The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1888-11-28
TALMAGE TALKS ON TALENT.
1T SHOULD BE USED IN ORDER TO
BE IMPROVED.

IT SHOULD BE USED IN ORDER Tt
BE ISPEOyED.
The Old Story of the Man Who 1ntruste'
Money to his Servants and Receive'
Interest from Some Of Them-Reward
for the Dull as Well as the Brilliant.
The Rev. Dr.. Talmage preached to
large congregation in the Brooklyn Tab
ernacle on Sunday on Rewards for tn
dull as well as the brilliant. He tool
for bis text, s'Unto one he gave fv
talents, to another two, and to anothe
one; to every one according to his severa
ability" Matt. XIV. Is. He said:
'sMany of the parallels of Jesus Chris
were more graphic in the times in which
he lived than they are now, becaus'
circumstances have so much changed
In olden time, when man wanted tx
wreak grudge upon his neighhor
after the farmer had scattered the seed
wheat over the field and was expecting
the harvest, his svenger would go scroS'
the same field with sack full OF the
seed of darnal grass, scattering that seeo
all over the field, and of course it woulo
sprout up and spoil the whole crop; ano
it was to that Christ referred in parable
when he spoke of the. tares being sowr
among the wheat.
"In this land our farms are fenced of.
and the wolves have been driven to the
mountains, and we cannot fully under.
stand the meaning of the parable In re.
gard to the shepherd and thd lost sheep
But the parable from which I speak to-
day is founded on something We al
understand. It 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
cooEe as to the Emperor. Whether it
is made out of bone or brass, or iron OF
copper, or gold or silver, it speaks all
languages without sssmmer. The
parable 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:
'ssI am going away now, and l wish
you would take this money and put 1t
to the very best possible use, and when
I come back return to me the interest.
To one man he gave So, 400, to others he
gave lesser sums of money; to the least
he gave 1850. he left home and was
gone for years, and then returned. On
his arrival he was anxious to know about
worldly affairs, and be called his servants
together to report to him. Let me
know said he, what you have been
doing with my property since ] have
been gone The man who had received
the SS, 400 came up and said: 4 invested
that money. / got good interest for it.
I have in other ways rightly employed
it; and here are Sl8, 800. You see I
have doubled what you gave me- sThat's
very good, said the owner of the estate,
sthat's grandly done. I admire your
faithfulness and industry. I shall re-
ward you. Well done; well done.
ssOther servants came mp with smaller
sccumulations. After q while I see q
man dragging himself along, with his
head hanging. I know from the way he
comes in that he is a lazy fellow. He
comes up to the owner of the estate aud
saws: Here are those s., ,SS0.' What!'
says the owner O.. the property, haven't
you made it accumulate anything?
:Nothing-nothing.' why, what have
you been about all these years?' on,
I was afraid that if I invested it, I might
somehow lose it. There are your 81, $50.
Many man started out with only a
crown in his pocket, and achieved
fortune, but this fellow of my text with
81, $50 has gained not one farthing. In
stead OF cenfessing his Incidence, he
goes to work to berate his master, for
Incidence is most always impudent and
impernuent. Of course he loses his
piace and IS discharged from the service.
s.The owner who went ont into q lar
country is Jesus Christ, going from
earth 70 Heaven. The servants spoken
of Id the texsare members of the Church.
The talents are our different qualihca-
'tions of usefulness given IN different
proportions to different people. The
coming back of the owner is the Lord
Jesus returningat the judgement TO final
settlement. The raising of some of these
men to be rulers over hve or two cities is
the exsltation of the righteous st the last
day, while the casting out of the idier is
the expulsion of all those who have mis-
improved their privileges.
Learn first from this subject, that
becoming a Christian is merely going
out to serve. If you have any romatic
idea about becoming 9 Christian, l want
now to scatter the romance. If you
enter into the Kingdom of God, it will
be going into PLAIN, practical. honest,
continuous, persistent Christian work.
know there are great many people
who have fantastic and romantic notions
about this Christian life, but he who
serves God with all the energies of body,
mind and soul is worthy servant; and
be who does not, is an unworthy servant.
When the war trumpet sounds, ali the
Lords soldiers must march, however
deep the snow may be, or however fear
ful the odds against them. Under our
Government We may have colonies, and
captains, and generals in time of peace;
but IN the Church of God there is no
peace until the last great victory shall