The Russellville Democrat., 1888-11-29
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Not Alone the Brilliant Who Shall
Receive Reward,
But the Record or Heaven VIII Require
of Every One According to the
Talents Intrusted to Their
Earthly Keeping.

MP the parable OF the ten talents as MS
subject, his text being:
Unto one he gave five talents, to another
two, and to another one; to every man accord
Ing to his several ability. XIV, Is.
Many Of the parallels Of Jesus Christ
were more graphic in the times in which
He lived than they are now, because cir
cumstances have so much changed. In
olden times, when q man wanted to wreak
grudge upon his neighbor, after the
farmer had scattered tho seed wheat over
the field and was expecting the harvest
the avenger would go across the same
field with a sack full OF the seed OF darnel
grass, scattering that seed all over the
field, and, of course, it would sprout up
and spoil the whole crop, and 1t was to
that Christ referred in the parable when
he spoke of the tares being sown among
the wheat In this land our farms are
fenced off and the wolves have been
driven to the mountains, and we can not
fully understand the meaning of the
parable in regard to the shepherd and
the lost sheep. But the parable OF which
| | speak is founded on something we all
| understand. It IS built on money, and
that means the same in Jerusalem us in
New York. 1t means the same to the
serf as to the Car, and to the Chinese
| coolie as TO the Emperor. Whether 1t is
made out of bone, or brass, or iron, or
copper, or gold, or silver, 1t speaks all
languages without stammer. The para
bio OF the text runs in this wise The
owner Of large estate was about TO
leave home, and he had some money that
he wished properly invested, and so he
called together his servants, and said:
81 am going away now, and wish
you would take this money and put 1t to
the very best possible use, and when
come back return to me the interest. To
one man he gave nine thousand four hun
dred dollars; to others he gave lesser
sums of money; to the least he gave
eighteen hundred dollars. He left home
and was gone for years, and then re-
turned. On his arrival he was anxious to
know about his worldly affairs, and he
called his servants together to report to
him. .'Let me know" said he, "what you
have been doing with my property since
| l have been gone. The man who had
received the nine thousand four hundred
dollars came up and said: st invested
that money. l got good interest for it J.
have in other ways rightly employed 1t,
and here are eighteen thousand eight
hundred dollars You see Ihave doubled
what you gave me-" ''Thats very good, !"
said the owner of the estate; "that's
grandly done. l admire your faithful
ness and industry. | shall reward
you. Well done-we1l done" Other
servants came up with smaller accumu-
Iations. After awhile see man drag
ging himself along, with his head hang
ing. / know from the way he comes in
that he is a lazy fellow. He comes up to
| the owner OF the estate and says: Here
are those eighteen hundred and eighty
dollars" ''What" says the owner of
the property, "haven't you made it ac-
cumulate any thing?" "Nothing-noth-
ing" "Why, what have you been about all
| these years?n ''Oh, I was afraid thatif /
invested il might somehow lose it. There
are your eighteen hundred and eighty
| dollars" Many man star ted out with
only a crown in his pocket and achieved
fortune; but this fellow OF my text wi tn
eighteen hundred and eighty dollars,
has gained not one farthing. Instead
of confessing his Incidence, he goes
TO work to berate his master, for
Incidence is most always impu-
dent and impertinent. OF course he
looses his place and is discharged from
the service. The owner who went out into
far country is Jesus Christ going from
earth to Heaven. The servants spoken
of in the text are members of the church.
The talents are our different qualifica-
tions of usefulness, given in different
proportions to different people. The
coming back OF the owner is the Lord
Jesus returning at the judgment to make
| Anal settlement. The raising of some of
these men to be rulers over five or two
cities is the exaltation of the righteous
at the last day, while the casting out of
the idler is the expulsion of all those who
have misimproved their privileges.
Learn first from this subject that be-
coming Christian is merely going out
to service. II you have any romantic
idea about becoming a Christian, l want
now to scatter the romance. IL you en-
ter into the kingdom of God it will be
going into plain practical, honest con-
tinuous, persiste Mt Christian work,
know there are great many people who
have fantastic and romantic notions
sbout this Christian life, but he who
serves God with all the energies OF body,
mind and soul is a worthy servant and
ne who does not is an unworthy servant.
When the war trumpet sounds, all the
Lords soldiers must march, however
deep the snow may be, or how fearful tho
odds against them. Under our govern :
ment we may have Colonels, and Captains,
{ anu htUeIAlS III lAiilo VI pthOof bhl III NAAN
Church OF God there is no peace until the
last great victory shall have been achiev :
ed. But | have to tell you that it is
voluntary service People are
not brought into it as slaves
were dragged from Africa. A
young man goes TO an artisan, and says:
"Sir want TO learn your trade. |, by
this indenture yield myself to your care
and service for the next four, or five, or
seven years. / want You TO be my mas
ter, and | want to be your servant" +"
just So IL we come into ths kingdom of
God at all, we must come, saying to
Christ: Be Thou my mas err. take Thy
service for time and for eternity. |
choose it," It is voluntary service
There is no drudgery in it. In our world
ly callings sometimes our nerves get
worn out and our head aches, and our
physical faculties break down, but in this
service of the Lord Jesus, the harder a
man works the better he likes ii, aud a
man in this audience who has been forty
years serving God, enjoys the employ
ment better than when he first entered
H.. The grandest honor that can ever be
bestowed upon you Is to have Christ say
to You on the last day; "Weil done,
good and faithful servant"
Learn also from this parable that differ
ent qualifications are given to different
people. The teacher lifts a blackboard
and he draws a diagram, in order that by
that diagram he may impress the mind
OF the pupil with the truth that he has
been uttering Aud ali the truths OF this
Blble are drawn ont iu the natural world
as ia a great diagram. Here Is a
piece of ground that has ten tall
ents Under little culture, 1t
yields twenty bushels OF wheat to
the acre. Here is another piece Of
ground that has only one talent You
may plow it. and harrow il. a1d culture
II, year after year. tat il yields mere
pittanoe.s So here Is lnep with ten tai
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