¹⁹ “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have earned five more talents.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’ Matthew 25:19-21

While we’re on this earth, we have to think about the moment we die and face God at the gates of heaven for the first time. How’s your life going? What do you think God would say to you if you left right now? Are you happy with the way your life is going, and do you think God would have kind words for you? We must always think about how God will meet us at heaven’s gate. We’re not going to be here forever. At some point, we will stand before God. Young or old, we don’t know when our time is up. So think about the moment you’ll stand before God. 

What do we want God to say when we finally stand before Him? We can look to the story of the parable of talents for answers. A wealthy man delegates management of his wealth to his servants. He gives five talents, which in today’s terms would amount to a lot of money, to one servant, two to the second, and one talent to the third. The first two servants earn one hundred percent returns while the last servant hides his money and earns nothing. The rich man praises the first two and admonishes the third, calling him a “worthless, lazy slave.” We want to be the first two servants. And what the rich man says to them is exactly what we want to hear from God. We want to hear five things. 

1. Well done. 
2. You’ve been good. 
3. You’ve been faithful. 
4. Because you’ve been faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things. 
5. Share in your master’s happiness. 

The master says, “Well done…” When we stand before God, what more can we ask than for God to say job well done. We can do a lot of things that earn us the praise “well done.” We can be good at our jobs. We can be good with our families. We do a lot of things that earn us praise. But beyond these things, we need God to tell us job well done, you’ve been good and faithful. Whatever we do, we must ask ourselves if God will praise or admonish us. 

Being faithful in a few things means you used the perishable to make the imperishable. You used your time on earth to store up things in heaven. A “few things” means the things of this world, the things we can’t take to heaven like our money and possessions. What did we do with those things? Did we use them for self-gratification or pleasure, or did we use them to store up treasures in heaven? In other words, how did we spend our limited time on this earth? Did we use our time, money, and energy properly? Did we use those things for the gospel and eternal life? And finally, the last thing we want to hear from God is that we can forever share in His happiness. There is no sorrow or despair or disappointment, and we enter the joy of our master. 

As Christians, we must always think about standing before God after our life is over. We’re not going to live forever. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, the next day, or even the next minute. The Bible says, “You don’t even know if you will be alive tomorrow! For all you are is a mist that appears for a little while and then disappears.” We are mist that appears for a little while and then disappears. The question is, how do we live a worthy life in our limited time? Look to the steward who did wisely with what God gave him and earned the five praises we long to hear. Job well done! You’re good! You’re faithful! You’ve done a lot with a little! Come share in my happiness! 

Click for Korean sermon https://soundcloud.com/yhpaik/1987-8-16-short