FAITHLESSNESS I T IS w o n d er fu l to realize how con tinuously the Lord seeks to win men to the knowledge of His Saving grace. Matthew 24:48-51 is another of His appeals. His delight and desire is for every servant to be wise and faithful. Yet, in His omniscience, He realizes that there are some who are very foolish. These are the ones who hear the Word but who disregard its appeal. For them, as a result, there is nothing but tragedy. This portion declares, “But and if that evil ser vant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of.” The first word to occupy our in terest is “evil.” Scripture speaks of that evil which is outward and easily noted by others. The Lord uses an other word here, however, which speaks of that evil on the inside, mo tivating every action of life. This is a contemplated wrongdoing, conjured and nurtured in the heart. The evil servant whom our Lord describes is saying in essence, “0, my Lord won’t come today. It’s all been delayed. I’ll take it easy, eat, drink and be merry. Why not ‘live it up’ today and repent tomorrow? Things can be made right another day.” Such a servant is called a “fool.” In the midst of his revelry he is overtaken and meets with destruction. How sad the indif ference to his lord’s coming. In addition to his own folly, he fur ther believes he can do whatever he pleases. See how unjust he is to his fellow workers. He, as a servant, “lords” it over them, taking advan tage and criticizing them. What a pic ture of human pride and arrogance. He begins to treat the lesser breed as “dirt,” acting as a snob and practic ing class distinction. The Lord Jesus
Christ is very much interested in the way in which we treat our brethren.
CHRISTMAS IN HEAVEN I've had my first Christmas in heaven, a glorious, wonderful day, I stood with saints of the ages who found Christ the truth and the way. I sang with the heavenly choir, just think I longed so to sing, And oh what celestial music we brought to our Saviour and King. We sang the glad songs of redemp tion, how Jesus to Bethlehem came. And how they had called His Name Jesus that all might be saved through His Name. We sang once again with the angels the song that they sang that blest morn, When shepherds first heard the glad story, that Jesus the Saviour was born. Oh loved one, I wish you'd been here, no Christmas on earth could compare With all of the rapture and glory we witnessed in heaven so fair. You know how I always loved Christ mas, it seemed such a wonder ful day With all of my loved ones around me, the children so happy and gay- Yes, now I can see why I loved it and oh what a joy it will be When you and my loved ones are with me to share in the glories I see, So dear ones on earth here's my greet ing, look up 'til the day dawn appears And oh what a Christmas awaits us, beyond all our partings and tears. — Albert Simpson Reitz How sad to see some people who are so reckless with their tongues in deal- 9
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