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Officers are required for the administration of a kingdom, and so God has deliberately interposed a prolonged period between His two advents, that our Lord might be enabled to so test his servants, in His absence, as to discover which are fitted for positions of responsibility and trust at His return.
— D. M. Panton, The Judgment Seat of Christ, page 35, re. the Parable of the Minas

The Lord gives us two parables in the New Testament regarding how He has gifted His believers for their service to Him, and how He will call us to account, when He returns, for the use we made of our gift. To fully understand what the Lord is showing us in these two parables, we really need to consider them together.

The Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 deals with the especially gifted believers, while the Parable of the Minas in Luke 19 shows how all the believers have received at least some gift from the Lord by which He desires us to “do business” for Him until He comes. (Luke 19:13; see Episode #149: “The Parables of the Talents & of the Minas”.) If we are faithful to the Lord in our service on behalf of Christ and His kingdom until He returns, we will receive a tremendous reward from Him then (Matt. 25:19-23, Luke 19:15-12), whether our gift for service is great or small.

But considered together, these parables also show us another important lesson: we should not be discouraged in our service to the Lord if we feel we have only received a small gift for that service. The Lord does not expect us to make a profit according to what He has not given us, but only according to what He has given us. So, we must not “despise the day of small things” (Zech. 4:10), but rather, be “faithful in the least” (Luke 16:10); in this way our service to the Lord will grow and develop, and we will indeed be rewarded by Him at His return.

Length: 32 minutes

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RESOURCES

This Podcast Series: “The Judgment Seat of Christ”
Episode #149: “The Parables of the Talents & the Minas” (1)

Books

James McKendrick, Seen and Heard
D.M. Panton, purchase The Judgment Seat of Christ
D.M. Panton, download The Judgment Seat of Christ
Witness Lee, A Brief Definition of the Kingdom of the Heavens
Watchman Nee, The Salvation of the Soul

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BIBLE VERSES REFERENCED…

In this Series:
2 Corinthians 5:10, Romans 14:10-12: The judgment seat of Christ.
Revelation 20:1-6: The 1,000 year reign of Christ upon the earth.
Revelation 20:11-15: The Great White Throne judgment.

In this Episode:
Matthew 25:14-30: The Parable of the Talents.
Luke 19:14-30: The Parable of the Minas.
Revelation 22:5: Reigning throughout all the ages.
Zechariah 4:10, Luke 16:10: Don’t despise the day of small things!
1 Corinthians 4:1: Seeking for faithful stewards.

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Recorded…
in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, 8 October 2025