July, 1939
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in special groups, such as quartets and the glee club and shop teams. Three of our number have held student pastorates dur ing their training period. W e are now turning to the fields of our Master’s choice for future service. A Solemn Responsibility Think of the unqualified confidence our blessed Lord has placed in us who bear His name! A sacred trust has been com mitted unto us! What will our attitude be toward its satisfactory discharge? "It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (1 Cor. 4 :2 ). Our Lord has taken "a far journey.” He sits at the right hand of His Father, "henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool” (Heb. 10:13). He has placed the affairs of His house in our hands. Shall we say within ourselves, "Our Lord delayeth His coming,” T HROUGHOUT Christendom today, one of the most neglected truths of the Word of God is that of "Stewardship.” It is a subject practically foreign to the thinking of most individuals, and since foreign, to their thinking, it is consequently absent from their practice. Of course, we understand that a steward is one who is intrusted with the manage ment of estates or affairs not his own. A steward was originally an officer on a lord's estate, having general control of its affairs. During the days of our Saviour, the lord of the estate usually placed his possessions in the hands of a trusted slave. Being a slave, the man owned nothing, not even himself. Thus the stewards to whom the landowner gave the talents in our Lord’s parable, were really bondslaves, responsible for the management of the estate, and accountable to their master upon his return. It was with just such a picture in mind that the Apostle to the Gentiles said, “I have a stewardship intrusted to me” ( 1 Cor. 9:17, R .V .). Nor can we limit that statement to the Apostle Paul, for God’s Word states that every Christian is a steward, for “ye are not your own; For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:19, 20). Thus, since God is Owner, both by right of creation and by right of purchase, we can never be more than stewards, and we can never be less. W e are always stewards. The question is: Are we good stewards? Christian Stewardship: Its Scope This stewardship of ours involves first of all, occupancy. We are in full possession and control of that portion of His estate placed in our hands. Until our Master’s return, we are clothed with His rights and stand in His place of ownership. In that capacity we are to serve aggressively, and not to faint. In spite of all the difficulties, in spite of almost unbearable burdens, we are to “occupy” till He comes, being “stead
and as a consequence idle the time away in indolence and neglect? Perish the thought! W e know not the day nor the hour of His return, and it behooves us to be faithful to the confidence He has placed in us. "For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath” (Matt. 25:29). A day of testing is coming. "Every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Rom. 14:12). "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is” (1 fast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,” knowing that our labor "is not in vain in the Lord.” But woe betide us if we fail to recognize that such a stewardship involves responsi bility as well as occupancy. As stewards we are responsible for the talents God has given us, the way we spend our time, how we discharge our obligation to our fellow men in taking the gospel to them, and the management of the material possessions committed to us. Think of it! W e who have been redeemed from the slavery of sin have been intrusted with a portion of the estate belonging to the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords! What a responsibility! Responsibility is never placed upon us, however, unless it includes accountability. W e are to hold our position as a tenant at will, ready to surrender our trust and to give a full and just account of our adminis tration. As stewards, we must remember that we are guardians of our Lord’s honor. E. M. Thresher has stated it thus: "If there be unfaithfulness, the estate will suffer loss; and if there be maladministration, the good name of the Owner will be impeached.” Should there be those present who have never recognized God’s ownership over their lives, may I remind them that we may indeed forget and ignore our stewardship; we may shut God out of our thoughts and deny His right to us, but we shall be held accountable for all that has been committed to our charge, “for unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” (Lk. 12:48).
Cor. 3:13). Who of the stewards of the grace of God would relish the thought of being weighed in the balances and found wanting? Rather, who of us does not deeply desire to serve the Master here, so as to merit the divine approbation, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21). Tonight we separate. But in that day we shall be gathered from the four comers of the earth to dwell forevermore in the place prepared for us by Him who loved us and washed us in His own precious blood. It will be a soul-thrilling scene to witness these classmates standing before the Bema, with their trophies of grace, whether yellow, red, black or white, which, through His enabling grace, they were permitted to gather from the harvest fields of the world. May we stewards of the grace of God be faithful to our trust. in the judgment of God. Then henceforth you too may live your life as a steward of God’s grace, rather than as a bondslave of the devil’s power. Oh, let it never be said of you that “the God in whose hand thy ’breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified” (Dan. 5:23). As blood-bought children of God, we women of the graduating class have been recognizing that "we have been approved of God to be intrusted with the gospel” (1 Thess. 2:4, R .V .). Thus we have been presenting this glorious message in the various ■spheres open to us—in Sunday- school and week-day classes, in hospital visitation and in personal work. Our task is to serve faithfully. It is not a question of ability; it is purely a question of faithful stewardship. Oh, how great the need is today for trustworthy stewards— stewards who are loyal to the message committed to them, never deviating from its pristine purity, never turning aside to any semblance of error! It is to such a task that we have pledged ourselves. In the midst of the ever-increasing apostasy of the Christian church, when the doctrines of the incarnation, the deity, the atoning death, and the triumphant resurrection of our blessed Lord are trampled underfoot, we, as stewards of God’s grace, will sound forth the assigned message. And may God keep us true to His Word, the Word that will always be quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Yea, [Continued on page 284]
Christian Stewardship By DOROTHY SCHROEDER Representing the Women of the Class of 1939
Every person in the whole universe must some day give an account of his deeds to God. But the account that each one must settle now is, "What will you do with Jesus, who is called the Christ?” May I urge any friend in the audience to settle that question now by accepting Christ as Saviour, rather than waiting till its settlement can only result
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