South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-05-09
FATTHFULNESS.

FAITHFULNEsSS.
I. We Are All Gods Stewards.
Every human soul has a special work
TO do, / cannot believe that any per-
son is born into the world without
God having particular plan and pur-
pose for that life. No person will say
that the Creator did not have a plan
and purpose in creating the earth; IL
Is such "A vase body OF matter with
almost infinite resources. under mar
velous complicated laws that it is
unreasonable 10 suppose the Lord did
not have "A special purpose when the
earth was made. If this reasoning
appears conclusive. then my state
ment that every human being has a
personal work to perform Is quite
reasonable. inaSmuCh as every indi-
vidual soul is of more value than the
whole material world. The Bible
makes IL quite clear that every per-
son has commission from God, and
work TO do not only in common with
all other individuals, but a particular
work on his own account. NotWith-
standing the almost unthinkable num-
I Ger of men and women who have in
habited the earth. there have never
\ been two faces exactly alike, and in
/ the same way each person has his in
dividual responsibility. We are Gods
stewards and are responsible 10 him
/ for our stewardship. Unto some God
gives five talents, TO others two, and
/ TO others one.
>. Faithfulness Il a Principle. The
I man with the five talents. represent
/ ing large opportunities and great abil-
ity, is expected to be faithful, in the
same prOpOrtiOnate manner. as the
man with few opportunities and COM
paratively small ability. The man
whom God expects to carry a weight
of one hundred pounds as he travels
h g 4.
/ to carry his load without unreasonable
effort and the same is true of the per-
son whom God expects 10 carry a load
| of ten pounds as he journeys through
\ life. Our duty and our ability equal
each other in every case. God does
not bind heavy burdens upon weak
shoulders. nor does he expect to
gather where he has not strawed. The
greatness or smallness of the work
which God expects us to do is, COM
/ paratiVely speaking. of small account,
I the thing which does count is the dis
position of the heart and the attitude
of the Will in performing the duties
which are assigned to us. A man who
/ is faithful in conducting a peanut
stand. for example, would be equally
faithful in managing bank or con-
| trolling any other important business.
3. We Have All Been Unf1ithful
Stewards. The man in the parable.
who had doubled his two talents, re-
ceived the same praise and reward
from his master as the man who had
doubled his five talents, for they were
proportionately faithful; but alas,
| there is not one of us who can lay
claim 10 the same degree of faithful
ness. I'VE have all sinned and come
! short Of the glory of God" Every one
of us has been more or less unfaithful
to his stewardship. This is what gives
Snph Ga 70 ,n
I for there is none righteous. no, not
one" Before any of us can hope to
be faithful stewards IL is necessary
for us. through the love of God mani
tested by the grace OF our Lord Jesus
Christ, to have our old account bal
anced off Gods books and get a new
start. Those who thus come to the
Master and get their accounts adjust
ed and receive from him a new ma
| ture which may stand for new capital
may hope to be faithful TO their stew
ardship from that time on. Those OF
us who are now doing the will OF God
as he requires, are indebted to his
grace and love. both for the ability
and the opportunity.
4. To BE Unfaithful to Man Is tC
BE Unfaithful to God. The converse
Of this proposition is also true, that il
we are unfaithful to God we are also
unfaithful to man. We love God
When we love our neighbOr. We heir
God when we help our neighbor: when
we speak kindly to a fellow creature
we, by the same act, are speaking
kindly to God. II on the other hand
we are unfaithful TO our fellow men,
defrauding them of their just rights
or not ministering to their prosperity
) and happiness as we should. God
counts 1t as being unfaithful TO him
There are many men who are faithful
TO human trusts because of the watch
which is constantly upon them; there
is the daily balance, the periodical au-
dit, and back of that the bounding
company. and still back of that the
law; but those who are faithful only
because of these checks and balances
are in truth dishonest, and therefor,
are unfaithful to God. From the tex
we learn that all who are unfaithfu
in small matters are also unfaithfu
in great matters. and that those who
are righteous in little are also right
eOus in much. God requires of US tina
we should be faithful to our fellow
men. and he gives both the grace anC
: ability 10 be so. No man can blam,
his circumstances or his opportunity
for not having done his duty