of the talents the parable of the talents and so in the parable of the talents what's actually going on here I'm sure you know this and listen I'm used in my church I'm used to talking to people that don't even they've never really been to church there's been twenty years or whatever and I feel like I'm at a bit of disadvantage with you because you kind of know the verses I mean in my place I can make up some stuff and they don't know all right and so I don't know how much background to fill you in on cuz you know you're doing this professionally but in Matthew chapter 25 Jesus tells three parables back to back to back and he's answering a question in Matthew chapter 24 verse one the disciples are basically saying all right Jesus what's the end of the world gonna be like and so Jesus in Matthew chapter 24 he gives very specific instructions and details about the end of the world the abomination of desolation and the wards and rumors of wars and honestly I think the disciples were a lot like me they were fishermen and stuff and they're like I don't know what you're talking about and so Jesus does what Jesus always does he's the guy you look confused let me tell you a story and so he tells three stories back to back to back but again they are to answer the question of what's the end of the world like and so he tells the parable of the virgins the parable of the talents and the parable of the sheep and goats and basically it's this that the parable of the virgins is don't miss the party and the parable of the talents is don't waste your life and the parable of the sheep and goat is is to take care of those that God cares most for the hurting and the loss in other words it's depend on the gospel declare the gospel and demonstrate the gospel and you'll be just fine when he returns and so I want to dig into that middle parable the parable of the talents and I think as a seminary student that's maybe pretty applicable to you starts out this way Matthew 25:14 for it and again be it here he's really talking about the end of the world so it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property whose property his property it means everything that we have every opportunity every chance to share the gospel every dollar every relationship everything that we have is a blood-bought grace gift by Jesus Christ let me put this in our world real quick even and especially the churches that we Minister Antonis you see we're just stewards and managers of everything you see God gives pastors to churches not churches to pastors don't ever confuse that we are to be the chief servant there and so he says to one he gives five talents to another two and to another one each according to his ability and I know some people today might look at that and go that's not fair that's okay fairness is not a biblical value the sovereign of the universe decides who gets what and when let me give you a warning here one of the things that we're gonna find out here is that God gives the talents based on his own sovereign will and one of the most crippling things that you can do in ministry is to begin to compare yourself to one another the five talent God can compare himself to the two and one or the tooth two talent God can compare himself either way and any time we compare it cripples us any time we compare ourselves to one another it's always a lose-lose proposition because when we compare we either get puffed up with pride or we get beaten down with condemnation and neither pride nor condemnation or the language of our Father and not only that but we always lose because when we compare we compare what we know about ourselves to what we don't know about somebody else and we always compare our B role to their highlight-reel and I'm telling you we are comparison junkies especially in the church you know the first question always get about the Church of 11:22 is this how many you run it that's you know we give each numbers and the online and all the pregnant chicks man we count them twice right cuz come on baby birth begins at conception so that counts in that counts alright so that and then you know anytime you're at a conference or something like that telling somebody says how many people are going to their church you know they're know you gotta like / - there's like an algorithm to get the actual number of souls that are there and then you look at people and especially where you are right now maybe not so much to me but other folks that stand on this stage and you began to think I wish I had what they have you have no idea what you're asking for one of the worst things that you can do is compare yourself to somebody else and then you know what is you know it's a shame in our culture man with a bunch of comparison junkies like us and every single one of us walk around with one of these things and we're scrolling through people's feed and we are looking at you know that's not their life right you know that there are filters and nobody's just putting their lonely Wednesday where they're eating ramen noodles and go hashtag Wednesday nobody's doing that and here's how I know we live in Jacksonville Florida bout two hours from Disney so we're Disney people we are those people have a twelve-year-old son and an eight-year-old daughter and so man three or four times a year we go to the happiest place on earth stand in line eight hours spend ten million dollars ride two rods you still got to buy your kid a nine dollar ice cream on the way else I don't lose her mom but it's still the happiest place on earth and so this last year my family and I were there and in our family we have two different types of travel we have trips and vacations and so if the kids come we call it a trip if it's just me and mama it's a vacation okay so we were on a we were on a family trip and we went to this place called win this event at Disney it's called the hoop-dee-doo and on the on the way out my son takes a picture and post it on Instagram and I think we have a picture of it there's my family that's his Instagram account JP Martin he's Joseph Perry Martin the fourth I'm the third my dad was junior I was almost junior junior that happens where I'm from all right and we're really into us at my house so anyway that's my family and I don't know if you can see it he's in the sixth grade all right so this was this epic he says coming back from Disney today with the best family ever now it only got two likes but whatever we uh but if you look at that picture you think you know what that is the best family ever I mean look at us alright there's my son with this little parted hair and his cool glasses he pitches rizal star team looking awesome there's my little eight-year-old daughter beautiful little blonde headed bombshells he says she loves Jesus we have yet to see the fruit of that conversion but we're trusting God's handiwork there's my wife man just super pretty I have out punting my coverage something fierce with her head just nuzzled against my well chiseled shoulder that is the best family ever let me tell you what's actually going on right moments before this picture was taken so we're just thing called the hoop you do you got to get on the bus to get on the bus to get to the hoop to do there's 10 million people and they shove you into this bus and it been raining and so I had the bright idea to buy Poncho's for the family and there were 16 dollars per poncho it was pretty much a trash bag with a hole in the head all right which I need a hole in the head for spending 16 dollars for each one and when we unwrap them it smells like the people that wore and put for us must have died in them and then they just recycled them there at Disney so we got these things all not smelling awesome and in the hoop you do line you got to wait in line to get your family photo and while we're waiting in line and the rain still kind of coming down my son's like dad my head is killing me I'm like bro you're killing me why didn't you tell me that when we're back at the hotel I don't know if they've got aspirin out here at the hooptie do you know what the Wilderness Lodge or whatever and so he and I go on this little scavenger hunt to try to find some ibuprofen well I go to this little country store thing and I find a bottle of pills and it says something me says fever reducer on it and I don't know he doesn't have a fever he has a headache and I'm not in charge of that at my house my wife is so I take a picture of it and I send it to her no response I send another picture no response I'm like baby hey can he take this no response to which I text something like how come when I'm with you all you do is look in your phone but when I'm not with you you won't answer a text something like that happiest place on earth okay so finally I get some of it a shove it in his face we go we wait in line it's finally our turn and when we sit up there to take the picture you know what's happening my my daughter and my son they're not getting along and she's like get off me get off me and he's in the 6th grade he's a dude so he's like what what what that's all he can say and I'm looking at my wife I might get off of your phone and get over here and take the picture stop keep your hands to yourself three two one best family ever you see when we compare we compare what we know about us to what we don't know about other people be careful in ministry comparison will hue will you so got hands out of talents five two and one and he went away verse sixteen and he would receive the five talents went at once that's important and he traded with them and he made five talents more you know delayed obedience is disobedience but you know I there's probably some of you in this room right now and you know what you know what God has called you to do and you are delaying what the master would have you do but the five talent guy he goes at once he makes five talents more of her seventeen so also he who had the two talents made two talents more see he didn't waste his time complaining that I had five maybe I could really do ministry but he had received the one talent he went he dug a hole and he hid his master's money verse 19 now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts that's very important settled accounts with them that every single one of us one day will stand before our Lord and our maker and we will settle accounts based on what he has given us now the account has been settled based on what Christ has done at the cross but whatever you do don't waste your life whatever you do don't waste what God has given you for his glory and so look who shows up first verse 20 and he would receive the five talents came for of course he did why because he knows the report that he's going to give I don't know if you've ever have you've ever had a job and the boss was out of town and why the Boston's out of town you crushed it then guess who's the first person back in the boss's office when they get back from out of town you are you're stoked really hey boss how was your vacation because you want to give that kind of of report to the boss and so he had received the five talents came forward bringing five talents more saying master you delivered to me five talents you notice he has an attitude of gratitude initially he's like I didn't do anything to deserve this you just gave this to me there's no way I could have done any of this without your grace in my life and then he says here but what it really means it's like here you go I have made five talents more verse 21 and his master said to him well done good and faithful servant you know what he does not say the master does not say good intentions I'm glad you prayed over the five talents now looks I'm obviously all for prayer unless it's an excuse for getting to work and what God has clearly called you to do he says well done we serve a God that gets things done aren't you glad on the cross that Jesus pushes up on his narrow put his feet and he doesn't say I hope this works he says it is finished he says well done intentions and we supporting through the Scriptures are worthless worthless you know how many people in this world still have not heard the gospel and yet there are organizations that still intend to get there the Great Commission is not great intention it is a plan it is an action to go and preach the gospel look James brother I mean Jesus's brother James in in his book he says this listen be doers of the word and not merely hearers and so deceive yourself and then the illustration that he uses about the uselessness of intention he's like it's like if you don't do anything about what the word says that's like the man that looks in the mirror and then walks away from the mirror and forgets what he looks like you know what he's saying he's saying if you were to show up here to Chapel today just looking a mess and we were like hey are you feeling okay you're like yeah like are you sure cuz you look like I mean you're still living doors let's don't own you okay and you're like oh you mean this oh I looked in the mirror okay see you don't get credit for looking in the mirror that's just the assessment you get credit for what you do about it do you know what's never ever ever ever ever happened to any of us you've never come walking into church one day and somebody'd be like girl look at you are you losing weight you'd be like you know it what happened I got a gym membership you go to the gym I don't go to the gym I got a gym membership and then Shazam look at me now no no no no you see intentions are useless and so our master says well done good and faithful servant you've been faithful over a little I will set you over much enter into the joy of your master and he also who had the two talents came forward saying master you delivered to me two talents here I have made two talents more and his master said to him the exact same thing well done good and faithful servant here's what he does not say he does not say good job fruitful servant do you realize that you will be judged based on your faithfulness not on your fruitfulness one of the worst things that you could do is to compare the fruit that guy gives you to to the fruit that God gives somebody else do you know why 11:22 is blowing up and people are getting saved me either I have no idea except God just decide now we are faithful to preach the gospel and to love people and to make much of him we are and if you came to our church you would be so underwhelmed you'd be like what they just sing and talk like everybody else uh-huh but we are faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ and I've just tried to be faithful to do with what God has given me what I believe would bring him the most glory and that's what you were called to do to every single one of us and so the five talent guy and the two talent guy they get the exact same blessing well done good and faithful servant you have been faithful over a little and I will set you over much enter into the joy of your master you see and the blessing here the goal is they get the master so one of the worst things that you could ever do in the world is trying to be somebody else and I know when you came to South East and your grandma was like you gonna be the next Billy Graham okay first of all no you're not okay you're just not but even if you tried to be it would actually be a sin that the almighty sovereign king of the universe when he knit you together in your mother's womb he knew exactly who he was creating and it was for his glory and your joy and in this whole ministry thing too it ain't about you now God is for you don't get me wrong God demonstrated his love for us and this while we were yet still sinners Christ died for us anybody that dies for you is for you so God is for you it just ain't about you it's just saying about you it's about his glory and one of the primary ways that you can glorify God is do with your life what he gave you your life for which was to bring him glory whether that's the past or some kind of great movement of God or maybe or maybe is to make disciples in the family that he has given you you'll be judged on your faithfulness not fruitfulness and so he says enter into the joy of your master and then he who had also received the one talent came forward now if there was a soundtrack to this parable this is where the music changes dun-dun-duh and then comes this guy he's a master I knew you to be a hard man reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed so I was afraid this is very very important so I was afraid and I went and I had your talent in the ground here you can have what is yours I tell our church all the time this you know that the opposite of faith does not doubt the opposite of faith does not doubt if you've got doubts if you've got some serious doubts I've gotten really good news you could make a great disciple here's why I say this we just celebrated Resurrection Sunday what was the number one doubt that disciples doubted on the very first Easter the resurrection I mean one of the dudes is called doubting Thomas and he's in heaven you understand so if you've got doubts here's what you do you just take your doubts you take your questions you take your insecurities you take your all of those things and you just pick them up and you follow after Jesus and when you surrender your life to the lordship of Christ and you just follow after Jesus one day all of your doubts go away and I'm not like next Tuesday but when you get to heaven guess what nobody has doubts nobody in heaven is gonna come up to you and say hey do you believe in Jesus he'd be like you want to ask him he's right he said he's the bright one on the throne see the opposite of faith does not doubt the opposite of faith is fear because faith produces action and fear paralyzes fear believes most in the circumstances faith believes most in the sovereign king of the universe and so this guy's problem here he admits it he goes I was afraid I was afraid and so he was paralyzed verse 25 but his master answered him I find this so interesting you wicked and slothful servant slothful now I'm gonna be honest I don't know a lot of slothful ly lazy people but I know a lot of selectively lazy people you see I think what happens here because by the way if I'm the attorney for the one talent guy I'm going objection Your Honor my client here is not slothful he was way busier than these other two guys these other two guys in the first two week they took the talents that you were giving him by the way a talent was about a million bucks okay and so he they took this and they went they invested it and they've been like a Beth about Beth Moore Bible study for like they're just waiting on you to get back my client has been working his finger to the bone do you know how hard it is to go and hide a talent I mean you didn't give it to him on a debit card it's like in look you know he had to go to Lowe's and get a little barrel and then go back cuz you never go to Lowe's one time and go back forward back and forth and then he had to go and find the place then dig a hole the size of a swimming pool and hide all of this stuff and then cover it up put a bomb tree on it make sure nobody found it and then when he saw on Facebook you were coming back to town he had to go back and get the wheelbarrows again I mean this guy has been working himself to the bone how could you call him slothful and here's the thing I think often we get busy with the comfortable to avoid the faithful we get really really busy doing Church stuff to avoid that Kingdom stuff that you know God has told you to do like we get really busy with church activity to avoid walking across the hall and sharing the gospel with a person that we don't know that will we get really busy building our brand online instead of making disciples we get really busy networking and get really lazy praying we'll get really busy with our own hobbies and get really lazy with the most important relationships that God has put in our life we get really busy with work really lazy with our faith we get really busy entertaining ourselves we get really lazy developing our gifts for his glory have you found yourself getting busy with the comfortable so as to avoid the faithful and so he says he was afraid Jesus says he's wicked and slothful he says you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed so you ought to invested my money with the bankers and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest so take the talent from him and give it to him who has 10 talents for to everyone who has will more be given and he will have an abundance for but from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away and cast this worthless servant into the outer darkness in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth I think Jesus's message is this as we anticipate the return of Christ I think Jesus is saying listen don't waste your life don't waste your life don't waste your money don't waste your time good gracious whatever you do don't waste this opportunity at this incredible place sitting under some of them the most blessed men and women in all of Christendom don't waste your life and in fact if you're honest I bet there's some of you here right now and you know that spiritually speaking you need to get the shovel and you need to go back to some area of your life because God has given you this incredible talent this incredible talent and because of fear you've gone and you dug a hole and you hid that thing away and what God is saying is no no go dig that thing back up and risk it all for the glory of God you see everything we do in this life will either bring regret or a reward and so if I were to ask you the way you're living your life how would you describe it is your life faithful or fearful if you're like you know what I've been making some decisions kind of based in fear I've been getting really comfortable I'd be getting really busy with the comfortable so as to avoid the faithful well then listen just go dig that thing up and bring it to the Lord and say here your God all I have is yours somebody asked me this question a long time ago that had allotted him with me a lot to do with me plant in 1122 they said if you could do anything for the Lord and you knew that it wouldn't fail what would you do that can be a very freeing question and so what do you need to do I was trying to think I was studying this scripture about who of all the people in ministry that I know and one of the cool things about pastoring a big church is you get to kind of know those guys right and so I thought of all the all the guys I know or have ever met there's anybody been five talents who is it and so about six years ago this is pretty cool I got to eat dinner with dr. Billy Graham and I don't mean dinner like you know how sometimes you go to a breakfast with a famous person and they're like eating up on the table and you're just kind of in the crowd I don't mean like that like we live in Jacksonville Mayo Clinic is there dr. Graham we'll go to the Mayo Clinic and one of his doctors went to all that between two it ain't what you know and so I was on a mission trip and I got a phone call from this doctor and he said pastor I need you to pray about some dr. Graham's gonna be at our house for dinner would you like to come over as I bro sometimes you don't have to pray about this is Billy Graham of course and so you kind of get ready all week like you're gonna meet you know if I can meet anybody in the world this is who it would be and so we pull up to the guy's house and we're getting there right about the same time dr. Graham's getting there and it's just him he's got a travel companion and like a traveling nurse that's it there's those three and then the the homeowner husband and wife and one of their kids and then me and my wife that's it we're just sitting at this table with Billy Graham and what do you say so you can I go up and I introduced myself hey dr. grandma I'm Joe B Martin and he goes so pastor tell me about your church and I'm like he called me pastor I think he couldn't remember my name I don't care it felt like it was awesome you know tell me a little bit about your church and so I'm just telling him I mean you know so people have told him and and we were coming off a pretty great weekend we had just baptized we our church is at the beach so we do our baptisms in the Atlantic Ocean it's kind of awesome and we just come off a weekend where I think we baptize like 150 people or something on that so we were celebrating I go well actually dr. Graham it's pretty great um we just baptized like 150 people in the ocean and y'all like with this whole body it was like he was startled he went I've never heard of such a thing hold on man I think you have cause in Seoul Korea one time 75,000 people got saved at one time and so my little hundred-fifty down at the Walmart I don't think that's that impressive but honest to goodness you know what he was doing he would treat me like I was just doing what God had called me to do and he seemed to be as stoked about what God was doing in and through us as what God was doing in and through him and his world ministry and then we we sit down for dinner we're just kind of chit-chatting you know talkin and he looks over at my wife my wife has on our worship team she sings and she goes he says well well ma'am I understand that you're you're a worship leader she says yes sir I am he goes well would you sing a song for me I'm a woman you better sing you better get up and then what Billy says seeing you see again this is about six years ago hearing wasn't super great at that point so she gets up and she walks around and kneels down right next to him at the head of the table and she just begins to sing and I would sing it for you but it wouldn't be awesome and so and he just this crazy just closes his eyes and he lifts his hand like this and he's just worshiping God and she looks over at me and I do like the lead pastor thing when it's good I'm gonna come on keep it going baby keep it going right so we're the bustles await and so that's what we're doing and then when he gets finished he goes well I believe that's the most beautiful song I've ever heard I'm like baby you good but I'm just saying Billy's heard some people you understand and then I asked him I said dr. Graham would you would you pray for us you John just praying for our ministry you know and so he reaches over and he holds her her hands and he says father I pray that she would protect this man from himself - which I thought you've been talking about wife what you doing and he said father I pray that this man was loved his wife like you loved us and he would trust Jesus to build his church and he prayed for our marriage and he never mentioned the ministry and when he said Amen he said look here you love her and you make disciples Jesus will build his church as we were about to go I said dr. Graham can I ask you one more question he said sure anything so if you could preach one more revival one more evangelistic crusade what would that be and immediately he said that's easy I would preach Galatians 6:14 and I went mmm-hmm I didn't even know what Galatians 6:14 was I don't have the whole thing memorized yet you know what I'm saying I was like oh mmm but somehow that's how people don't know how to a me and that's what I do at church right so Matt don't move hmm and so I'm moving myself you know over here and then he can't see that good so I pull out my phone and I go to my YouVersion and I could at Galatians 6:14 here's what it says and think about this coming from dr. Graham Galatians 6:14 but far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to me and out of the world you see this man spent no time in comparison this man's life was not defined by intention but in doing for the gospel in sharing the gospel and on February the 21st 2018 Billy Graham heard these words well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your master south-eastern my hope and my prayer is that with whatever talents God has decided to give you you would not be crippled in comparison you would not delay your obedience with intentions whether you would just be about and get after the Masters business and so that one day not by anything that you have done but by what Christ has done for you at the cross one day driven by that kind of spirit led faithfulness we would hear well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your master would you pray with me our good and gracious Heavenly Father lord I thank you for the precious gift of our life god I pray that none of us none of us would waste a moment of it God that we would not waste our money we would not waste our opportunity we would not waste our time we would not waste every good and perfect gift that comes from above God that we would take advantage of we would take incredible risk for the glory of God in the name of the renown of Jesus lord I pray that this world would be different because the students from this very school wouldn't waste their life but they would risk it all they would risk everything that they have because they know it all comes from you and it's all for you God I pray spirit right now that you would convict the men and women that you have put a burden that you have put a gift you have put a talent a calling on their life and God they have out of fear they have hidden that thing away and just like Jesus you were resurrected from the grave god I pray you would resurrect that calling in their life that they would walk in a humbled confidence that they would say far be it for me to boast and anything except the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and that God you would use us you would use us to make much of you God we love you more than anything and we pray this in the good strong name of Jesus Christ our Lord amen thank you

Channel: Southeastern Seminary

Views: 37,259

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Keywords: Southeastern, Baptist, Theological, Seminary, Chapel, Message, Jesus, Preaching, God, Book, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Gospel, False Teaching, False spirits, Spirit, Danny, expository, Great Commission, Truth, Grace, Love, Discerning, Training, Education

Id: HhjdQ3Hf-ag

Length: 34min 27sec (2067 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 03 2018