South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-07-25
SEVEN MINUTE SERMON
ON THE GOLDEN TEXT
BY OUR OWN PREACHER

Lesson: The Pounds and the Tai
ents.-Luke 19:11-27. Compare Matt.
25:1I-3O).
Golden Text: Well done, good and
faithful servant; thou hast been faith
full over a few things, 1 will set thee
over many things; enter thou into the
JOY of thy Lord.-Matt. 25:21.
RECKONING DAY.
I. Every Man Has an Equal OPP
pOrtunity to Please God. In the par
able OF the pounds, as recorded in our
lesson story, and of the talents as re-
corded in Matthew 25:14-30. it would
appear that God gives each Of his
servants a work 10 do. or places some
particular responsibility upon him.
He seems to give every man his op-
pOrtunity for service and places upon
him responsibilities according to his
ability. In the parable of the pounds
the master gave each OF his 10 ser
wants one pound, which. perhaps, may
represent the fact that God gives us
all an equal opportunity TO please
him. No man is placed in a position
where he cannot find out and may not
do the will of God. In the parable
of the talents Christ represents Gods
method of dealing with his children
that opportunities and responsibilities
which devOlve upon men vary accord
ing TO each mans ability; hence the
story represents the master as giving
to one man five talents, to another
two, and to another one; Ito every
man according to his several ability
But each mans work was balanced
by his strength, and each had an
equal opportunity to do the work as
sit Na al
with all our strength, and our neigh
Dor as we love ourselves
,. Christ is Coming To Call Us All
TO an Accounting. We are liable TO
forget the responsibility we are under
and TO do things thinking that no
person sees us. but not so if we are
faithful stewards of the grace of God.
We know that we are expected by the
Master to do the reasonable work
which he commits TO us, we are aware
that his loving eyes are constantly
upon us, and are expecting he viii
come some of these days, when we
do not know. and will call US to give
an account of our stewardship. The
words of our text are addressed to
his faithful servants on the judgment
day, after they have given an account
of their stewardship and had deliver
ed 10 God the funds with which he
they had made h. trading. From the
lesson story il would appear that God
keeps a faithful record of the capital
which he has loaned us, and that
every soul will some day give an in
dividual account of how that capital
has been spent and how much profit
made L believe that the time of the
end is a contingent event, depending
upon the faithfulneSs of his church
upon the earth. but the day is fast
approaching and we should be ready.
3. Everyone Will be Rewarded Ac-
cOrding to- His Work. There is no
doubt at all but what all Christians
will be saved. for Jesus takes good
care of each member of his flock, and
none will be lost. But il is clearly
taught in the Scriptures that the re-
ward at the judgment day will differ
according to our degree Of faithful
ness. The more we have suffered
here for Christ's sake. the more we
shall enjoy there; the more we have
helped our fellow men in this life, de-
nying ourselves TO help them, the more
| help we shall receive in the eternal
life. l have no doubt that in heaven
all will be happy according to their
capacity; that all vessels will be full,
but doubtless some will be larger
than others. our capacities for en-
jOying the bliss of heaven will de-
pend upon how these capacities have
been developed on earth by self-sac-
rificing service for our fellow men.
The amount of our bank account in
| heaven, which we shall be able to
check out when we get there will de-
pend upon how much We have invest
ed in that bank while on the earth.
q. The Unfaithful VIII Lose What
They Originally Had. 1t sounds con-
I Trajectory, but is nevertheless true
| that the more we give away the more
we have, and if we give nothing we
/ lose what we had. When we give our
money our time and our influence
\ 10 the cause of God, which means the
cause of our fellow men. we always
/ have more than before we made our
| gifts, no matter how generous they
may have been. Hence il is that the
man who wrapped up his pound in
| the napkin. for fear of losing it, made
no increase in his spiritual holdings.
and when he faced the master on
/ reckoning day. his pound was taken
/ from him and he was cast out. In
4 the story OF the talents the unfaithful
/ servaH who had taken his talent in
I the earth not only lost what he had.
\ but, by his unfaithfulness, also lost
| his liberty. that is. he lost his soul.
\ We all know men who, in the begin
ming OF their career, were invested
\ with good qualities and were fitted
7 TO be highly useful and TO become
a blessing TO their fellows. but by
/ refusing 70 use their good qualities
in the interests OF their fellow men,
\ they have lost all they originally had.
and are now wrecks. In view OF
reckoning day. let US consecrate our
! powers TO the work of God.
Copyright. 1911. 10y F. :. Davidson.