There is one who studies the Bible and sees God’s demands on them. There’s another who studies the Bible and sees God’s supply for them. One is ready to work, the other is ready to rest. Which one are you?
No work for God can be done APART from Jesus Christ. John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.Religious people however:Do (MUCH RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES): that they (Call WORK); But just as it was with ——-CAIN———What they PRIDE THEMSELVES IN——Will be REJECTED by GOD.Matthew 7:22-23 [22] Many will say to Me in that Day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils, and in Thy name done many wonderful works?’ [23] And then will I profess unto them, ‘I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.’———OSAS————
Matthew 25:26-3026 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
David Guzik Commentary 5. (26-30) The third servant is judged.“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”a. You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown: The condemnation of this third servant – here called a wicked and lazy servant – was strong. The sovereignty of the master never excused the laziness of the servant. It condemned that laziness all the more.i. Those who don’t work for the Lord, or pray, or don’t evangelize because God is sovereign condemn themselves by their laziness. By their actions (or lack of action) they show that they are like the wicked servant in the parable. They do not know their Master’s heart at all. “The lord of the unprofitable servant tells him, that the fault lay in his own sloth and wickedness, and his dread of his lord’s security was but a mere frivolous pretence and unreasonable excuse.” (Poole)ii. The charge against this servant who merely buried his talent was that he was wicked and lazy. We rarely see laziness as a real sin, something that must be repented of before the Lord. If laziness were a calling or a spiritual gift, this man would have been excellent.iii. “Not dishonest – the master had not misjudged as to that – but indolent, unenterprising, timid…Slothful, a poor creature altogether: suspicious, timid, heartless, spiritless, idle.” (Bruce)iv. We might say that this servant did not have a proper fear of his master, but an unfitting fear of risk and failure.b. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest: This man could have done something with what he had. Even if it had not doubled, it would have gained some interest for the master’s money.i. “If we cannot trade directly and personally on our Lord’s account, if we have not the skill nor the tact to manage a society or an enterprise for him, we may at least contribute to what others are doing, and join our capital to theirs, so that, by some means, our Master may have the interest to which he is entitled.” (Spurgeon)ii. “The Old Testament forbade Israelites from charging interest against one another (Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35-37; Deuteronomy 23:19; cf. Psalm 15:5…); but interest on money loaned to Gentiles was permitted (Deuteronomy 23:20)…By New Testament times Jewish scholars had already distinguished between ‘lending at interest’ and ‘usury’ (in the modern sense).” (Carson)c. For to everyone who has, more will be given… but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away: There are those who have things (like the servant with one talent), but hold them in such a way that it is as if they have nothing. These ones will find what they had taken away. Those who hold what they have received as faithful men and women, to them more will be given.i. “See that ye receive not any grace of God in vain; neither envy those that have much; a proportion is expected.” (Trapp)ii. “We need not wait for the great future, to obtain this multiplication or withdrawal of our talents. They are already waxing or waning in our hands.” (Meyer)d. Cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness: Because he was wicked and lazy, the third servant demonstrated that he was not a true servant of his master at all. It is fitting that he (and those who show the same heart) was cast forever out of the master’s presence.i. Just as there was a sense of heaven in the destiny for the two faithful servants, there is a strong sense of hell in the destiny for the wicked and lazy servant.ii. In the larger context of Matthew 25, the main point of this parable is clear: our readiness for Jesus’ return is determined by our stewardship of the resources that He has given us.iii. Some think that readiness for Jesus’ return is a very spiritual and abstract thing. It really isn’t – it is a matter of being about our business for the Lord. In light of this parable, we must ask ourselves: What have we done with our knowledge? Our time? Our money? Our abilities? The sins of omission [what we don’t do] may ultimately be more dangerous than the sins of commission [what we do].
We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
I John 5:18 NKJV
I see myself as both. I see there are commandments from God and there is also rest in the Lord. I am willing to work for Him and looking forward to the rest. There is peace in knowing my way to heaven is paid for me but there is restlessness knowing I want to be used by the Lord to do His good works. We should not be one or the other. We should be both imo.