The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1888-12-20
TALMAGE's SERMON.
Not Alone the Brilliant Who Shall
Receive Reward,
But the Record of Heaven Will Require
of Every One According to the
Talents Entrusted to Their
Earthly Keeping.


Talents Entrusted to Their
Earthly Keeping.
Rev. 7. Dewitt Talmage, in q recent
sermon at the Brooklyn Tabernacle, took
mp the parable OF the ten talents as his
subject, bis text being:
Unto one he gave five talents, to another
two. and to another one; to every man accord
ing 10 his several ability. Matthew. XIV, ID.
Many of the parallels OF Jesus Christ
were more graphic In the times in which
He lived than they are now. because cir
cttnlstanccs have SO much changed. In
olden times, when man wanted to wreak
a grudge upon his neighbor, after the
farmer had scattered the seed wheat over
the field and was expecting thu harvest,
the avenger would go across the same
field with sack full-of the seed OF darnel
grass, scattering that seed all over the
field, and, of course, 1t would sprout up
and spoil the whole crop. and it was to
that Christ referred in the parable when
He spoke of the tares being sown among
tho wheat In this land our farms are
fenced of and the wolves have been
driven to the mountains, and we can not
fully understand the meaning of the
par able in regard to the shepherd and
the lost sheep. But the parable OF which
! speak is founded on something we all
understand. Ii Is built on money, and
that means the same in Jerusalem as in
New York. It means the same to the
serf as TO the Gar, and to the Chinese
cooiie as to the Emperor. Whether 1T is
made out of bone, or brass, or iron, or
copper, or gold, or silver, it speaks all
languages without stammer The para
bic OF the text runs in this wises The
owner Of large estate was about to
leave home, and he had some money that
he wished properly invested, and so be
called together hisservants, and said:
Il 81 am going away now, and I wish
you would take this money and put it 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 CAVES lesser
sums of money, to the. least be 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,n saidhe, "whatyou
have been doing with my property since
/ have ueen gone. The man who had
received the nine thousand four hundred
dollars came up. and said. 81 invested
that money. I got good intersection il.
have in other ways rightly employed it
and here are eighteen thousand eigh
! hundred dollars. You see Ihave doubled
what you gave me.n That's very good, :
said the owner of the sestate; ''that's
grandly done. / admire your faithful
ness and industry. shall rewart
you, Well do1fe-weIl DONE" Othel
servants came up with smaller accumu
Iations. After awhile see man drag
ging himself along, with his head hang
s ing. / know from the way he comes il
that he is a lazy fellow. He comes up t
the owner Of the estate and says: "Her
are those eighteen hundred and eight,
! dollars.r ssWhatl" says the owner o
the property, s'haven't you made il &C
cumulate any thingsn aNothing-noth
inc. s,.sWhy. what haveyou been about al
these years?n ssOh, was afraid thati
invested it might somehow lose it. Their
are your eighteen hundred and eight
dollars" Many a man star ted out wit
only crown in his POCKET. and achieve
a fortune; but this fellow Of my text, wit
eighteen hundred and eighty dollars
has gained not one farihing. Instea
of confessing his indolence he goe
to work to berate his master, fe
Incidence is most always imp,
dent and impertinent OF course b
looses his place and is discharged frol
the service. The owner who went out in
far country is Jesus Christ going frol
earth to Heaven. The servants spoke
of in the text are members of the churcl
The talents are our different qualities
tons of usefulness, given in differel
proportions to different people,. II
coming back of the owner is the Loi
Jesus returning at the judgment to NAL
final settlement. The raising of some
these men 70 be rulers over five or tV
cities is the exaltation of the righteou
at tho last day, while the casting out
theidler is the expulsion of all those wi
have misimproved their privileges.
Learn first from this subject. that b
coming a Christian is merely going o
TO service. IL you have any romant
idea about becoming Christian, / wal
now to scatter the romance. If you q
ter into the kingdom of God, it will
going into plain practical. honest col
tinuous, persistsn MT Christian work.
know there are great many people WI
have fantastic and romantic notieI
about this Christian life. but he WI
serves God with all the energies of bod
mind and soul Is worthy servant, al
he who does not is an unworthy servan
When the war trumpet. sounds, all Il
Lords soldiers must march, howev
deep the snow may be, or how fearful Il
odds against them. Under our goverl
ment we may have Colonies, aud Captain
and Generals in time of peace, but in I'll
Church of God there is no peace until t
last great victory shall have been ACHE
ed. But I have to tell you that it
voluntary service. People q
not brought into it as slav
were dragged from Africa.
young man goes to an artisan, and say
Sir, want to learn your trade I,
this indenture, yield myself to your Cd
and service for the next four, or five,
seven years. I want you to be my ma
Ter, and / want to be your servant
Just so, If we come into the kingdom
God at all, we must come, saying
Christ: Be Thou my master. take I
service for time and for eternity.
choose it.'' It is a voluntary servi
There is no drudgery in IT. In our worl
ly caliings sometimes our nerves {
worn out. and our head aches, and {
physical faculties break down. but in Il