From our Sunday service on October 19, 2025, Mark 4, Matthew 25, Luke 19 and Mark 12. This is part 10 of our Parables of Christ series. Watch the full message: Investing in the Kingdom – The Parables of Christ #10 on YouTube.
In the previous parables of warning, Jesus has been telling us to make sure we are productive in the kingdom. Today we will see what happens when we choose to produce good works for the kingdom, and what happens when we refuse. God wants you to use the skills and opportunities He has given you to serve Him.
The Lamp, and the Talents
We start with a short parable, right after Jesus explains the parable of the sower.
And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.
Mark 4:21–25
The candle, the light, is the truth God has given them. Jesus is saying, I have given you this truth about My kingdom. Did I give it to you so you could hide it? You do not buy a candle to burn it in a closed-off closet. I have heard verse 22 misused as if it were about secret sin being revealed. That is not what it is about. He is talking about His gospel. He told the interpretation to the disciples specifically so it could go out into the whole world.
Then comes the promise and the warning. If you take the light and share it, He will multiply your opportunity to do more. You spread the gospel, and God doubles it. The more you use what God has given you, the more God will give you to use. If you do not use it, He will take it away and enable someone else to do the work. Have you ever wondered why God has nothing for you to do? There is probably something He has already called you to that you have not yet accomplished. You are not going to get more until you do what He called you to do first.
The parable of the talents is about how we use that same truth. A man traveling into a far country gives five talents to one servant, two to another, and one to a third, to every man according to his several ability, and then takes his journey. The talents represent the truth of the gospel, the saving knowledge God gives us to share. God never asks us to do more than we can handle. If we say we are just not good enough, we look like Moses, who said he could not speak. God does not call us to do the impossible. He calls us to do what is possible through Him, even if we are not comfortable with it.
A talent here is not a skill. It is a measure of wealth, worth about sixteen and a half years of wages. If the minimum God gives us is that much, none of us has an excuse that we do not have enough to serve Him. Not all of us are called to be a world-famous evangelist. We are all called, and even when it seems like just one talent, it is an abundance. Paul had a thorn in the flesh he wanted removed, and God would not take it, because that difficulty kept him humble. Our weaknesses do not hinder our ministry. They are an opportunity to minister in a different way.
The first two servants doubled what they were given. The last went and hid his lord’s money in the earth. He is the light under the bed. He took the truth and never did anything with it, because he was afraid of falling short. After a long time the lord comes and reckons with them. The one who received five brings five more, and hears, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. The one who received two also doubled it, and hears the exact same praise, despite having made less profit overall. Not all of us are called to the same thing. Maybe you are not called to minister to thousands, but to five or six people in a Bible study in your home, because someone had a bad experience with church. If that is what God called you to, your reward is just as much as if you were a world-famous evangelist.
Then the last man says he knew the lord was a hard man, and he was afraid, so he hid the talent. This is the person who will go to church, take the truth in, and put it in a little box, afraid that if he tells somebody about the gospel he will say it the wrong way, or if he teaches he will say something wrong. The lord calls him a wicked and slothful servant. If he was unable to use the gift, he should at least have put the money with the exchangers and helped somebody else accomplish their task. Instead he wasted it sitting idle. The talent is taken and given to the one who has ten, and the unprofitable servant is cast into outer darkness.
The outer darkness here clearly represents hell, so we must conclude that those who did nothing with the talent were not genuine believers. There are people who had head knowledge of the gospel and were afraid to act on it, and they ended up going to hell because of it. Fear of God does not equal salvation through God.
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
James 2:19–20
True faith cannot exist without works. It is not works that get you saved, but true salvation will result in works. No one who is truly saved will put their faith in a box and do nothing with it.
The Minas, and the Widow's Two Mites
The parable of the minas in Luke 19 is similar, but it is about authority rather than truth. Jesus tells it because He is near Jerusalem and they thought the kingdom should immediately appear. A nobleman goes to receive a kingdom and tells his servants, Occupy till I come, that is, do business until I return. But his citizens hate him and say they will not have this man to reign over them. That represents those who have heard the truth, specifically the nation of Israel, and refuse the coming king’s authority.
The faithful servants are given authority over cities. The one who hid his pound in a napkin loses it, but unlike the parable of the talents, he is not cast out. He is still the king’s servant. This one has believed. He has a saving faith. He is not punished with outer darkness, but the investment is taken and given to someone else. The citizens who would not have him reign are brought and slain. Those who have not expressed submission to God do not receive a part in the kingdom.
Before we close, look at the widow’s two mites. You can do big things with little resources. Jesus had just rebuked the scribes who loved salutations and chief seats, and who devoured widows’ houses. Then He watched the treasury.
And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
Mark 12:41–44
A mite is worth about one one-hundred-twenty-eighth of a day’s wage, about four minutes of work. She gave two of them, the equivalent of about eight minutes, or, at a local average wage, less than five dollars. From a human perspective that looks absurd. God is not calling us to do the same thing as the widow physically, to give all our money to the church when we have only a little. But He wants us to do spiritually what she did. The scribes walked around looking spiritual while they lived in luxury. This widow, who had not been cared for as she should have been, did not use their hypocrisy as an excuse. She gave everything she had and trusted God to do something with it.
Not all of us have the same amount of spiritual money to give, but God is not asking for a tenth. He is asking us to give everything we have to offer. In the dark moments, that may not be much. Give Him the best you can right now. A cup of water given in Jesus’s name has its reward. Anybody can do that. If you start with the small things, God will double it, and before you know it He will give you opportunities you never thought possible. Never think you do not have enough to offer God.
Every believer has been given truth, opportunity, skills, and influence. These things are not meant to be hidden. One day the Lord will return and settle the accounts. What do you want Him to say? Well done, thou good and faithful servant? Or that you wasted the opportunity? What He says is not a mystery, and it is not out of our control. If we choose to serve Him, He will say, Well done. If we choose to lie idle, He will give us nothing but rebuke. God wants you to use the skills and opportunities He has given you to serve Him. Will you take what He has given you and use it faithfully for His glory today?
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