Part 4 (1/2)

He was uncompromising in his denunciation of the rich. Luke 6:24: ”But woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation.” He showed the danger of riches in the parable of the sower. Matt. 13:22: ”He also that received seed among thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.”

Where grace is to be cultivated and flourish, the ”greed of gain” must not enter. The young man who came to him, whom he loved for his sweet disposition and excellent character, he turned away by the answer that his wealth was incompatible with his salvation. He must part from his riches. When the disciples were surprised, he made it more emphatic, Matt. 19:24: ”And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of G.o.d.” And when they felt that this made salvation impossible, he declared it could only be possible by the exercise of omnipotent, divine grace.

Zaccheus, the one rich man whose conversion is recorded, surrendered his ill-gotten gain fourfold and gave away half of the remainder before salvation came to his house. The temptation to trust and lean upon riches is irresistible.

Our Lord did not make wealth more dangerous than under the Mosaic dispensation by removing the restraint that was there put upon it. As a friend to the poor he did not give wealth an advantage it did not have before.

5. The whole drift of his teachings limited and restrained acc.u.mulation of wealth. The parable of the rich fool is a forcible presentation of its human folly on the earthly side.

”Whose shall these things be?”

”Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

The result is irresistible; when engaged in storing earthly treasure, the heart will be earthly; or if laying up treasures in heaven, the heart will reach heavenward. He who labors for a heavenly reward, will be heavenly minded.

Treasures are stored for eternity, when used for the bringing out of that which shall survive the grave; for the bringing out the highest divine type of manhood and womanhood, in ourselves, in our children, and in all the children of men.

Treasures expended in the development of immortals shall be found when the earthly and temporal scenes have pa.s.sed away. That which is expended in the uplifting of the race shall be our eternal reward.

Giving, giving, not h.o.a.rding is commended. Productive industry he enforced by his example, the carpenter that wrought for his daily bread. He chose workmen to be his followers. He taught economy in the command to take up the fragments of the food miraculously created ”that nothing be lost,” yet unreserved giving was the lesson he inculcated and ill.u.s.trated in his life. To follow his example, we must produce and produce much, yet what we gain is to be expended, so as to promote the highest welfare of all mankind. We must not store the fruits of our labor, but expend, not as a spendthrift who wastes, but judiciously and wisely for G.o.d and man. Our giving is only limited by the ability and facility to produce. Our Lord did not greatly add to the temptation to h.o.a.rd by delivering the earthly treasures from the decay by ”moth and rust” and instead permitting their increase. Our h.o.a.rding of earthly treasures must be limited, because of our disposition to trust in them. We must always be so dependent that we shall pray truly with the spirit of dependence, ”Give us this day our daily bread.” ”Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me.”

Thrift does not require that we shall h.o.a.rd an amount that will support us through life, much less that we shall lay up a fortune, that shall free our children from the necessity of productive labor.

The spirit of the Master's teachings is, that each age shall produce and spend its product for its own advancement, then each succeeding age shall be better fitted to produce and care for itself and so advance the coming generations. ”Go work today in my vineyard.” Now is the time to give and do for the generation yet unborn.

CHAPTER VIII.

PARABLES OF THE TALENTS AND THE POUNDS.

Our Lord mentions usury by name only in the parables of the talents and pounds. Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-27. Usury is mentioned in these pa.s.sages incidentally to meet the excuses of worthless servants, but in both as the unjust and oppressive act of a hard and dishonest man.

These references to usury are in entire harmony with the expressions of David and Solomon, and of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

These servants in the parables were slaves, who owed their service to their master and for whom he was responsible.

The lesson in both parables is the necessity of faithfulness. The faithful servants are rewarded and the unfaithful punished in both.

Yet there is a special lesson in each.

The parable of the talents shows that an equal reward shall be given all who are equally faithful, though the means and opportunities afforded one may far exceed those granted another. One was given five talents and another but two; one gained five and the other two, yet both equally faithful, are directed to enter into the joy of their lord.

The unfaithful servant brings his talent with an excuse, which is a charge against the character of his master, ”I knew thee that thou art an hard man reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strewed,” ”so there thou hast which is thine.”

The master in reply showed the inconsistency of the excuse by a.s.suming that he bore the hard character charged upon him by his slave, ”Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strewed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.” It is ”interest” in the Revised Version.

This interview may be paraphrased as follows:

The unfaithful servant said: ”I know the kind of a man you are. You are dishonest. You take what does not belong to you. You reap what other people sow, and you take up what others earn. I was afraid of you: Here is all that you gave me and all that belongs to you.”