 All right, well, it's a big blessing for me to be here. I'm thankful for Pastor Brzezarnski asking me to come and preach to you all here. It's my first time at Holfast Baptist Church. And I'm really thankful for this church being planted here because in 2008, my father-in-law, he used to have this vision of starting churches all over California. He really wanted to plant a lot of churches, more specifically fundamental Baptist churches because he saw the need. And one particular city that he always wanted to plant a church in was in Fresno. He always saw that there was a need in Fresno. He would often take vacations out here with his family just to be with the people. And he would go out in doorknock and so in and preach the gospel. And he would always cast this vision to me and to others who were aspiring pastors that he wanted to start a church one day in Fresno. And of course, that vision didn't necessarily flourish in with him. But you know, Pastor Pazarnski was the man who stepped in and started a church here. And of course, with the help of Pastor Jimenez and Verity Baptist Church. So I'm very thankful that there's a fundamental Baptist church, more specifically a new independent fundamental Baptist church here that preaches the right doctrine, go soul-winning and is just faithful here. So I'm really thankful to be here. And I'm thankful to be able to preach here and fellowship with you all. And so I'm thankful for Pastor Pazarnski. Thank you again for inviting me here. He's a great friend of mine. And we've been able to get to know each other over the last year or so. Had some great conversations, great fellowship. And so again, thank you. And so let's get into the text here, Luke chapter 17. And verse number seven here, it says, but which of you having a servant plowing or feeding cattle will say into him by and by when he has come from the field, go and sit down to meet and will not rather say unto him, make ready wherewith I may sup and gird thyself and serve me till I have eaten and drunken and afterward thou shall eat and drink. Does he think that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I tro not. Verse number 10, so likewise ye when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say we are unprofitable servants. Why? We have done that which is our duty to do. The time of the sermon this morning is the unprofitable servant, the unprofitable servant. Now let me explain to you what's going on here in Luke chapter 17. Here we see that Jesus Christ is talking to his disciples and he's essentially trying to teach them a principle here. And he uses this story in Luke chapter 17 to drive home the point. He gives them this example of an employer with his employee. And he's essentially trying to get the disciples to put themselves in the boss's shoes. And he's telling the disciples, look, put yourself in the boss's shoes. If you had a servant, you had an employee who was working for you and they were out doing their job, fulfilling their job description of plowing the field or feeding the cattle, you know, you're not gonna tell them immediately after he's done with that particular job. Okay, now you can take a break, go out, go eat, go take care of whatever you gotta take care of. No, in fact, he's gonna give them more responsibility, right? He's gonna say, you know what? In fact, you should go gurg yourself, make my food, feed me, give me to drink, make sure that I'm taking care of as a master. And then when you're done with that, then you should go and get your meal and finish that up and take care of yourself. And in fact, and then he says in verse number nine, does he thank that servant because he did the things which were commanded him? You think the master is gonna go to his servant after he's done plowing the field, after he's done feeding the cattle, you think he's gonna go up to him and say, hey, thanks for doing your job. Thanks for doing that which is in your job description. Thanks for doing that which I'm paying you to do. And he says that the letter in verse number nine, I tro not. What does that mean? Tro just means I think not, right? I believe not, I think not. Why? Because you know, this is part of their job. This is part of the servant's job is to go feed the cattle, go plow the field, go do that which is his responsibility, is that which his duty is to do. And then he says in verse number 10, so likewise ye, referring to the disciples, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say we are unprofitable servants, we have done that which is our duty to do. Now, what is he saying there? Well, you know, when you read that, you can kind of think to yourself, wow, that sounds kind of mean. You know, is he being kind of sending? Is he kind of belittling people or his disciples because they're just, they're doing that which is their duty to do? I don't think he's doing that at all. I think what he's trying to explain here is that this servant who's plowing the field and feeding the flock, feeding the cattle, you know, they're doing their responsibility, but then this particular servant goes above and beyond. And what does he do when he goes above and beyond? He guards himself, prepares the meal, feeds the master and then he takes care of himself thereafter. In other words, he is a profitable servant. He's actually making a profit to the master, to his boss because he's going the second mile as an employee, as an employer. So he's not necessarily being condemning or belittling here. He's just stating a fact. He's just saying, you know, when an employee, when a servant, when they do their particular job, when they fulfill their particular duty, you know, that's not think worthy necessarily because that's what they're being paid to do. It's only when they begin to make a profit to the organization that they become a valuable employee. It's only when they begin to actually increase the revenue, increase the funds, increase the business and do something a little extra, then that person becomes a profitable servant. They're making a profit. They're causing the organization to grow based upon the extra mile that they're actually putting into it. So he says here, we are unprofitable servants not because they're worthless or anything like that. You know, often when we look at that phrase, unprofitable servant, we think he's basically saying, oh, you're worthless. But that's not necessarily what the Bible's saying here. You know, to be worthless would be someone who just doesn't do anything at all. You know, and there's a lot of worthless people out there who are lazy, they don't work, they don't want to get a job, they don't want to do anything, they don't want to provide for their family, they don't want to provide for themselves, they don't want to hand out, they just want someone else to take care of it. That would be considered a worthless person. But the Bible's saying here that these guys are unprofitable servants because of the fact that they just are only doing what their job description is telling them to do. Now, why is he giving them this particular story here? Well, look at verse number three in chapter 17. Jesus says this, take heed to yourselves. If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him, and if he repent, forgive him. Now, what is he saying here? Well, this is pretty much Christianity 101, right? Some brother, some sister's gonna offend you, gonna say something mean to you, they're gonna offend you, they're gonna do something that wrongs you, they're gonna fraud you in some manner. And Jesus is saying here, when that person trespasses against you, the first thing you should do is obviously rebuke them, right? Tell them that they're wrong, tell them their fault, and correct that. And then if they repent, the next step is this, you forgive them. In other words, you don't harbor any bitterness towards them, you don't shove it in their faces, look what you did to me two years ago, or five years ago, don't you remember when you didn't say this, or when you did this, or you didn't do this, or when you forgot this anniversary, or when you did this. You know, if a person has a trespass against you, you correct them, and then the Bible says, if they repent, you forgive them. Now, what would we call that? That is what our duty is as Christians, right? That's what God's command is to do, is to forgive one another. In fact, the Bible specifically says, you know, let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And then it says, be tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. The constant command that we see in the word of God is that we as Christians should always be willing and ready to forgive people when they trespass against us, you understand? Forgiving your marriage, forgive your friends, forgive your brothers and sisters in Christ, forgive your pastor, forgive your pastor's wife, or vice versa. The Christian life is just about forgiving people when they wrong us, because we're not perfect, we're sinners, we make mistakes, sometimes we do offend people, sometimes we do trespass against them. And therefore, the basic command for a Christian is to forgive, but hold on a second, look at verse number four. And if you trespass against the seven times in a day, now that's an offensive type of a person, right? I mean, one offense a day is enough, but when you find someone who's just offending you seven times in a day, they're just constantly trespassing against you, they're just constantly offending you, you know, that can get a little irritating. After a while, you're like, well, this person is toxic, I don't want to be around this person because they're constantly offending me. I mean, it's the seventh time today that he has said this about me, or that she said this about me, or that she offended me, he offended me. You know, what am I gonna do? Where it says here, if he trespass against these seven times in a day, and seven times in a day, turn again to these saying, I repent, thou shall hold a grudge against him. Is that what it says? No, it says, thou shall forgive him, the Bible says. What is it saying? You know, if they come to you seven times, offending you seven times, trespassing against you seven times, just wronging you and defrauding you seven times, then God says you should forgive that person seven times. This is very similar to what we see in Matthew chapter 18 where the apostle Peter, you know, asked the Lord, he says, you know, how many times should I forgive my brother? Till seven times? You know, he wants a specific number so after a while he can just like, you know, not forgive his brother. And then Jesus responds by seven. I say that until these seven times, but till 70 times seven, okay? And he's not referring to 490 times either. He's basically saying, you need to constantly forgive your brethren. You need to make sure that you constantly are just ready to pardon, ready to forgive. This is the quality of a Christian and a command of God to forgive, but hold on a second. If you only forgive once, you're essentially an unprofitable servant. Why is that? Because you've done that what you've been commanded to do. You know, it takes a little extra, it takes a little maturity in the Christian life, takes a little more walking in the spirit to do it 70 times seven. It takes a little bit more spiritual maturity in your Christian walk to actually forgive a person seven times in the day after they've repented. You understand? At that point, you become a profitable servant because you're not only doing that but you're commanded to do it. You're going above and beyond that specific command. And then, you know, it always cracks me up when it says in verse number five, the apostle said unto the Lord, increase our faith. What is he saying? Like, man, we need some faith to be able to forgive someone this many times, you know? And the Lord responds by saying in verse number six, if you had faith that's a grain of a mustard seed, you might say into the sycamantry, be they'll plucked up by the root and be they'll planted into the sea and it should obey you. Now, I think what he's saying here is this, you know, forgiving someone doesn't necessarily require faith. It just requires obedience. Just do what you're told. You know, if someone offends you, just forgive them. Why? Oh, I need faith. You don't need faith. You just need to do it because God's told you to do it, you understand? Now, it does require some spiritual maturity to go above and beyond that and actually forgive your brother over and over and over again. So what is the main point of this particular story? Well, he's essentially telling his disciples, when you've done that which has been commanded for you to do, you're essentially breaking even. You're essentially balancing the books. When God tells you to do something and you do it, guess what? You're essentially just breaking even. You're doing that what you've been commanded to do. And so it's not necessarily thank worthy to do what God tells you to do because of the fact that that's part of our job description as Christians. You know, we're not gonna thank an employee for working a nine to five and we're paying that person. It's just like, hey, thank you for working even though I'm paying you. No, actually what's thankful for these when they go above and beyond which is required in their job description, right? To be a profitable servant would be to forgive seven times. Turn around if you would to 1 Timothy chapter number four if you would 1 Timothy chapter four, the title of the sermon is the unprofitable servant. And my exhortation to you this morning, my encouragement to you is to be a profitable servant. Don't just be an unprofitable servant. Obviously you're supposed to do that what you've God's commanded you to do but you know, God wants us to do more than just that. He wants us to go above and beyond. He wants us to go what the Bible says this mile. And in fact, you were in 1 Timothy chapter four I'm gonna read to you from Matthew chapter five and verse 39 it says, but I say into you that you resist not evil but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at law and take away thy coat let him have that cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile go with him twain the Bible says, what is he saying? Be a profitable servant. You know, if someone is trying to defraud you and they're suing you and they take away your coat let them have your cloak also. If they smite you on the right cheek give them your left cheek also. If they compel you to go a mile be the second mile type of a Christian be a profitable servant. Look what the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter four in verse number seven, but refuse profane and old wise fables and exercise thyself rather unto godliness for bodily exercise profiteth little but godliness is profitable unto all things. Listen to this, having the promise of the life which that now is and of that which is to come. You see bodily exercise whether it's running it's eating healthy it is lifting weights. These things are profitable but they only profit very little. Why? Well, because godliness if you exercise yourself unto godliness you not only profit in this life but you also profit in the life to come. And what God is trying to get across here is that we should invest our time into not only doing what God has commanded us to do but also going above and beyond that because that's when we begin to see profit as Christians. The encouragement I wanna give you this morning is to not just break even in the Christian life. Don't just do that which God has commanded you to do. Be a profitable servant and go above and beyond that. Go to Romans chapter number 12 if you would. Romans chapter number 12. Now the first thing I wanna mention is this. Some of us probably need to start breaking even and balancing the books first and foremost. What does that mean? Just doing that which God has already commanded us to do. You're in Romans chapter 12. Now let me just make myself very clear is that I'm not saying that the works that you do here on this earth for any reason have anything to do with your salvation because there's a lot of people out there that wanna mix the two. They wanna say yeah well if you're really saved you're gonna do works. If you're really saved you're gonna produce works in your life but you and I both know that that's not true. That's not what the Bible teaches. Now we do know that the Bible says for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. And then he goes on to say this. For we are as workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God had before ordained that we should walk in them. So thankfully when we first get saved we don't have to pay God back essentially right? A lot of people that teach that. It's like oh you're saved therefore you should work for God cause you need to pay him back. There's no amount of works that we can do as Christians that ever pay God back for the salvation that he's given to us okay? And if you ever feel like well I need to do something and repay him for the salvation that I have then you have the wrong idea about salvation. Cause the Bible says in Romans 11 verse six and if by grace then it is no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace. If you start mixing in works to try to repay your salvation back the Bible says that you essentially made the gift of God null and void cause it only has to be by grace you understand? There's nothing wrong with after salvation recognizing oh I have this eternal boss known as God the Father who has given me some responsibilities on this earth and he's given me an opportunity to earn some rewards when I go home. To live a blessed life here on this earth but also to earn rewards when I go to heaven. And that's really what we're talking about here. Talking about breaking even in your works for God here okay? Now here's the thing is that you say what do you mean by breaking even? Well you know what is our duty to do as Christians? Well first and foremost just to live like a Christian. You know that's hard for a lot of people to just live like a Christian but it shouldn't be hard at all. Because to be a Christian and to just obey the basics of the Bible should be very simple because God has given to all of us all of the essential factors and elements needed to just live a normal Christian life. You know we have the word of God, you have a local New Testament church here, you have a pastor and in fact you have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within you. The spirit of truth that can lead you into all truth that can empower you and enable you to do that which is pleasing unto the Lord. There should be no reason why when Christians get saved they can't just live a Christian life and in fact you know the Bible tells us the Apostle Paul when writing to the church at Ephesus says, he says, this I say therefore in testifying the Lord that you walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their minds, having their understanding dark and being alienated from the life of God to the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart. He says, who being past feeling have given themselves over to lasciviousness to work all greediness but then he says this, but ye have not so learned Christ. If so be ye have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, then ye put off concerning the former conversation which is corrupt according to the seatful lust and then he says, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and then ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. What is he saying? Just behave like a Christian. Just behave like a Christian. Take advantage of everything that God has given to you as a Christian to start acting like a Christian, right? Reading God's word, going to church, listening to preaching, we're gonna get into some of these in just a bit, just living out the Christian life. Let me say this also is that part of breaking even in the Christian life is just simply this, presenting your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable unto God. That's what it is. You break even when you present your body a living sacrifice and we're not talking about some pagan sacrifice out there. We're talking about presenting your bodies a living sacrifice means you're dying to self and you're being a Christian. You are essentially walking in the spirit. Look at Romans chapter 12. And again, this is what our duty is to do. That's simple, basic. It doesn't require a whole lot of effort to just act like a Christian and live like a Christian. You're like, I don't know, that's kind of hard. Well, look what it says in verse number one of Romans 12. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable unto God. Listen to this, which is your reasonable service. What does that mean? It's not hard at all. You know, it's essentially expected of us as Christians to act like Christians. You know, we don't act like Muslims. We're not gonna act like, you know, Pentecostals. We're not gonna act like Mormons. We're not, God's not calling us to act like Jehovah's Witnesses. He's not calling us to act like the Gentiles, referring to the unsaved. He says it's your reasonable service to just present your bodies a living sacrifice. Now, think about this. You know, to sacrifice ourselves physically to be a martyr, that would be kind of hard, wouldn't it? You know, to be willing to die for the cause of Christ would be pretty hard. But you know what? To present your body a living sacrifice means every day you wake up and just die to self. You walk in the spirit. And you just are led of the Word of God. You have a mentality that says, you know what? I wanna serve God today. I wanna think about the Lord. I wanna strive to love the Lord, my God, with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. That's what it is to be a Christian who's just Christian-minded, spiritually-minded. And in fact, look what it says in verse number two. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. You know, you break even when you present your bodies a living sacrifice and you allow your mind to be renewed. What does that mean? You know, you basically brainwash yourself. And a lot of people say, you're brainwashed. I accept that 100%. Absolutely. Because prior to salvation, my brain was just filthy. It's filled with the ideologies of this world, the philosophies, the false doctrines, the foolishness of this world. And I need my mind to be washed. I need it to be renewed by God's word so I can think the way God thinks, right? So I can have the mind of Christ so I can know the will of the Lord. You know, the Bible tells us, awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give the light. He tells us to be not fools, but understanding what the will of the Lord is to redeem the time because the days are evil. This is our duty. This is what God has commanded for us to do. We as Christians should never complain and say, oh man, now I gotta be a Christian today. I gotta go to work and be a Christian. I gotta go to church and act like a Christian. You know, it's actually pretty simple to just be a living sacrifice everywhere you go. Doesn't require for you to do some great feat. It just requires for you to think and act like a Christian. That's what it means to break even. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter six, if you would. 2 Corinthians chapter number six. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter chapter one and verse 15, verse 13, excuse me, it says, wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, listen to this, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust and your ignorance, but as he which hath called you as holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation because it is written, be holy for I am holy. You know, a lot of times Christians like to compartmentalize God, right? Or at least a Christian walk. It's like, well, I'm really Christian and just behave like a Christian and try to act like a Christian when I'm at church. But obviously that's what we all do, right? We're supposed to be at our best when we're in church. But you know, God doesn't want us to just behave like a Christian when we're at church. He wants us to be that way at work too. He wants us to be that way at home. He wants us to be that way with our children. He wants us to be that way with our spouses. He wants us to be that way with the unsaved. At all times, in all instances, he wants us to break even and just act like a Christian at all times. And that's a simple thing to do. That's us breaking even. And look, when people act like a Christian, it's just like, oh, I'm just making this major sacrifice just to be a Christian. You're not making a sacrifice. That's not a sacrifice. That's you breaking even. That's you doing what God has commanded you to do. You understand? Not to be ashamed of His Word. Look at 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14 says, Now here's where you start not just breaking even, but maybe even making a profit. It says in verse 14, Be not unequally owed together with unbelievers for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion hath light with darkness and what concord hath Christ with belial or a part hath he that believeth with an infidel and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols for ye are the temple of the living God. It's God that said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. What is he saying? You know, here's where you start making a profit is when you start being separated from the world. When you get away from your worldly friends or the worldly influences in your life and you recognize, I can't just yoke up with just every Tom, Dick and Harry in this world because the Bible specifically commands me to be a separated Christian. Now, there's a group out there that wants to take that to an extreme where they literally just separate from everyone and go to this compound. They're known as the Amish, okay? They just kinda, you know, they just stick to themselves. They're so holier than now that, you know, they all dress the same and they're so separated from the world. But here's the thing though, they're not even saved. And if you're not even saved, you know, what good is it if you shall gain all of the admirations of the world for recognizing that you're so holy but then you split hell wide open, right? Your kids go to hell, your family goes to hell because you're not even saved. You know, that's a wrong way to view separation because we have to be in this world, right? We have to be amongst people who are not saved. We have to be amongst people who are fornicators, who are drunkards, who are idolaters. Why? Because God wants us to reach them. That's why. But it takes a profitable servant to be able to be among those unsafe people and still win them but yet be separated from them as well. You understand? And not, you know, want to go to a bar with them or go do worldly activities with them because you're trying to reach them. Folks, it's been five years you're not gonna be able to reach them. If you haven't reached them in five years, you know, it's time to move on to the next door. None of us keeps going back to that same door that keeps rejecting us out, soul winning every single week. We always move on to the next. Well, the same principle should be applied to your worldly friends or unsafe people, coworkers that you know. If they're not willing to listen to you, you need to move on and don't be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. You said, why? Well, because, you know, unbelievers have a tendency to influence believers. And when you're yoked up with unbelievers, you're yoked up with the unrighteous, there comes a point where they're gonna influence you and water you down. And you're gonna start compromising. You're gonna start doing things that you never would have done prior to your relationship with them. And you know, it's gonna be disastrous for you. It's gonna be disastrous for your marriage. It's gonna be disastrous for your walk with God. And look what it says in verse 17. Wherefore, come out from among them and be separate, sayeth the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing. Listen to this, and I will receive you. That's someone who goes above and beyond. That's not just someone who's just like, I'm a Christian. Because you know what? There's a lot of people out there that will tell you they're Christians and they'll give you the right answers in regards to salvation. They'll give you the right answers in regards to doctrine. But you know what? They're not separated. They're still hanging around. They're drunk uncles and drunk aunts. And they're still hanging around. They're worldly friends and still living the worldly life and listening to worldly music. Why? Because they're not separated. They've done that which they've been commanded to do as far as being a Christian is concerned. But now, they're essentially unprofitable because they're not living separated lives. They're just breaking even. They're not making a profit in their Christian life. Turn with me if you would to, go to James chapter number one. James chapter number one, if you would. James chapter number one, think about this. Let me read to you from 1 Peter 2, verse 19. It says, for this is thank worthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully, okay? God is saying here, you know, I'll thank you not just when you suffer, but when you suffer wrongfully. He says in verse 20, for what glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? You know, there's nothing thank worthy about suffering because you've sinned or suffering because you broke the law or suffering because something that has to do with you making a mistake or getting involved in things that you shouldn't do and you're like, you don't have to take it patiently. There's nothing thank worthy about that. He says, when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. You see, God's command for our lives is just to suffer, period. You know, the Bible tells us that just as it's God's will for us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, it's God's will for us to suffer too. And that can often include just the sufferings of this world, just bad things that happen to us, health problems, financial issues, relational problems. These are just things that come upon us from a day to day basis. But there's another suffering that comes upon us when we serve God, right? The Bible tells us ye all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And the Bible says that it's at that point that God says, okay, at that point it's acceptable with God. It's thank worthy. Now you're becoming a profitable Christian because you're suffering for doing that which is right in the side of the Lord. Now, let me give you another point here about breaking even. You know, break even by listening to Godly preaching, right? And of course, specifically I'm referring to your pastor when he gets up and prepares sermons, he preaches week in, week out, service in and service out. You know, you should be able to just be here in your spot listening to that preaching, being faithful to the preaching of God's word. Look at what the Bible says in James 1 and verse 19. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be what? Swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. What is he saying? We should be more intent on listening than talking, right? And more specifically, of course, more importantly, should I say, in regards to the preaching of God's word. When you come to church, don't have your mind elsewhere thinking about, yeah, what kind of barbecue are we having tonight? Are we having fish again? Or man, can we get some other meats in here? Pizza again? Or man, why is this so hot? Man, I got so many things to do at the house. You know, your mind should be focused on the preaching of God's word. Your pastures, prayed over his sermon, he's studied, he's gotten that ready. I mean, his full-time job is to preach God's word. You need to just break even by coming to church listening to the preaching of God's word. You say, how's that breaking even? Well, because that's your duty, right? The Bible says, give attendance to reading, to excretation, to doctrine, okay? So it's every Christian's responsibility to be in church and listen to preaching of God's word and benefit from it. But hold on a second, that's only breaking even though. When you come to church and you're listening to God's word, he that hath in ear, let him hear with the spirit safe into the churches, you're simply breaking even. At that point, you're still an unprofitable servant. I hate to break it to you. If you just come to church and you just listen to what Pastor Bazarowski has to say and what he's preaching, and you go through the series that he's gonna be going through on Sundays and you take notes and you listen to that, but that's all you do with it. Let me just say this. You are an unprofitable servant. Why? Because you've done that which is your duty to do. That's not thank worthy. You say, well, what am I supposed to do? Well, how about this? Apply what the preaching is saying, right? Apply the preaching of God's word. And in fact, look at verse 21. Be profitable and actually apply the preaching. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls. Listen to this, verse 22. But be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves, the Bible says. Now that's pretty strong language there because I guarantee you the vast majority of Christians in the United States of America, they think they're great Christians because they listen to preaching. They think they're great Christians because they listen to the preaching of God's word. But hold on a second. According to the Bible, they're unprofitable servants because it doesn't take much effort to just listen. It doesn't take much effort to listen to the unsearchable riches of Christ. All you have to do is pay attention, right? All you have to do is just listen to the preaching of God's word. To be a profitable servant on the other hand means to listen, to take notes and say, how am I gonna apply this this week? It's time for me to apply this principle this week in my life. It's time for me to just not plow the field and feed the cattle. I'm gonna gird myself and actually obey the preaching of God's word. He says there in verse 23. For if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is likened to a man beholding his natural face in a glass, for he beholds himself and go with his way and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. You know when he come to church to hear preaching, this pulpit and this Bible and the preaching that you're listening to is like a mirror. You come here to kind of look at yourself to assess yourself in the Christian life. And when Pastor Pizarra is preaching, he's preaching on your particular sin, he's preaching on an area that you need to grow in and you say, yeah, that's pretty good. Yeah, I agree with that. That's good. Yeah, amen. Yeah, I agree with that. But then you walk away and you don't change anything at all. You're not deceiving Pastor Pizarra. You're not deceiving God. Bible says, you're deceiving yourself. What's the deception? I'm a good Christian because I came to church and I heard the preaching of God's word. You know, whereas the profitable servant listens to it, takes heed to it, obeys it and puts it into practice thereafter. You only break even when you're listening to the preaching of God's word. It doesn't take much effort to listen to the preaching of God's word. And obviously today in 2022, the attention span of Christians and just people in general so short that, you know, it's hard for them to even pay attention. You know, you think of like social media, for example, they've invented like shorts and reels and TikTok where it's just like a two to five second minute, the five second video, excuse me, because the attention span of people of the population is so short. You know, a lot of people won't be able to just sit through 50 minutes of preaching anymore because they're just thinking about other things. And obviously it requires some discipline to actually listen to preaching. But hold on a second, if you do that, the Bible still says you're unprofitable. You got to make sure that you actually do the word and not deceive your own selves thinking that you're making a profit just because you're listening, okay? He says in verse 25, but who so look at them to the perfect law of liberty and continue with their end? He being not a forgetful here, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. Obviously we all get a blessing from coming to church and hearing preaching, but hold on a second, it's when you do the word that's where the actual blessing comes because the blessing is not only in listening to God's word, the revenue or the increase, the gains that we see is when we actually obey the word of God, when we actually do what God has commanded us to do. You know, when Pastor Bazarowski's up here and he's laying out principles about marriage, apply those principles. When he's laying out principles on how to be a good Christian, how to clean up your life, how to think right, how to be a good employee, how to be a good wife, how to be a good husband, how to raise your children, apply those principles and don't just say that was a good sermon. That was great. We will hear of the of this matter again next Sunday. Hey, that was a great way you explained that. That was a great illustration. That was a great illiterated outline. No, you need to apply the sermon. You need to make sure you profit from the sermon by actually putting it into practice. Look at James chapter two. James chapter two, a lot of people like to use James chapter two to teach that you have to add works to your faith in order to prove that you're saved, right? You know, a lot of people will tell you, oh yeah, but faith without works is dead, being alone. They'll often use this passage of scripture to try to teach a thinly veiled works-based salvation whereas James two has nothing to do with salvation, okay? And this is where people get mixed up on is anytime the Bible mentions faith or anytime the Bible mentions, you know, salvation or deliverance, they automatically think, oh, this is talking about going to heaven. This is talking about eternal life. But folks, you know, the Bible's not just all about salvation. The Bible's actually about, you know, girding yourself, feeding your master, going the second mile, plowing the field, feeding the cattle. It's about actually living out the Christian life, which is exactly what James two is talking about. Now look at verse number 15 of James chapter two. He says, if a brother should be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you saying to them, depart in peace, be warmed and filled, not what's in you, give them not those things which are needful to the body, what does it profit? Now, wouldn't you agree that, you know, we should be kind to people, even in our words, right? You should, your speech should always be seasoned with grace and salt and just say kind words. The Bible says, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace into the ear. You know, what we say is important, right? How we talk to each other. But you know, if you have a brother or sister who's in need of something and you say, well, God bless you. You know, God bless you is a great thing to say, but do you really think that will profit them? Do you really think that will profit yourself? You know, saying the right things is what God has already commanded us to do. But actually buying them clothing, purchasing food for them, or going out of your way to help them in some way, manner, shape, or form is actually you becoming a profitable servant, because the Bible says here, if all you say is be warmed and filled, what does it profit? It doesn't profit anything. It says in verse 17, even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone. Yeah, a man may say, thou has faith and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works and I will show thee my faith by my works. He's essentially telling them, be a profitable servant. Make sure you have works with your faith, not for salvation, but so that you can profit not only yourself to earn rewards, but also profit others as well. Okay? Luke chapter 10, let's look at a story here in this regard. Luke chapter 10, let me ask you this morning, are you a profitable or an unprofitable servant? Have you done that which has been commanded for you to do? Or have you done that which is commanded for you to do? And you're also girding yourself, feeding your master, going above and beyond, going the second mile in your Christian life. Look at Luke chapter 10 and verse number 30 here. Jesus gives a parable here and he says in verse number 30, and Jesus answering said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise at Levite, and when he was at the place, came and looked on him and passed by on the other side. So what's going on here? Well, you have this guy, he's traveling and the Bible says that he falls among thieves. This is essentially he's robbed, right? Some guys come to him, they rob him, they strip him of his clothing, that's what raiment is. They beat him up, they wound him and then they leave him just half dead. He just kind of knocked out, he's wounded, he fell among thieves. And when I think about this particular story, I think about just unsafe people, okay? Because the certain man can be likened unto an unsafe person who falls into the hands of Satan himself, right? Among thieves, Satan is like a thief because he comes to steal, kill and destroy. You know, Satan strips people of their raiment, he destroys people's lives, he wounds them. And he kind of leaves them half dead where they're twice dead, excuse me, not twice dead, but they're essentially dead in their trespasses and sin. He just kind of destroys their life. And what's sad is that a certain priest comes, he looks upon him, he's like, oh, wow, you know, it's not something you see every day. Just the guy just wounded. I mean, this is a guy who is supposed to be a spiritual leader. He's a guy who reads the word of God, he's a priest, he's obviously in teaching God's word. But what does he do? He comes to the man, just looks upon him and just goes on his way, just kind of does nothing about it, okay? And then the Levite, who is the tribe by which the priests come from, this guy knows what God's word says, he knows his responsibility. These guys, they're not even breaking even, just put it that way, right? They're just kind of bystanders and they're just looking upon, he says in verse 32, when he was at the place, came and looked on him and passed by on the other side. So he comes in, he looks at the guy who's wounded and then he's just like, you know, so that I don't fall into that same situation I'm just gonna go ahead and walk on the other side, okay? I'm very shameful. Now verse 33, he says, but a certain Samaritan as he journeyed, came where he was and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. Now who's a Samaritan? Well, Samaritans didn't really get along with the Israelites. Israelites essentially saw them as dogs, they weren't really fond of the Samaritans because they were like mixed people, they were mixed between Israelites and Gentiles. So this is a person who essentially isn't esteemed in the eyes of the Israelites. He comes, he sees them just as the priest and the lead by do, but here's the difference. He actually has compassion on him. Now, let me ask you a question. Shouldn't we all just have compassion when we see someone hurt like that? Absolutely, right? Have compassion on them. In other words, he bowels, yearns for him, he feels bad for him, he has empathy, he has compassion. And at this point, he's actually breaking even because he has compassion. This is something that's normal for every Christian. You know, when we view someone who is hurt physically, emotionally, mentally, our natural response should be compassion, right? We feel bad for the person, we want to help that person. It's an emotion that is very, you know, akin to Christianity is to have compassion upon people. But let me ask you this. You know, if that's all he did, would he be a profitable servant? No, because compassion is not enough. Look at verse 34. And he went to him and bound up his wounds, poured in oil and wine and set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And on the mall, when he departed, he took out two pants, gave them to the host and said to him, take care of him. What's over there, spend us more. When I come again, I will repay thee. Now that's what you call a profitable servant. It's not just the guy who's just breaking even. He's just like, oh man, poor guy. You know, he just walks away. I mean, I don't even think the priest in the lead bike did that. They were just kind of like, whoa, what's going on here? That's crazy. And then you just kind of like move on. The Samaritan actually cared for him, but hold on a second. He didn't just break even. He didn't just do what that would just have commanded for him to do. He went above and beyond and actually helped this person recover. Now when I look at this particular story, I think about soul-winning. I think about getting people saved. And the reason why is because in verse 34, it's his first informals that he went to him. So this guy who fell among thieves, he's like a guy who fell among the hands of Satan. The world has essentially just kind of beat him up and left him for dead. But then the Samaritan guy goes to him. And you know, when it comes to this matter of soul-winning, we don't wait for the certain man who's wounded and hurt and, you know, without garments to come to us. What do we do? We go to them, right? Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things, what's our command to you and lo, I'm with you always, even unto the end of the world, amen. You know, go and preach the gospel to every creature. The command is to go, to go to them, go to their door, go preach the gospel to them, not wait for them to come to you. Now if they come to us, amen. You know, at our church, we're entering into a season called the fall program where the month of October, we just have different things that we do every Sunday and we encourage people to bring their family and friends every week and coworkers and we make a joint effort to increase the attendance by inviting friends and family to our church and we give them the gospel there. But here's the thing is that, that's not the only way we try to reach people. The vast majority of the year, we actually go to them. We go to the stranger, we go to the certain man who's wounded. So he says in verse 34, he went to him and let's know what it says and bound up his wounds. Now when I think of that, I think of just, he got him saved. Now obviously, that's not what this is referring to, but this is what the symbolism is, is that he's binding up his wounds. And when we go out there and preach the gospel, when we give the gospel to someone and they get saved, we're essentially binding up their spiritual wounds. You know, Jesus Christ said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted. He said, to preach deliverance unto the captives, the recovering of the sight to the blind. And he says, to set out liberty, them that are bruised. You know, don't think of a small thing when you go out week in and week out preaching the gospel. I'm just getting people saved or I just gave the gospel. No, you're binding up the wounds of a certain person who's been hurt by this world. Right? He's binding up the wounds. He's getting them saved. He's preaching the gospel to him. And look what it says next. It says, pouring in oil and wine. That's another great picture of salvation because oil in the Bible is a picture of what? It's a picture of the Holy Spirit. And the Bible tells us that when a person gets saved, that they are indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God. Right? It says in Ephesians 113, in whom you also trusted. After that, you heard the gospel of your salvation. After that, you have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation in whom also after the believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. The Holy Spirit of God comes to live within that person. The oil goes in and is completely sealed into that individual. And then he says pouring in oil and wine. Now I don't believe wine he's referring to like alcohol. Okay, that would be weird. You know, I think what he's referring to is he's kind of wine is also in the Bible juice, but wine is a picture of joy. Okay, it's a picture of abundance, picture of joy. So this guy's not only given in the gospel, he's like a breath of fresh air to that person. You know, he's bringing joy and happiness to that person's life. And look what it says next. And he said, I'm on his own beast and brought him to an end. Now the beast is referring to probably like a donkey he had or something like that. But the way I would interpret this for us in 2022 is he put him in his own vehicle and brought him to church. That would be like going the second mile, right? You see, God has commanded us to go out and preach the gospel. And at that point, that's great. But you know, we need to go above and beyond that. And let me say this, start bringing people to church. Right? You know, bind up their wounds, pour in oil and wine and then say, so what time can I pick you up for church tomorrow? What time do you want me to come? I'll pick you up in my vehicle and I'll bring you to the end. And this is not referring to the in and out burger or anything like that. You know, although that's a good thing to do too. You know, take them out to eat and treat them out. To the end could be referring to what? The church. So you get someone saved and you get their name and you say, what's your name? Do you go to church anywhere else? I don't really go to church. Well, you know what? I want to invite you to be my guest tomorrow at Whole Fast Baptist Church. And you know, I'll pick you up at 10 a.m. And we have lunch afterwards and you know, bring him so we can learn the word of God so we can get some Christian friends, some Christian fellowship. Put him on your own beast, amen. He said, well, I don't have a beast. I don't have a car. Well, you know, volunteer Garrett's beast then or something, I don't know. Call Garrett and say, Gary, I got someone for you to pick up tomorrow or something, you know. But make sure it's legitimate though, okay? You know, while Garrett is spinning his wheels, just going to pick up people who are, you know, we've all had that, you know, people, oh, I'll be there tomorrow. I'll be there tomorrow. And it's just like, didn't they never come? But you know, this person is obviously a profitable individual, is he not? This Samaritan is a person who is profitable for the kingdom of God because why? He not only has compassion, he goes to him, he binds up his wounds, he pours in oil and wine, he puts them on his own beast, and then he takes them to the inn and he says there and he takes care of him. Now, what is that a picture of? Discipleship, right? You bring him to church and then you oversee him as a spiritual babe in Christ. You teach him what the word of God says, you spend time with that person, you take them out to eat, you know, at our church, we always encourage people to spend a lot of time with the people in our church. Whenever there's a new person that comes, they just kind of all flock to that individual and they try to make them feel welcome and you know, I try to tell our people, hey, no clicks in our church in the morning, right? I know we got our little clicks and our little gangs in the morning and everyone wants to just go and talk to each other, but when a new person comes, we need to go to that new person and obviously we want to check on their salvation and but also just spend time with them. And the first thing you should do is this, hey, let's go out to eat afterwards, you want to go get a coffee, you know, let me get your number, spend time with people, what are we trying to do? We're trying to take care of them, okay? Because here's the thing is that obviously they're going to like the preaching here because it's biblical, it's sound doctrine. They're going to love what the word of God says, but you know what? What's the cherry on top is when they actually have a friend at church. You know what's going to motivate them to come to church? Sometimes even more often than the preaching of God's word is the fact that they have a friend at church that's going to be there. Because believe it or not, you know, some people come to church and they're looking for their friend. They're looking for that particular individual to sit next to, to be a friend of, we're talking about being profitable servants here, okay? It's great when we go on a priest to gospel and get people saved, hey, but let's kick it up a notch. Let's invite those people to church. Let's grow this church, hey man. Let's grow the church, let's bring people to church. You say, well, I've done that and they come and they don't come back. Well, you know what? That's just how the way it is. But you know what? You do that to about 20 people, one of them will come back continuously. One of them will. It's always about the law of numbers. And you know, your labor's not in vain in the Lord either. He says in verse 35, and on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence and gave them to the hosts. Now, what does that tell us? It means that he's willing to invest his own resources into that person. You know, this might mean that you just, you take that person out to eat during the week. You spend time with this person after work during the week. You say, man, that's a lot. Yeah, that's called being a profitable servant. You see an unprofitable servant is just like, you get them saved and that's great. You get a reward for that, but that is what you've been commanded to do. However, if you wanna go above and beyond of just plowing the field and feeding the cattle, you guard yourself and go serve the master in other areas. You go disciple someone. Hey, some teenager comes to this church. You go talk to that teenager. You go disciple that teenager. You go love that teenager. You take out your two pence, you know, and you give them to the host. You give them to the person. You take care of them. And he says there, take care of him and whatsoever they'll spend this more. When I come again, I will repay thee. What does that mean? It means that he's even willing to put that person into the hands of another caregiver and say, take care of this person and whatever he needs, whatever she needs, I'll take care of it, whatever resources is there. I just need you to take care of this person. Now I know exactly how this feels because as our church continues to grow, you know, I can't necessarily deal with everyone. I can't talk to everyone. I can't fellowship with everyone. So I specifically ask people like, hey, I need you to kind of take care of this person and go talk to them and spend time with them and hang out with them. And it's gone to a point where they have like their own barbecues now. Sometimes they don't even invite me anymore. I'm like, man, I remember the days when I used to get invited to the birthday parties and the barbecues and stuff like that. But you know what? It's okay though because other people need it, okay? They need that fellowship and they need people who are willing to go above and beyond. He says in verse 36, which now of these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, he that showed mercy on him then said, Jesus unto him, go and do thou likewise. Go to Hebrews chapter number 10, if you would. Hebrews chapter number 10. Are you breaking even or are you a profitable servant? Are you breaking even in the Christian life or are you actually going above and beyond to go the extra mile to gird yourself and serve the master? What's another area? Well, how about breaking even in church attendance? You know, when coming to church, is you breaking even? Did you know that? Coming to church and being faithful to all the services is you breaking even. Be faithful to this church. Why? Because that's what God's commanded of you to do. Look at Hebrews 10 and verse number 25. It says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another. Listen to this. And so much the more as you see the day approaching. What does the Bible say? You know, it's commanded for you to go to at least one service. But you know what the Bible says? So much the more as you see the day approaching. What does that mean? Sunday night, Wednesday night. Anytime the church doors are open, you should be here. Why? Because that is what God has commanded for you to do. This is your duty. You say, well, what can I do to be a profitable servant in the church if I'm already faithful to church? Well, I guarantee you if you go to that man right there and you ask him, what needs to be done in this church? What needs to be cleaned? Hey, what instrument needs to be learned? I'm sure he's got a list of things for you to do. Every pastor does. You know, you say, you know what? I want to be a prophet to this church. How can I learn piano? Okay, I want to learn the piano. Or you know what? I'm going to pick up an instrument, a cello, or a violin, or some other instrument. And I want to learn an instrument because I want to be a blessing to this church. I'm faithful to church, but I want to be a profitable servant as well. And I want to go above and beyond that. And not just warm a seat, I want to actually do something in this church, okay? Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, 1 Corinthians chapter 12. You say, why are you saying all this? Well, you know, because it's important for God's people to be reminded of the importance of maintaining good works. The Bible says in Titus 3a, this is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, the Bible says. What does that mean? That means the pastor should be talking about this constantly, constantly reiterating this, constantly repeating this. What? That they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. You know, it's the greatest place to maintain good works to church. Your local New Testament church is the best place for you to flesh out the works that God has before ordained that you should walk in them. He says, be careful to maintain good works. These things are good. And listen to this, profitable unto men. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse number four. He says, now there are diversities of gifts but the same spirit. There are differences of administration but the same Lord. There are diversities of operations but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man, listen to this, to profit with all. Did you know that every single person in this room, all of you have a gift? All of you are gifted in some way, shape or form. Some may have more gifts than others. Some may have one gift, one talent, two talents, three talents, four talents, five talents, but every single saved person here has some sort of ability, some sort of gift that God has given to you to profit this church. You see, there's a misconception out there that it's just like, well, people just come to church and that's how they serve God is just by coming to church. No, you serve God by coming to church and actually doing something in the church. Whether that's taking out the trash, whether that's cleaning a room, whether that's filling up the Baptist stream. You say, well, I'm not really talented in any of that. I don't know how to cook, I can't clean, I can't play an instrument, I can't really do anything. Well, maybe you can bring people to church. Maybe you know how to bring people to church. Maybe you're a very persuasive person to bring people to church and get them saved and get them plugged in. Maybe it's just making the coffee, maybe it's just folding the bulletins. There's always something everyone in a church can do. And there should never be a reason why it's like, well, you know, those years are behind me, I can't really do much. Everyone can do something. Everyone can do something because God has said, I've given a gift to every man to profit with all, okay? Don't just break even by attending Holy Fast Baptist Church. Be a profitable servant by actually doing something at Holy Fast Baptist Church. Be a servant at Holy Fast Baptist Church. God has called us to serve, amen. Go to Matthew chapter 25. Hey, don't just break even in your marriage. God says, for husbands to love their wives, as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. God's commanding you to do that, but why don't you go above and beyond that? And actually be sacrificial towards your spouse and love your wife and do extra things for your wife and just show her how much you love her by taking her around, by buying her things or doing what she wants to do. Try your best to be the best husband you can be. Don't just break even in your marriage by revising your husband. Go above and beyond that. Make him his favorite meal, no nagging, amen. No complaining, no just being a burden some to your husband or to your wife. Don't just break even in your marriage. Actually do something above and beyond that of what is required of you and actually make a profit in your marriage. Hey, don't just break even at your job, right? At your job, you have a job description, you fulfill that job description. You don't want you to do some overtime. And if there's no overtime available, just tell your boss, well, you don't have to pay me, I'll just do extra work. I'll just do extra work, whatever it is you need me to do. You know, let me help you increase the company or increase the job. You say, yeah, but they don't pay you well here and they don't deserve it. Folks, we do all things as unto the Lord, amen. And you know what? You may not get paid overtime here in this world by your boss if you work a little extra, but you will get paid overtime by God himself because in all labor there is profit, the Bible says. And we need to stop having Christians who just want to break even and just do that which is their duty to do and actually go above and beyond that and do a little more and be profitable in their Christian life, okay? Don't just break even in your marriage. Don't just break even in your child rearing. Don't just break even at your job. Don't just break even at church. Try to be a profitable servant, not just doing that which has been commanded for you to do. Look at Matthew 25 here, Matthew chapter 25. Of course, this is the parable of the talents here and he says in verse 24, then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown and gathering where thou hast not strawed. And I was afraid and went and hid thy talent in the earth, lo, there thou hast that is thine. Now, what is this referring to? Well, the parable here is referring to the fact that the master gives talents to these particular servants and the other servants, they actually do something with their talent. You know, they multiply it, they use it. Whereas this guy, he has one particular talent and instead of actually using it and multiplying it, he's afraid, so he just hides it under the earth, thinking that the master's gonna be happy when he comes back to see that it's still there, right? What does this mean? It means that he's not profiting. He's not making more than what is meat. He's not making more than what's been given to him. And he really thinks that the master's gonna be like, oh, great, thanks for taking care of this talent. You know, at least you didn't make it, you know, at least you didn't break it, or at least you didn't sell it, at least you just kept it nice and clean for when I got back. But, look at verse 26, his Lord answered and said unto him, thou wicked and slothful servant. Now, I'm sure this man's heart dropped as soon as he heard that. Thou newest that I reap where I sowed not and gather where I have not strawed, thou oddest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers. And then at my coming, I should have received mine own with usury. He's like, you could have just at least made some investments with that talent, and at least we would have gotten some interest on it. It's like saying this is like, the least you could have done is paid someone to do a little extra. So at least the extra would have been done in this particular situation. He says in verse 28, take therefore the talent from him and give it unto him which hath ten talents, for unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath, and cast thee the unprofitable servant into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now let me give you the main interpretation of this, and then we'll give an application. When he says cast thee the unprofitable servant to outer darkness, he's referring to hell. And this isn't saying if you don't use your talents for the Lord, you're gonna go to hell. The main interpretation of this particular parable is he's actually referring to the Jews. Because many of the parables in the book of Matthew are geared towards, or should I say, geared against the Jews. And what he's saying here is that the Jews, they had this particular talent known as the word of God. The Bible says that the oracles of God were committed unto them. They were given the word of God. And their responsibility was to not only teach the word of God to Israel, but also to go and reach the Gentiles, right? But they didn't do that. They became self-absorbed, self-glorifying. They're all about Israel and all about the Jews. And so what do they do? They essentially took their talent and hid it under the earth, okay? And you know, Jesus is saying here, Israel as a whole is a cursed nation because the kingdom of God shall be taken from them and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. So just as the talent was taken from this guy and given to the one who has 10 talents who's actually doing something, in like manner Jesus says of the Jews that the kingdom of God was taken from them and given to a nation that's already bringing forth the fruits thereof. Someone who's actually doing the work of reaching the Gentiles, reaching unsaved people, which is just referring to all people in general, all Gentiles in general who are saved. And he says that these guys are unprofitable servants. The Jews, unprofitable. Israel is an unprofitable nation. That's why they're no longer the people of God. But the application that we can get from this is that God has given to us talents. Every single one of us has a talent. And you wanna be like the first couple guys who actually multiplies that talent. You actually do something with what God has given to you. And I'm telling you, no one in this room can say, well, I've never been a talented person. Everyone has a talent. Everyone has an ability. Everyone has a gift that God has given to them that they can do something with. And you say, well, I only have one. That's all you need. That's all you need. You know, there might be people in here who have five talents. You know, I saw the piano player, she's playing and singing at the same time. I mean, that's pretty gifted right there, right? I mean, I can't even sing sometimes. And I don't even play a piano. Sometimes I struggle just singing, you know? I mean, she's over here. I have someone at my church who can play the violin and sing at the same time. I mean, that's very gifted. I have someone at my church who learns an instrument every like three months. They like learn, right now they're learning the violin and they learn the piano and they learn the guitar and they're just like, I think I'm gonna pick up a harp next time or whatever. They have this gift to just be able to learn. They're just like this walking orchestra. You know, I can't, I don't learn instruments. I can't learn it. I don't understand the notes. I don't know, they're just dots on a paper for me. Like, I don't get that at all, okay? So this guy's obviously very talented. He has like tons of talent and that's just aside from just he song leads. He does all types of other things in the church. He's a very talented person. He's a very godly man. But here's the thing is that there's other people who have one talent, but you know what? They're utilizing that one talent to its fullest extent. And what if the guy who had five talents just did nothing with them? He'd profit nothing. The guy with the one talent would make more profit doing something with his one than the guy with the five who does nothing with it. So even if every person in this room has one talent, use that one talent. Don't just say, well, you know, I just, I'm just gonna hide it in the ground. And you know, this is a small church. I can't really utilize my talent here. You can use this, you can use that talent here. You can use the talent anywhere. It doesn't matter the size of the church. Doesn't matter how many people come. Doesn't matter what situation it is. You can always use your talent here. You can always use it for the Lord to profit the Lord. The question that I have for you this morning is this, are you a profitable servant? Or are you only doing that which is your duty to do? Are you only breaking even in the Christian life? Or are you actually trying to go above and beyond in the Christian life to actually profit the church, profit the ministry, profit the Lord Jesus Christ and his kingdom, profit your family, profit your marriage, profit your child rearing, profit your boss, profit your job, profit the music, profit the cleaning, profit the building, be a profitable servant is what I'm saying. And I believe that obviously Pastor Bazarowski will say thank you to you even if you just come to church. I think people when they come to church, I think it's good to just be a grateful person. And so I think people for coming. But you know what, even if he never thanks you or I never thank you for doing above and beyond, the Lord Jesus Christ will one day say, you're well done, thou good and faithful servant. And we'll thank you and we'll reward you greatly for actually bringing more into the kingdom of God, bringing someone to church, inviting your family, inviting your friends. You're like, well, I don't have a large pool of people to choose from. But maybe you have that one family member who would come. Maybe you have that one coworker who would come. Maybe you do have that one neighbor that would come. Maybe you have that one cousin that would come, that one uncle that would come, that one person that you know, you may not know 10 people, 20 people that you have influence over, but maybe you have one. Bring that one. I guarantee you, Pastor Bazzarski, if you could would do a backflip if you brought that one person. Cause that's showing that you're being a profitable servant, amen. Let's pray our heads and have a word.