The Talents and Ranks of the Warrior Bride of Christ 1

The Parable of the Talents
 

Matthew 25:14-30

¹⁴ “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. ¹⁵ And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. ¹⁶ Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. ¹⁷ And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. ¹⁸ But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. ¹⁹ After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

²⁰ “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ ²¹ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ ²² He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ ²³ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

²⁴ “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

²⁶ “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 Therefore 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.’ NKJV


Knowing we are children of the Most High God, now we need to understand and take our respective place in the army. That requires that we get to know our ranks and work together in unity in order to achieve greater victories and in an accelerated time like God did to help Nehemiah fulfill his mandate to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem by taking a tool in one hand and a sword on the other (Nehemiah 2-6). This means that we need to come together in unity and fight for the vision of God for us to be fulfilled and go to our places of assignment to implement the victories obtained in battle to advance the Kingdom of God and influence the seven mountains of culture. The Scripture in Matthew 25:14-30 helps us understand what is asked of us as the end time bride of Christ.

 

The Lord gave us, His children, a mandate stated as early as the first chapter of the book of Genesis which says in verses 27-28, “²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

 

However, being able to accomplish this takes going to war to take back the Kingdom from the hands of the enemy as an enforcement of what Jesus accomplished for us at the Cross and through the shedding of His blood for the forgiveness of our sins, and so we could be reconciled to the Father after Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden. The Scripture says we are made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26). This means that we were created to think, walk, talk, and act like Him. One of God’s attributes is that He is a man of war and a Jealous God for the heart of worship of His children toward Him (Exodus 15:3, 20:5; Deuteronomy 5:9).

 

So going back to the Scripture in Matthew 25, we see that the traveling man who represents our Lord entrusted some men with different amounts of talents. One way to interpret this is the provision given to these men in finances and resources for them to be able to accomplish their assignments and commissions given to be fruitful, multiply, replenish and subdue the earth, and also take dominion over the areas they were given to influence. Another way to interpret this is the different ranks they were given in God’s army as His warrior brides used of Him to help Him enforce the work of restoration back to the original condition that Jesus bought back for us at the Cross. But this also requires that we grow in our capacity to take back what the enemy stole from Adam. Two of the men that were given these ranks did their faithful job of developing and yielding to God’s will and ways to enlist them in the army and grow in skill for the use of the weapons of warfare given to them at each one of their levels or ranks. This enabled them to take back their assigned territory from the hands of the enemy and receive the spoils of battle that the Lord would then come to inspect and observe their level of faithfulness and trust in Him to help them achieve what was commanded of them according to the ways of the Kingdom and being mindful of the timing of the Lord and the leading of the Holy Spirit to help them reach their destiny. This also was an appointed time for their promotion for they were found faithful in their lower ranks.

 

Then there was also the one servant who allowed fear, pride and ignorance of the ways of God’s Kingdom and instead decided in his heart that it was best to remain living in the old ways, with the old mindset, and be jealous of the ones who had done their work with sacrifice and steadfastness. He also refused to allow the Lord to take him through the process that would remove the wrong foundations obtained through wrong mindsets due to the traditions of men, cultural strongholds, generational backgrounds that filtered in the works of the enemy in every area of his life which made him think that it was normal to think and live the way he did.

 

Nevertheless, it takes a true and heartfelt yielding to the process and the trials that help us be trained as warriors. Likewise we need a surrendered heart to the Lord in order to grow in the ranks that will position us in the specific place in the army that completes the puzzle and is very strategic by God’s design.  Whether they are in the spotlight or in the background where very few will notice them, it will ensure protection of the whole group and contribute to the synchronize unity that will thrust the whole company into a sure victory. The important reason for this is our comprehension that in this army there can only be one agenda—and that is God’s agenda. He is the Captain of the Host and we are His instruments or better yet, we are His weaponry (Jeremiah 50:25) utilized at the time that each one is needed in order to contribute to the success of the whole group. This can mean that God will cause us to take turns in the use of our gifts and talents for the service of the members of the army as well as for those we are to influence in our places of assignment.

 

It is also noteworthy to acknowledge that some members of this army have frontline positions, but that is not the assigned place for every member of the army. This position requires skill and understanding of what must be done because they are the ones that lead in the battle and the enemy targets them first. That is why God equips us according to our positions and ranks. Moreover, another important thing to acknowledge about this army is that its members are to serve one another. We cover each other with prayers and fasting for each other because many could at times get hit in such a way that it takes a lot of effort from them to recuperate and they need the buster of our prayers and fasting to heal and be restored. I know I have needed this kind of help many times. Not only that, but there are other ways that will help the members be restored from the blows of the battle and also according to their seasons in their training. Those other ways can be financial or with resources and support like counseling and mentoring to help them know more of the ways of the Kingdom and their identity in Christ as well as to get familiar with their new ranks when they have been promoted. One main aspect of this restoration is to help them have order in their lives that will help them be powerful and effective witnesses in their places of assignment.

 

The heart of a warrior can get wounded from trials and times of testing; they can grow weary from the long journeys, and can get contaminated with the influence of the demonic enemy when in warfare which sometimes are more intense than others. We all need the help of other members of the army as well as words of encouragement and all other gifts given by the Lord for the body to help us grow and be effective members of God’s end time Army. Unity then takes a whole new meaning when we understand that just as the 120 that were gathered in the upper room in the book of Acts were of one mind and one heart and were able to be together at the same time, in the same place, and on the same day until the Spirit of the Lord came to fulfill what was prophesied in Joel 2:29 (Acts 1:12-14). Being in the upper room also denotes that their thoughts were high as the Lord’s and not fixed in the things of the world, but all thought to do the will of God and not their own carnal desires (Isaiah 55:8-9). Likewise, being of one mind meant that their thoughts were aligned with the will of God for all of them, and their hearts were focused on being after God’s own heart like David, who always sought to do the will of the Lord and fulfill God’s plan and purpose for his life.

 

David is a great example of a warrior bride who always went to battle after first inquiring of the Lord for a strategy for himself and for the other members of his army. When others were weary, he was strong for all of them and was able to seek the direction of the Lord when enemy armies came to steal, kill, and destroy. But most importantly, whenever some of them were not able to join in the battle because they were experiencing times of recuperation and healing, or were going through new experiences in their training that prevented them from engaging in warfare, David did not hesitate to share the plunder with them.  Selfishness was a foreign word in his vocabulary, envy and jealousy and covetousness of what they had and their ranks and positions was also unheard of. They were not perfect people, but they knew that unity and loyalty was important for their protection as an army (See 1 Samuel 30). The opposite of that was the attitude of the servant who received the one talent. Attitudes like his can be the cause of casualties of war and great loss for the whole group because of one person.

 

Another extremely important aspect of being a true warrior bride of Christ in these end times is the intimacy we need to have with the Lord. He created us to spend daily times of intimacy with Him to hear His voice, read His word, pray, intercede, and worship as well as consecrate to get to know Him and the ways of His Kingdom even more. He also created us to grow in our knowledge of Him in the many facets of His deity that He chooses to manifest to us in our different seasons of training as warriors. This is important to help us not only fight for what He has promised us, but also will help us understand the need we have to protect and fight for other members of the army that may be going through similar situations. As it has been establishes, there are different positions in the army just as there are different ranks. Some have positions of leadership, others assist and support them, there are intercessors, and there are financiers that provide for the vision that God has given for the army, there are those with knowledge of technology or other matters that can help accomplish the different characteristics and forms that the vision will take. But all must be done under the leading of the Holy Spirit and in support of one another. This means that we lock in arms against the enemy and support those who are down when the rest of us are up.

 

Finally, one other important thing to avoid is to become stumbling blocks for others (Romans 14:13) in an attempt to stop them from reaching their assigned place in the army given by God because only He can assign positions, ranks, and promotions. Therefore, there are promotions and reassignments within the army that God orchestrates at His appointed times and seasons. Fighting to stop someone else’s promotion or reassignment because of lack of understanding of the ways of God or for lack of spiritual discernment could mean a sign of contamination with the spirit of the world and lack of spiritual maturity. To avoid this there has to be cleansing and continual times of consecration to allow the Lord to cleanse us with the water of His word and as He leads us, so our restoration and renewing of our minds can be ensured in order to move ahead with the army to the place of victory and not be demoted or even worse, removed for being a hindrance to others and starting unnecessary fights that could bring loss to the group. All of this takes continual prayer and not forsaking the assembly of the brethren because being gathered together will help us learn to use the keys God gives us to stop the works of the enemy and release the things that were held back by him. In addition, God does command His blessing where He sees this unity of one heart and one mind and where two or more are gathered in His name (Matthew 18:18-20). To Him Alone be all the glory.

 

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