Spiritual Battle – What to Do with Your Life
Pastor Tan Thai · Jun 29, 2019
This sermon, based on the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30, challenges the congregation to answer life's most important question: what should I do with my life? God is the owner of every person's life and entrusts talents to every believer to be invested for His work. Each person will one day give an account to God for how they used what was entrusted to them.
The sermon opens by affirming that every person lives only once, making life's most critical question: "What must I do with my life?" The pastor identifies three common approaches to life: unbridled self-indulgence, drifting passively with circumstances, or intentionally investing one's life according to God's will. Satan works to make people forget this question or answer it wrongly, leading to a wasted life.
Drawing from the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30, the pastor presents six foundational principles. First, God is the owner of every life — we are merely stewards, not owners. Talents are defined broadly to include material resources, abilities, time, and opportunities. Second, God gives talents to every believer, though in differing measures according to each person's capacity to manage them. Third, talents are entrusted to be invested and multiplied, not hoarded or buried.
The sermon then emphasizes that God will settle accounts regarding the talents He has given. The pastor distinguishes two judgments: the final judgment for unbelievers and the Judgment Seat of Christ for believers, where each Christian will give an account of how they used what was entrusted to them (2 Corinthians 5:9-10; Romans 14:10-12). Failing to use one's talents for God's work is presented as wrong and even sinful, illustrated by the servant who was called "wicked and lazy."
Three common reasons believers bury their talents are identified: fear and lack of confidence, self-pity rooted in past failures, and fearing people more than fearing God. The fifth principle is that God will give more to those who use their talents and take away from those who do not — just as unused muscles weaken and atrophy. The sixth principle is that God will reward faithful stewards and invite them to share in His eternal joy.
The sermon closes with a practical call to decision: every believer must choose between burying their talents, living for personal pleasure, or using God-given gifts to bear fruit for His work. Attending church, reading Scripture, and praying are means to discover one's talents — but they cannot substitute for actually using those talents in service to God and others.