Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1888-12-08


patience, and he is really illustrating the
power Of Christ's Gospel, and Il
doing as much for the Church, and more
for the Church, than many more positively
active II you have one talent, use that; Il
you have ten talents, use them, satisfied with
the fact that we all have different qualifica-
tions and that the Lord decides whether we
shall have one or whether we shall have ten.
learn also from this parable that ths
grace Of God was attended to DO accumula-
tive. When God plants an acorn, He
means an oak, and when He plants q small
amount of grace in the heart, lie intends ID
to be growthful and enlarge until it over
shadows the whole nature. There are parents
who. at the birth Of each child lay aside an
amount OF money. investing it. expectllg bv
accumulation and by compound interest that
by the time the child shall come to mid life
this small amount OF money will be for
tune. showing how small amount OF money
will roll up into a vast accumulation Well.
God sets aside a certain amount Of grace for
each one OF dis spiritual children at his birth.
and it is to go ON, and, as by compound in
terest, accumulate. until it shall become an
eternal fortune. Can it be possible that you
have been acquainted with the Lord Jesus for
ten, twenty, thirty years and that you do
not love Him more now than YOU did beforel
Can it be that you have been cultured in the
Lords vineyard. and that Christ finds on YOU
nothing but sour grapes. You may depend
upon it, if you do not use the talent that God
gave you it will dwindle The rill that breaks
from the hillside will either widen into a
river or dry up The brightest day started
in the dim twilight. The strongest Christian
man was once a weak Christian. Take the
one talent and make it two; take five and
make them ten; take ten and make them
twenty. The grace of God was intended to
be very accumulative
Again learn from the text that infe-
riority Of gifts is no excuse for indolenca
This man, with the smallest amount Of
money, came growing iuto the presence Of
the owner Of the estate as much as
to say: IF you had given me 5000 would
have brought $lS.S0O as well as this other
man. You gave me only $lSSO, and ! hardly
thought it was worth while to use it at all.
So hid it in napkin and it produced no
result. It's because you didn't give me
enough" But inferiority of faculties
is no excuse for incidence Let me say
to the man who has the least qualifications,
by the grace of God he may be made
almost omnipotent The merchant. whose
cargoes come out from every island Of the
sea, and who, by one stroke of the pen. can
change the whole face of American COM
merce. has not SO much power as you may
have before God. in earnest, faithful and
continuous prayer. You say you have no
you might this afternoon 60 into your place
of prayer, and kneel before God, and
bring down upon your soul, and the souls Of
others, blessing so vast that it would take
eternal ages to compute itl "Oh,s you say,
Il haven't fleetness of speech. l can't
talk well ] can't utter what 1 want TO
say" My brother, can you not quote
one passage of Scripturef Then, take
that one passage of Scripture; carry
it with you everywhere; quote il under
all proper circumstances With that one
passage Of Scripture you may harvest a
thousand souls for God. am glad that the
chief work OF the Church in this day is being
done by the men of one talent. Once in a
WHILE when great fortress is to be taken,
God will bring out great field-piece and
AXE all with the frey hail of destruction.
But common muskets do most OF the hard
fighting 1t took only one Joshua, and the
thousands of common troops, under him. to
drive down the walls of cities. and, under
wrathful strokes, TO make nations fly like
sparks from the anvil 1t only took one
Luther for Germany, one zwingllus
for Switzerland, one John Knox
for Scotland, one Calvin for
France. and one John Wesley for England
Dorcas as certainly has q mission to serve as
Paul has mission to preach. The two mites
dropped by the widow into the poor-box will
DO as much applauded as the endowment OF
college, which gets mans name into the
newspapers The man who kindled the fire
under the burnt offering in the ancient tomple
high priest, in magnificent robes, walking
nto the Holy Of Holes under the cloud OF
Jehovah's presence Yes, the men with one
talent are to save the world, or it win never
DO saved at all. The men with five or ten
talents are tempted to toll chiefly for them
selves, to build up their own great name.
and work for their own ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
and do nothing for the alienation of the
worlds woes. The cedar Of Lebanon stand
ng on the mountain seems to hand down the
itorms out OF the heavens to the earth. but it
bears no fruit. while some dwarf pear tree
has more fruit on its branches than il can
carry. Better TO have one talent and put lt
to full use than five hundred wickedly
neglected.
My sub; ect teaches me that there is GO
ing to come a day of solemn settlement.
When the old farmer of the text got home.
he Immediately called all the servants about
him and said: Here is the little account
have been keeping. want to see your ac-
count, and we will first compare them. and
III pay you what owe you, aud you'llpay me
what you owe me- Let us have settlement"
The day will come when the Lord Jesus Christ
Will appear, and viii say to you: What
have you been doing with my propertyt
What have you been doing with my facul-
test What have you been doing with what
/ gave you for accumulatlve purp0sest"
There viii be no escape from that settle
ment Sometimes you cannot get a settle
Hicnt WIN Il Indu, tspttidu1 II ue OWoo lOu-
He pOstp0nes and procrastinateS. and says
'pll see you next week. or .pll see you next
month" The fact is. he does not want 10
settle. But when the great day comes OF
which am speaking, there win be no escape.
We will have 10 face all the bills
have sometimes been amazed to see
how an accountant will run up or
down long line of figures. IL / sec
tea or fifteen figures in a line, and
i attempt to add them up, and add them
two or three times | make them different
each time But have admired the way an
accountant will take long line OF figures,
and without a single mistake, and with great
celebrity, announce the aggregate. Now, in
the last great settlement, there will be
correct account presented God has
kept long line OF sins, long line of broken
Sabbaths. a long line OF profane words, a long
line of discarded sacraments, long line Of
misimproved privile ses They will all be added
up. and before angels, and devils, and men,
the aggregate will be announced. Oh, that
will be the great day Of settlement have
TO ask the question; Am l ready for
itP It is OF more Importance to me TO
answer that question in regard to myself
than in regard 10 you: and Il is OF more
importance for you TO answer IL in regard TO
yourself than in regard to ms. Every man
II. Nh.k fftrs