servants to him and divided among them his money. To one he gave five talents, to one two talents, and to another one talent. (A talent was a piece of money.) After their master had left on his jour ney each servant had to decide what to do with the money that had been en trusted to him. The servant who had been given five talents, did some busi ness with his money and received five more talents. The servant who had been given two talents gained another two. The servant who had received only one talent dug a hole in the earth and hid the money. When the master returned from the far land, he called his servants to give an account of what they had done with his money. When the first servant gave ten talents to the master, he said, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” The second servant received the same words of praise when he returned four talents to his master instead of the two which he had been given. The servant who had hidden his one talent told the master that he was afraid of him and had hid den the talent in the earth and was now returning it. The master called him a wicked and lazy servant and had his talent taken from him and given to the servant with the ten talents. Sometimes Christians think that God is interested only in the right use of their money—if they give one tenth of their money to Him they may spend the other nine-tenths just as they please and do what they please with their tal ents, their strength, their wisdom, their time, etc. All that we have truly belongs to God. Whatever we give to Him is really His. If we give Him an hour of our time on Sunday morning to go to Sunday school and then spend the rest of the day pleasing Satan, we have not in any way honored our Lord. If we give Him one cent out of every dime but spend the rest of the dime for
things are loaned by God to His serv ants and He expects them to make good use of them. Each servant is a stew ard. You are a steward of the talent the Lord has loaned you. What are you doing with your stewardship? Not All Believers Are Equally Faithful vv. 19-23 Each servant was dealt with differ ently when it came to the number of talents that were given. However, each servant was expected to be equally faith ful with what he had. The first two servants in the parable doubled what they received; the one given five in creasing them to ten, and the one given two increasing them to four. Thus both were equally faithful and received the same approbation from the master. But the servant who was given one talent did nothing with it except to hide it in the earth. Thus his talent gained nothing. This man represents a host of professed Christians who are neglecting to use their opportunities for God. They are failing to live up to the light they have. Thus they rob God of the increase of the loan He has made to His servants. All Believers Face a Reckoning vv. 24-30 The first two servants of the parable were found faithful in discharging their responsibility and heard the master say the same words to both of them, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” The amount of increase in their talents was not the same; one receiving five, the other two; but both were able to report a hundred percent increase. Both were equally faithful in using what had been given to them. This should be a great encouragement to most of us. It means that a humble washerwoman or an un lettered ditch digger may receive as much reward in the day of His appear ing as a queen or an evangelist. In that great day God’s servants will not be re warded on the basis of their ability or accomplishment but in accordance with their faithfulness. (See 1 Cor. 4:2 and 3:9-15.) The third servant in the parable met tragedy in the end of his experience because of his faithlessness. The un faithful believer’s experience is set forth in 1 Cor. 9:15—“ saved; yet so as by fire.” , 1 _____ Helps for the Children What Belongs to Me Matthew 25:14-29 Memory Verse: “All things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee” (1 Chron. 29:14). Last Sunday we heard a story that the Lord Jesus told His disciples to teach them how they should do their work for Him. Today, we want to read from God’s Word another story that the Saviour told to His disciples to teach them another great lesson. A rich man who was planning to travel to a far-away country called his
...cries a Bedouin Chief... "I give you my tribe— come and give us Bible Study.
. . . and from Hong Kong— come re ports of conversions while the HOME OF ^ ONESIPHORUS continues its work of O J reaching - rescuing - training ( Lee destitute children for Christ! HOME OF ONESIPHORUS Dept. 1 1 3939 N. Hamlin - Chicago 18, III. Plan Your Vacation Note Ridgeview Park Bible Conference DERRY, PA. Inspiration, Vacation, Education and Recreation. Mrs. W . A . Sunday, E. Palmer, E. Braun, A. Payea, A . Banker, E. Williams, J. Young and many others. Write for Folder A . F. B A N K E R S 408 O akland - Greensburg, Pa. July 15th to 29th LINDA VISTA BAPTIST BIBLE COLLEGE AND SEMINARY Liberal Arts Theology Christian Education APPROVED FOR VETERANS SAN DIEGO 11 CALIFORNIA A C C O R D I O NS FAMOUS ITALIAN MAKES Available to Bible Students, Christian Workers and Missionaries at SPECIAL DISCOUNTS Write Today for FREE Literature CHICAGO ACCORDION CENTER. Ine, Dept. KB 754 N. Damen Ave., Chicago 22, III. < Ceylon & India General Mission
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H ER E sparkle the jewels of rural American youth which you may help us seek. 174 faithful missionaries during 1950 cared for over 2.500 Sunday Schools with more than 90.000 teachers and scholars. 88 Young People’s Bible Conferences enrolled 6,897
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Letters from the saintly John Newton to his parishioners on a variety of practical and spiritual subjects. Dr. Alexander Whyte said, "I keep John Newton on my choicest shelf of spiritual books.” $3.50. Purchase at your favorite religious bookstore or direct from MOODY PRESS 820 N. LA SALLE STREET, CHICAGO 10, ILLINOIS
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