The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-02-10
!, Sunday M2em0ramda

7 he Para Bile Of the Talents.
The international Sunday school lesson,
Feb. 10, is the Parable of the Talents .
The responsive reading is Matthew XIV,
1880. The memory verses, 20, 81. Thu
golden text, Romans xiv, L. so then
every one of US shall give account Of
himself to God" The scene is on the
Mount of Olives, and the date Tuesday,
April 4, A. d. 3d. This is the third par
able, the object of which is to illustrate
the necessity of being prepared for the
Lords coming.w The three parallels set
forth three dangers-The Faithful and
Unfaithful Servant, that of unfaithful-
ness in spirit; The Ten Virgins, that of
unfafthfulneSs in preparation; The Tai
ents, that of unfaithfulness in service.
The emphasis in each case Is upon the
irremediable loss sustained by the I'M
faithful servant, the foolish virgins, the
Improbable servant. BY means of these
parallels we can see for ourselves where
we are to be classified. The Hebrew
(silver) talent is said to have been vari-
ously estimated at from S1,500 to $3.50,
the gold talent as high as s55, GOD. We
have come to use the word talent" 10
express ability to be helpful or useful in
the world-gifts or powers with which
Ged has entrusted u.s. 1.-THE talents here
are each persons ability, whether in
money or in teaching or in what thing
soeVer.' This parable, while in some
respects similar to the parable of The
Pounds, in Luke xix, has this added
thought of the variety of gifts and op-
portunities. All have not the same de-
gree OF responsibility. OF course, much
more will be required than of Others
Commerce in old times was often man
aged in great part by slaves, who re-
ceived capital, and full power and op-
portunity to use it for their master g
interest. Money delivered to them was a
trust, not gift In the parable the
servants were to use the money in trade,
or perhaps in farming, SO as to Increase
the original sum as much as possible.
The golden truths of the lesson are:
/. Gifts or talents differ, but the duty
OF fa1thfulneSs is the same for each seq
want.
2. Faithfulness is success in Gods
sight, however the result may look to
other eyes.
8. Unfaithfuness often begins in hard
thought of God and his government
The Coming of christ.
The Christian Endeavor topic for the
week of Feb. 10 is found in l. Thess ",
l-2-4-8, IF Christ should come tomor-
row. One of the first great subjects
that agitated the Christian church was
that of the second coming of Christ
church at Thessalonia and was upon this
subject. The Thessalonians looked for
the immediate return of their Lord in an
SWer TO the angels words at the ascen
sion of Christ. This same Jesus which
is taken UP from you into heaven shall
SO come in like manner as We have Seen
ann go into heaven. The effect of this
bel1ef upon the Thessalonians was seri-
Gus. They ceased to be interested in the
affa1rs Of life and were reduced to pow
erty and want. They mourned for their
dead because they believed that only the
living would participate in the glories Of
Chrlsts temperance. At the close of
every day they looked for Christ's com
ing on the morrow. Do we ever look
for it, long for it or expect It? What
IL Ch11St should come tomorrow? Asked
what he would do if he knew that he
would die the next night at IL o'clock.
Charles Wesley replied that he would
90 just what he intended to do and wake
up in glory. On a dark day in New Eng
land 1T was believed that the world was
coming to an end. A legislature in ses-
sion was about to adjourn to spend the
tlme In prayer and worship when such
act1on was successfully opposed by a
member who declared that if it was the
end Of the world he preferred to be
found at his post of duty.
Z o m ct h as Thief in the
Night.
The Epworth league topic is I. Thess.
v, 1, 2, AS: 'The day of the Lord cometf
as thief in the night" We have be-
come so accustomed to the forms of life