Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1888-11-29
REV. DIR.
What he had to Say on SUNDAY Abeat the FarAe'e
of the Talents, and a Praeiiele Appipea'
sion to Every Day Work.

iion to Every Day Work.
I~iRooKlYN, N. Y, Nov. 10. At the Taber.
naele. Rev. t. DEWITT, Tai mage d d.. took
for his text:
Unto one he gave five talents, 70 another
two. and TO another one. to every man ae-
cording to his several ability" Matt XIV
Is.
He said: "Many IF the parallels Of Jesus
Christ we're more graphic in the tunes III
which he lived then they are now, because
circumstances nave so much changed. IN
clden times, when a man wanted to wreak q
grudgc upon his neighbor, after the farmer
had scattered the seed wheat over the ne'n
and was expecting the harvest, bis aFenger
woull go across the same field Will y sack
full Of the seed of darBel grass, scatoefihs
that seed all over the field, AL OF coarse ~
wohld sprout up and spo II 1.-THE whole crop ana
Il ,sas TO that Christ rcfe rred in The parable
when he spoke orthe tares bel ng soWn among
the wheat. In this land our firms are fenced
off, and the wolves have been driven TO tue
mountains, and we cannot fully underse'thu
the meaning Of the parable in regard TO the
shepherd and the lostsheep. Buttheparapie
from which | speak today is founded on
something we all understand, II is built on
money, and that means thesamc n Jerusalem
ms in New York. 1t means the same TO the
serf MS to the Car, and to the Chinese cooiie
as to the Emperor. Whether it Is made ouo
Of bone or brass. or iron or copper orgold or
silver, IL speaks all languages without a STAN
mer. The parable OF the text runs IN TINS
wise: The owner OF a 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 it to the
very best possible use, and when Leone paek
return to me the interest" To one man ne
gave $4,000, to the others he gave lesser
sums of money; to the least he gave Si,ooo'
He left home and was gone for years ana
then returned. On his arrival he was anx-
ious to know about his worldly affairs, and
he called his servant together to report 10
him. "Let me know" said he, what you
have been doing with my property since 1
have been gone" The man who had received
the $1,000 came up and said: II invested
that money. Igot good interest for it. !
nave in other ways rightly employed 1t; ana
here are $1S,S00. You see l have doubled
what you gave me-" That's very good,
said the owner of the estate, that's grandly
lone. admire your faithfulness and indus
try. I shall reward you. Well done-well
done" Other servants came up witn
smaller denominations. After a while.
] see a man dragging himself along, with his
head hanging. | know from the way he
comes in that he is a lazy fellow. He comes
up to the oJner Of the estate and says;
Here is that 81. $50" What" says the
owner of the property, "haven't you made
it accumulate anything" "N~othing-noth.
ing" "Why, what have yoa been about oil
these years." ooh, | was afraid that If
invested it, | might somehow lose il. There
are your 81, $50" Many q man started out
with only a crown in his pocket and achieved
a fortune. but this fellow of my text with
81 $50 has gained not one farthing. Instead
OF eonfessing his Incidence he goes to work
to berate his master, for Incidence is most
always impudent and impertinent. u
course. he loses his place and is discharged
from the service. TIL owner who went out
lllNo ltt ~ NouhAIN - DNFuH y toAir
from earth to heaven. The servants spoken
Of in the text are members ofthe church. The
talents are our different qualifications oil
usefulness given in different proportions
to different people. The coming back
of the owner is the Lord Jesus returning at
the Judgment to MAKE final 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 misimproye6 their privileges.
Learn first from this subject, that beeom-
ing q Christian is merely going out to sery-
ice. lfyou have any romantic idea about
becoming a Christian, | want to scatter the
romance. If You enter into the kingdom oi
God it viii be going into plain, practical,
honest, continuous persistent Christian work.
] know there are a great many people who
have fantastic and romantic notions about
this Christian life, but he who serves God,
with al the energies of body, mind and soul
is a worthy servant. When the war trumpet
sounds, all the Lord's soldiers must msrch.
however deep the snow may be, or however
iearfulthe odds against them. Under ourgo
eminent we may have colonies, and captains,
and generals in time of peace, but 10 thf
Church of God there is no peace until tho las;
great victory shall have been achieved. But
i have to tell you il is a voluntary service
People are not brought into il as slaves were
uAdSEcu ibHh aliilth- n Npuus man SttS AI
al artisan and says: "Sir, | want to learr
your trade, by this irtlenture, yield myself
10 your care and service tor the next four, OF
five or seven years. ] want you to he my
master, and | van to be your servant
Just so, if we come into the Kingdom of God
at eli, We must come, saying TO Christ: "Bt
thou my master. | take Thy service for
time and for eternity. | choose it" 1t is q
voluntary service. There is nodrudgeryi in it
In our worldly cailings sometimes our i,eryes
get worn out, and our heads ache, and oul
physical faculties break down: but in this
service OF the Lord Jesus, the harder a mar
works the better he likes il, and aman in thin
audience who has been for 40 years serving
God, enjoys the employment better thar
when he first entered il. The graRdest hopu
that can ever be bestowed upon YOU, is IL
have Christ say to you on the last day
We'll done, good and faithful ~servauti''
Learn also from this parable that different
qualifications are given to different people
The teacher lifts a blackboard, and he draw.
n diagram in order that by that diagram Ii,
may impress the mind of the pupil with III,
truth that he has been uttering, and all tn,
truths of this bible are drawn out in th,
natural world as in a great diagram. Her,
Is an acre OF ground that has 10 talents
Under n little culture, it yields 20 bushels o
wheat to the acre. Here is another piece O
ground that has only one talent. You ma,
pIoH IT. ~ hdrToN ~, anu culture N, veal
after year, bnt it yields a mere ~pittance. Sc
here is a man with 10 talents in the way q
getting good and doing good. He soon un
der Christian culture, yields great haryestso
faith and good work. Here is another mar
who seems to have only one talent. and yor
may put upon him the greatest spiritual cuI
ture but he yields but little of the fruits o
righteousness. You are to understand that
there are different qualifications for different
individuals. There is a great Zeal of ruin
GUS comparison when n man saws. ooh n
only had that mans faith, or that man,
money, or that mans eloquence. how
would serve God" Better take the fnculty
that God has given you and employ IL in M,
right way The rabbis used to say that he
fore the stone and timber were brought tc
Jerusalem for the temple every stone and
piece of timber was marked, so that befor,
they started for Jerusalem the srchitac.
knew in what place that particular ;iece q
timber or stone should fit. And SO Ihav.. 4,
tell you we are al marked for aome an.
place in the great temple of the Lord. ana
do not let us complain, saying: II would
like to be the foundation stone or the err
stone" Let US GO into the very nlecs
where God intends us to he. and to be salts
fed with the position. Your talent NAV Il,
in personal appearance; your talent may ~
in large worldly estate; your talent be in higI
social position; your talent may be in a swif,
pen ar eloquent tongue; but whichever be tht
talent II has beeP given only for one purpos,