The Two Talents

In this sermon on Matthew 25:22-23, Charles Spurgeon teaches that God sovereignly gives different amounts of talent and ability to different people—some have great gifts while others have few—and this variety displays God's sovereignty, His love of diversity, and ensures every sphere of Christian service (including small, humble ones) has someone fitted to fill it. He warns that having few talents doesn't excuse anyone from accountability, since God will judge each person individually and examine every detail of how they used what they were given, making those with little actually more accountable since less effort was required to use their gifts faithfully. However, Spurgeon encourages believers with few talents by promising that if they faithfully use what they have (by God's grace), they'll receive the exact same commendation—"Well done, good and faithful servant"—as those with many talents, since God rewards faithfulness rather than the size of accomplishments, meaning a poor needlewoman who led one person to Christ receives equal praise as famous evangelists like Whitfield.Sermon delivered on January 31, 1858.