IDEA: God rewards us on the basis of faithfulness and not on the basis of accomplishments. TEXT: "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability, and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents beside them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant, you were faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' " (Matthew 25:14-23).

PURPOSE: To have listeners determine to be faithful with what God has given them.

When you think about Judgment Day, what do you think of?

Do you think there will be any lines that day, like an airport with long lines for ordinary people, but separate lines for premier passengers or 1-K executives who can zip right through.

In heaven, do you think there will be a different line for people with the stature of Paul and another line for the guys who let him down over the Damascus wall?

Do you think Billy Graham or Mother Teresa will be in a different line from a worker in a crusade or a sister in a hospital?

Jesus gives us some insight into how Christians will be judged when He tells a parable about judgment found in Matthew 25:14-23.

I. At the time of accounting after the master's return, the first man, who had been given five talents to invest, made a 100% profit.

If a talent was worth about $500,000 in today's US currency that's about two and a half million dollars.

What is his reward for making such a great return?

He received the commendation of the master: "Well done, good and faithful servant."

He had a new job assignment: "You were faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things."

He had a joyous future: "Enter into the joy of your lord."

What do you think "the joy of your lord" refers to?

The Hebrew/Aramaic word for joy also means "festival"--a time of great celebration in which the master and servant rejoice together.

II. The second servant was given two talents to invest, and he also made a 100% profit, but he didn’t make as much money.

He was given a million dollars and he made a million dollars. It wasn’t even half as much as the first servant.

What was his reward? In verse 23 we see that it was exactly the same as that of the first servant. There isn’t one syllable of difference between what the master says to the one with five talents and the one with two talents.

III. What do we learn from this as the basis of Christ’s estimate of us?

He rewards faithfulness. That is what the two men had in common