The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1900-11-01

/. "Unto His disciples" This parable
was spoken primarily to 'His disciples"
but the Pharisees were present listening
carefully and when He was through they
derided Him. V. A. The disciples to
whom this parable was addressed were not
merely the apostles, but those publcans
and sinners whom Jesus had received, to
the great displeasure of the Pharisees.
"a certain rich man." This rich man can
only represent God who is possessor of
all things. "a steward" All the chill
dren of men are stewards of what
they have in this world. WAS &C.
cused." The rich man had put confidence
in his steward before this, and had al
lowed him great liberty in managing his
affairs. Had wasted" Was wasting, R.
V. He was either dishonest or careless
and suffered his masters goods to be lost.
2. Give an account" Bring your ac-
counts for inspection. Produce books and
vouchers. mo longer steward" The
steward did not deny the charges against
him, and was told plainly that he could
not retain his position. The time is com,
ing when we will be required to give an
account of our stewardship, and if we
have wasted that which has been COM
mitted to our trust we will receive no
more favor than did this steward.
s. "What shall l do" The steward
began to consider the course he had bet
ter pursue so that when he was dismissed
from the stewardship he could still main
tain a livelihood Il cannot dig" He
coiald not work at manual labor for lack
of strength Sex '.
4. Il am resolved w2at-to do" An
idea comes to him by which he vii lE199R2ftte
many friends, SO that when he is put out
of the stewardship they viii invite him
into their houses.
5. "Of his lords debtors" His plan
was, during the remaining time that he
was yet steward, to show favor to all who
owed his master, so that when he was
dismissed they would show favor to him.
are given here, but so he went through
the whole list, making reductions to all.
6. "a hundred measures of OIL" A hun
bred baths. Each bath was equivalent
to seven or eight gallons. est down
quickly" Evidently a secret and hurried
arrangement; the debtors, too, seem to
have been dealt with separately and pri-
vately. and write fifty" The steward
made this debtor a present of about 400
gallons of oil.
7. "a hundred measures of wheat" A
hundreds cors or homers. The cor con-
tanned ten baths. The original debt was
500 to 1000 bushels. Write four-score."
Making him a present of about 200 bush
els.
8. ''And his lord commended" Or. W
The rich man commended the shrewd
ness OF his wicked steward. What he had
done was dishonest in the extreme.
Done wisely" He had acted skilfully.
"The children of this world" Those who
seek earthly things as their chief good.
Are for their own generation, TX w.
That is, in looking after their worldly in
tcrests. WISER More skilful in the
application of means to obtain temporal
uonl than { briSfanS IA nl9t9ln ptpr-
nal good.
0. 81 say unto you" The truths to be
learned from this parable are focused in
the teachings of this verse. Jesus draws
lesson for us from the course pursued
by this dishonest steward. Make to
yourselves friends" Not merely acquaint-
ances in this world, but make friends
in that deeper sense referred to by Jesus
in John Is: IA, 10. That is, do all you
can to lead people to Christ and thus
make true friends, or Christians. BY
means of the mammon of unrighteous-
ness" (R. V.)-The word ''mammon" is
a Chaldee word signifying riches 1t is
here called the mammon Of unrighteous-
ness, as being with unrighteous men the
great object of pursuit. and too commonly
sought, moreover, by unrighteous means.
In a wider sense the mammon of upright
eousness has reference to whatever OF
earthly goods we may possess, "be they
as Edersheim says, ''of money, of knowl-
edge, of strength, or OF opportunities
We are, then, to so use whatever God
has put in our hands thai these earthly
possessions will be the means of making
friends" or OF brining people to Christ
and heaven. THAT when we fail" That
when it shall fail Or. W; when your
stewardship in this world shall end.
"They may receive YOU That is, the
friends you have made, by bestowing your
earthly goods in deeds of love and mercy,
will welcome you. Matt %: 34-46. Into
the eternal tabernacles." (R. W - Into
10. Faithful" As Gods steward. 4'Ir4
that which is least" Our Saviour teaches
that it is not the quantity committed TO
us that God will regard, but our fidelity
in using it; we are as thoroughly tried by
a small as by a large amount of property
or influence. Character is as really tested
by little things as by great things. He
that is unjust in the least" Little acts
of wrong show that we have unholy
hearts To Intentionally cheat another
out of five cents would as really prove a
man dishonest as though it were a thou
sand dollars. We need not think to excuse
our sins because. they are small, OF, few:
Poison enough can be put on the point CT
a needle to kill mar. 1t is the little
foxes that spoil the vines .
II. Have noS been faithful" II we
have not carefully and properly used the
things of this world with which God has
entrusted US, we need not expect that lie
will give us the true riches of grace and
glory and heavenly treasures.
r. (Which is another mans" Our
earthly possessions are called "another's"
Or. W because, l. They belong to God.
2. They are continually changing their
possessors. and going from one to an
other. THAT which is your own" Spir-
tual and eternal riches are our own They
enter into the soul that becomes pcs
sessed of them. If we make Christ and
the promises and heaven ours, we have
chat which we may truly call our own.
IS. Two masters" The heart will be
either wholly taken up with Cod or wholly
engrossed with the world A man cannot
be in perfect indifference between two OBJ
jects which are Incompatible he will be
inclined 20 despisc and hate whatever he
does not love Supremacy, when the neces-
sity o. a choice presents itself. Eye can.
not serve God and nernmon.' So divided
are their interests that their services can
never be joined. If we decide to serve
the Lord we must forsake the service Of
the world. There is no concord between
Christ and Relial. When the Christian
undertakes to live the life of the world
ling he sinks to the level of the wording
and thus ceases to be a Christian.