Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1896-05-14
NUMBER 40
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON MI, SECOND QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, MAY 17.

I
Ory Verses, I3-15-GOIden Text, Luke
xvi. 10-Commentary by the Rev. ID. M.
stearns.
I'LL The topic il still "The Kingdom" I"
for it may be said to be the topic Of the
whole Bible. He has passed through JeT-
/ icho, healing three blind men and saving
I Zaccheus and is now on His way to Jeru-
salem to die. They think, however, that
the kingdom A. now about To come, and
they had some grounds for thinking %,
for John the Baptist, and the twelve, and
the seventy, and Jesus Himself had all
preached that the kingdom was at hand
Why then, should it not Immediately ap-
pear? Why should He not, as son Of David,
do what the prophets and Gabriel had said
He would do, lit on the throne of David
and reign over the house Of Jacob forevers
7 Qsa TX, 6, z; Jer. ill., II, IS; Luke i, 80,
/ 33)
u. He speaks Of a nObleman going into
a far country to receive kingdom and to
return. Well, the sons Of Herod may have
gone away To Rome to receive the king
dom, which then included Jerusalem, but
I what had that to do with Jesus Christ,
/ the Son Of Davidf He was then present He
/
proved Himself to be the Son Of David.
Was He speaking Of His going away and
returning? Yes, even 20, for the nation
\ that He came To be King over was about
\ to kill Him, and this would involve post
I ponement Of tie kingdom till His return
I in power and glory Now was His time
I to suffer and die, and the heavens must
4 receive Him until the times of restoration
of all things spoken by the prophets (Acts
iii. 19, 2l).
Y 49, Occupy till come" This is his
I message to his servants, whom he called,
I and TO whom he gave each a pound. This
I parable differs somewhat from that Of the
\ talents in Math. XIV, for there the talents
are bestowed according to the ability Of
\ each, but the ground covered l. virtually
v the same. We know that every true servant
\ Of Christ, every true believer, has received
the Holy Spirit, has received salvation,
and this not for Himself alone, but that
Y He may Herewith bless others and glorify
Y His Lord. The boundaries Of this age in
Y which we live, the time Of the postpone
ment Of the kingdom, the time of the for
nation Of His body, the church, are His GO
ing away and His return.
Il. This describes the attitude Of the
natiOn-that is, the rulers representing
the nation-toward Him. It became fully
manifest when they cried to plate, I'VE
have no king but Caesar" 1t was fore
\ shadowed in the hatred Of J0seph's breth-
rem, but as truly as they afterward saw
Joseph on the throne and bowed down to
him, so shall those who crucifed Christ
u yet see Him exalted az King Of the Jews,
even King Of Kings and Lord III Lords
The attitude of the Jews here spoken or
as His citizens l. also the attitude Of the
vast majority Of those who have heard Of
Him. But, sadder still, it seems to be the
attitude of many who profess TO be saved
by Him. They are willing to let Him be
70 them Jesus, their Saviour, but not will
ing To let Him be their Lord and Master.
Is. He will return in due time, and He
Will first reckon with His servants as to
their faithfulness in His absence The
Judgment seat OF Christ, mentioned only
in Rom. xiv, TO- III Cor. V, 10, seems to be
only for believers, those whose Judgment
for sin was forever settled id the sufferings
OF their substitute on Calvary. They will
appear before Him to receive their rewards
for service and their places in His king
dom. See I Cor. iii, Ills; Rev. xxi, y;
Luke xiv, IA; III John viii The first OF
these passages indicates the possibility Of
being saved and vet being unrewarded;
the others incite To such service az shall be
rewarded That the saints shall share the
kingdom with Him is seen in Dan. vii,
q; Ps. cxlix; John xvii, p; Cor. Vi, 2.
Is, IL. Here is a faithful servant, and
his place in the kingdom will be to rule
over ten cities. Although he had not q
U large sphere, be had been a good servant
He had walked uprightly before God and
faithful servant and had sought to please
His master, and not people.
is, 19. Here H. another good servant who
Is To rule over five cities, for the pound in
his hands had gained five pounds. Per5
haps he had not such opportunities as the
first, but he had been faithful and the
Lord finds no fault with him, but rewards
him according to his labors. Observe that
neither Of these servants takes any credit
To himself They do not say I gained
ten pounds, or gained five pounds, but
they say To their Lord Thy pound hath
gained ten pounds, or five pounds" Paul
says Il Iabored more abundantly than
they all, yet not 1, but the grace Of Sod
which was with me- XII Cor. XIV 10), and
again, "It l. Goa who w0rketh lid You both
To will and to do of Hi good pleasure
(Phil ii, 3, and Heb. xiii, 2l).
30, 81 Here is q wicked servant who
does not know his lord, for he calls him
an austere man, q hard and unjust mas
ter. Ho had made no use Of The pound in
trusted to him. He had not lived for lis
master and for BIZ masters benefit, but
for himself He had never enjoyed his
Masters service, but rather felt 1t a bond
age to belong TO him. How many there
are who talk Just sol If not in words, their
lives talk that way? Are they savedf God
only knows The New Testament says
that Lot was a righteous man. but the Old
Testament story would never lead u TO
think so We are not to judge before the
time until tho Lord come.
%, 23 He should have had his Lords
return ever before him, and the great fact
of time of reckoning, and that would
have made him better servant. There l.
no more quickening, sanctitying, inspir-
ing truth than that of the Lord $ return
and its possibility at any time. There is
no more deadening thing than TO say, My
Lord delayeth His coming. He will not
come in my day anyway
1926 Thus this unfaithful servant
loses bis pound. Tie pound, therefore,
could not mean salvation, for Sod does not
give salvation and then take it away
John x, %, PSI. A child Of God by faith
in Christ Jesus can never cease to be a
child Of God, but q child Of God may be
selfish, disobedient child AZ to his service
and thus lose his rewards, but NJ himself
saved, Vet % a. by fire III Cor. iii, l5l.
q. These were openly His enemies all
through, and their doom is fixed. The
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
taking vengeance on them that know not
God and that obey not the gospel Of our
Lord Jesus Christ Who shall he punished
with everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord and from the glory Of
His power (II Thess i, 7-9l. These shall
90 away into everlasting punishment, but
the righteous into life eternal (AIath. XIV,
46)