The Yale expositor., 1895-11-08


four OF the sheep to this poor man, so
he shall always be fed and clothed. He
sees man so emaciated and worn out
and sick he needs stimulants. and he
gives him little of the wine that he
brought from the AmalelIites. Yonder
Is man who has no appetite for the
rough rations of the army, and he gives
him rare morsel from the Amalekit-
ish banquet. and the two hundred Grip
pied and manned and aged soldiers who
tarried on garrison duty get just as
much OF the spoils OF battle as any OF
the two hundred men that went to the
front, "As his part is that goeth down
to the battle. so shall his part be that
tarrieth by the stuff"
The impression is abroad that the
Christian rewards are for those who
do conspicuous service in distinguished
places-great patriots, great preachers,
great philanthropists. But my text sets
forth the idea that there is just as much
reward for a man that stays 1T home
and minds his own business, and who,
crippled and unable to so forth and lead
in great movements and in the high
places CT the earth, does his whole duty
just where he is. Garrison duty is as
important and as remunerative as serv-
ice at the front. "As his part is that
goeth down to the battle, so shall his
part be that tarrieth by the stuff"
The Earl of Kintore said to me in an
English railway. Mr.. Talmage, when
you get back to America / want you TO
preach q sermon on the discharge OF
ordinary duty in ordinary places, and
then send me copy Of it," Afterward
an English clergyman coming TO this
land brought from the Earl OF Kintore
the same message! Alas! that before
got ready to do what he asked me to do.
the good Earl OF Kintore had departed
this life. But that man, surrounded by
all palatial surroundings, and In dis
tinguished sphere, felt sympathetic
with those who had ordinary duties to
perform in ordinary places and in or
binary ways. A great many people are
discouraged when they hear the story
of Moses, and of Joshua. and of David.
and of Luther, and of John Knox, and
of Deborah, and of Florence Nightin-
gale. They say: "oh, that was all good
and right for them, but l shall never be
called to receive the law on Mount ST.
mai, shall never be called to command
the sun and moon to stand still. shall
never preach on Mars Hill, shall
never defy the Diet of Worms. ! shall
never be called to make queen trem-
BILE for her crimes, l shall never pre-
side over q hospital" There are wom-
en- who say, IF / had as brilliant a
sphere as those people had, | should
be as brave and as grand; but my bust
ness is to get children off TO school, and
to hunt up things when they arc lost.
and TO see that dinner is ready, and TO
keep account OF the household expenses,
and to hinder the children from being
strangulated by the whooping cough,
and to go through all the annoyances
and vexations of housekeeping. Oh. my
sphere is 30 infinitesimal, and so insig-
nificant. an clear discouraged" Won
an, God places you or garrison duty.
and your reward will be just as great
as that OF Florence Nightingale, who
moving so often night by night with a
light in her hand through the hospitals.
was called by the wounded the lady
of the lamp" Your reward will be Just
as great as that of Mrs. Hertzog. who
built and endowed theological seminary
buildings. Your reward will be Just
as great as that of Hannah More, who
by her excellent books won for her ad-
mirers Garrick and Edmund Burke and
Joshua Reynolds. Rewards are not to
be given according 10 the amount of
noise you make in the world, nor even
according to the amount of good you
do, but according to whether or not you
do your full duty in the sphere where
God has placed you.
Suppose you give to two OF your chill
dren errands, and they are TO go off 10
make purchases, and TO one you give
one dollar and to the other you give
twenty dollars. Do you reward the boy
that you gave twenty dollars TO for pur-
chasing more than that amount of
money than the other boy purchased
with one dollar? OF course not. If God
give wealth or social position or elo-
quence or twenty times the faculty TO
man that he gives to the ordinary
man, is he going to give to the favored
man reward because no has more
power and more influence? Oh, no. In
other words. IL you and | were to do
our whole duty, and you have twenty
times more talent than have, you will
get no more divine reward than / will
Is God going TO reward you because he
gave you more? That would not be
fair. that would not be right. These
two hundred men Of the text who faint
ed by the Brook Besor did their whole
duty; they watched the baggage, they
took care Of the stuff; and they got as
much of the spoils of victory as the
men who went to the front. "As his
part Is that goeth down TO the battle, SO
shall his part be that tarrieth by the
stuff"
There is high encouragement in this
for all who have great responsibility
and little credit for what they do. You
know the names of the great CONNER
cial houses Of these cities. Do you
know the names of the confidential
clerks--the men who have the key TO
~. Il L