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Ver. 28-30. God often in this life deprives men and women of those gifts which he hath given them, and they do not make use of for the glory of his name, and the good of their and others’ souls, the great ends for which he hath entrusted them with them. But this seems not to be here intended, this text referring to the day of judgment: all therefore that we are to understand by this is; That no man’s gifts, whether of nature or providence, of what advantage soever they have been to him in this life, will be of any profit to him in the day of judgment, unless he hath in this life used them to the ends for which God gave them. In that day he will lose all; and the glory of heaven shall not be the portion of them that have had great talents of learning, wit, riches, honours, spiritual gifts, or any thing of that nature, but of those only who have used these things to the honour and glory of God, and to the advantage of their own and others’ souls. For all those that have been unprofitable, hell will be their portion at last, where their misery will be, as of those that live in extreme darkness, continual weeping and gnashing of teeth. The substance of what is in Mat_25:29 we met with Mat_13:12,
To him that hath shall be given, & c.; but I think the proverbial speech here is applied differently from the application of it there. There, him that hath seemeth to signify, him that hath an actual possession; for it is said before,
Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. So that I take that text to contain a promise of the increase of grace to those that have the seed of God; whereas the appearances of it in others shall not last, but vanish away. Here, plainly, him that hath signifieth, him that maketh a good and true use of what he hath; and thus the parable expounds it. So as the sense is, He that hath any talents from God, and maketh use of them, and improves them for the honour and glory of God, shall be rewarded with further gifts of grace or glory. But if a man hath not, that is, hath, but is as if he had not, making no use of what he hath for the glory of God, those gifts and talents which he hath shall be of no profit and advantage, but miserable disadvantage to him at last.