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260

clxv.

Mat.

But the slothful is condemned for his negligence.

two other talents be

and faithful servant;

SECT. two talents, which I have endeavoured to em- me two talents: beploy as carefully as I could; and behold, by traf- hold, I have gained ficking with them I have gained two other talents sides them. XXV.23 to them. And his master said unto him, as he 23 His lord said unto had done to the former, Well done, thou good and him, Well done, good faithful servant, thy care and diligence is as thou hast been faithful agreeable to me as if thy trust had been greater; over a few things, I thou hast been evidently faithful in a few things; will make thee ruler and I will in like manner prefer thee to a higher ter thou into the joy of over many things: entrust, and set thee over many more valuable things thy lord. than these: in the mean time, come to the entertainment now prepared, and enter thou with thy companion into the joy of thy master.

21

24 Then he which

"But he also who had received the one talent, had received the one came and said, with a sullen and gloomy cour- talent came, and said, tenance, Sir, I knew thee, that thou art a severe Lord, I knew thee that man, and that it is a very difficult thing to please thou art an hard man, thee, since thou art so exact with thy servants, hast not sown, and gareaping where thou as even to think of reaping where thou didst not thering where thou hast sow, and of gathering whence thou hadst not scat- not strawed: tered any thing that could be taken up; requiring more in many instances than it is possible for 25 them to do, be they ever so careful: And being terrified with this thought, I concluded that, if by any accident thy money should miscarry under my management, thou wouldst shew me thine. no mercy; and therefore I went away, as soon as I had received it, and hid thy talent in the earth, in a place where it has been very secure; so that I have now taken it up, and behold, [there] thou hast thine own again, and wilt find it to be the full sum I received.

26

25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thỵ

talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is

26 His lord answered and said unto him,

where I have not straw

ed:

And his master answering, said unto him with a just indignation, Thou wicked and slothful ser- Thou wicked and slothvant, what a false and scandalous excuse is this, ful servant, thou knewand how easily may it be retorted upon thee! For est that I reap where I if it were indeed, as thou maliciously sayest, and sowed not, and gather thou knewest that I was such a tyrannical and unreasonable man as thou hast described, even that I reap where I did not sow, and expect to gather something up from whence I had not scattered it, thou mightest certainly depend upon it that I should expect to reap where I had sowed,

He who had received the one talent.] This may intimate that we are accountable for the smallest advantages with which we are intrusted; but it cannot imply that they who have received much will ordinarily pass their account best; for it is too plain in fact, that most of those whose dignity,

and

wealth, and genius, give them the greatest opportunities of service, seem to forget they have either any master in heaven to serve, or any future reckoning to expect; and many of them render themselves much more criminal than this wicked and slothful servant who hid his talent in the earth.

Reflections on the duty of improving our talents.

my money to the ex

own with usury.

261

clxv.

and to gather where I had scattered that which, SECT. in this instance, as well as the others, might 27 Thou oughtest have been an increasing seed. And therefore, Mat therefore to have put if thou hadst been afraid to employ it in trade, XXV. 27 changers, and then at as these my faithful servants have done, thou my coming I should shouldst have put my money to the bankers upon have received mine sufficient security; and thus when I came I might at least have received mine own with the common 28 Take therefore interest. And then, turning to the attendants, 28 the talent from him, he said, Take ye therefore the talent which he has thus abused from him, and give it to him that has ten talents, as a farther token of my acceptance and favour. For I would have all my ser- 29 vants observe that I shall constantly make this a have abundance: but maxim in my behaviour, That to every one that from him that hath hath, and diligently improves what he hath, more way, even that which shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but

and give it unto him

which hath ten talents.

29 For unto every

one that hath shall be given, and he shall

not shall be taken a

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from him that hath not improved it to any valu
able purpose, even what he hath shall be taken
away: (compare Mat. xiii. 12. Mark iv. 25.
Luke viii. 18. xix. 26.) Such unfaithful crea-
tures must expect to be stripped of all, and not
imagine that I will perpetually suffer my trusts
to be abused, and my business to be neglected.
And, to deter others from such an idle and un- 30
faithful conduct, cast ye the unprofitable servant,
who has so wickedly abused my goodness, into
the dreadful darkness which is without; and there,
instead of the delight and joy to which my faith-
ful servants shall be introduced, there shall be
nothing but weeping and gnashing of the teeth.
Now this horrible darkness, to which my para-
ble refers, is no other than the dungeon of hell;
to which every unfaithful servant must expect to
be condemned in that approaching day of ge-
neral account: fail not therefore to observe and
report what I now say, that it may give the alarm
to all who need it.

IMPROVEMENT.

WHAT can excite us to a becoming care and activity in the duties of life, if we are deaf to those various and important motives which this excellent parable suggests? We have each of us received our talents, whether five, or two, or one, and if we be faithful, Mat. it matters not much under which of these classes we fall. Our acceptance and reward will be proportionable to our diligence; nor will any be blamed because he has not received five, though many will be condemned for neglecting one.

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xxv. 15

262

SECT.

clxv.

Christ gives a description of the last judgment.

Yet a little while, and our Lord comes to reckon with us, and even now his eye is continually upon us. Let us ask our own Ver. souls, with what temper, with what courage, with what cheer19 fulness, shall we appear before him? Let us think of that appear24 ance with awe, but not with terror. Away with every unjust thought and reasoning (with whatever artifice it be excused, with whatever honourable name it be dignified) that would represent him as a rigorous and severe Master, and produce a servile dread, which would cut the sinews of industry, and sink the soul into a sullen negligent despair.

30

Whatever our particular snares in life may be, let us think of the doom of the slothful servant, to awaken our souls, and to deter us from every degree of unfaithfulness. And, on the other hand, let us often reflect on that unutterable transport which will overflow the breast of every real Christian, when his gracious Master shall condescend, in so honourable a manner, to commemorate his honest, though feeble, attempts of service; and shall 21, 23 say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful in a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord! May that joy be the great object of our hopes and pursuits! and may our daily care in the improvement of every talent lodged in our hands be a token to us that it will be sure and great!

SECT.

SECT. CLXVI.

Christ concludes this important discourse with a plain and affecting description of the last judgment, and of the different sentences then to be passed and executed on the righteous and the wicked. Mat. XXV. 31, to the end.

OUR

MAT. XXV. 31.

MAT. XXV. 31.

man shall come

UR Lord, having bitherto described his last WHEN the Son of
clxvi. coming in a parabolical manner, thought it in his glory, and all
Mat. proper to conclude his discourse with a plainer
XXV.31 account of it, which might serve as a key to ma-

ny preceding passages; and he added, When that
great and illustrious Person, whom you have so
often heard of, and so well known, by the title
of the Son of man, shall come in all his final glory3,

a When the Son of man shall come in his glory.] If we observe the correspondence between these words and those in chap. xxiv. 30, 31 (p. 246), it may seem probable that Christ intended to teach his disciples to conceive of his first coming to

in

the

the destruction of Jerusalem as a kind of emblem of his final appearance to judgment; and consequently it will authorise us to use some of the texts in the former chapter when discoursing of that great and important day.-I hope every reader will ob

When he shall separate the righteous from the wicked.

upon the throne of his

glory.

263

the holy angels with in the most public honours of his mediatorial SECT. him, then shall he sit kingdom, to which all things shall then be com- clxvi. pletely subjected, (1 Cor. xv. 25, 28:) and all Mat. the holy angels, who have long been subjected to XXV.31 him as his ministering servants, shall come with him; then shall he sit upon his glorious and majestic throne, conspicuous in the eyes of the 32 And before him whole world, as the universal Judge. And all 32 nations; and he shall the nations of men, who have lived on earth separate them one from from the remotest ages of time, shall be assem→ another, as a shepherd bled before him: and he shall separate them divideth his sheep from from each other, according to their different

shall be gathered all

the goats:

33 And he set the sheep on right-hand, but the goats on the left.

characters, which he most perfectly knows, with as much ease as a shepherd separates the sheep which belong to his flock from the goats which may be mingled with them, and places shall them in distinct companies. And he shall set 33 his the sheep, that is, the righteous, whom he will own as such, and whose characters resem ble the innocence, meekness, and usefulness of that animal, on his right-hand, in token of his favour to them, and of the farther honours he will bestow upon them: but the goats, that is, the wicked, who are so offensive to him, that they may justly be represented by goats, he shall place on [his] left, to intimate his displea sure against them, and their final removal from amongst his people; nor shall the haughtiest and mightiest sinner be able to resist that appointment by which he is placed in this situation to avoid his sentence. (Compare Ezek. xxxiv. 17, 18.)

34 Then shall the Then, when by the ministry of the angelic 34 King say unto them attendants they are thus separated from each оп his right-hand, Come, ye blessed of other, the great King of glory and of grace, who my Father, inherit the presides over this grand solemnity, shall, with kingdom the most condescending endearment, say to them

serve with what majesty and grandeur our Lord speaks of himself in this section, which is one of the noblest instances of the true sublime that I have any where read; and indeed few passages, even in the sacred writings themselves, seem to equal it. Methinks we can hardly read it without imagining ourselves before the awful tribunal it describes.

b All the nations shall be assembled before him.] Had the notion which prevailed among some later Jews, that the Gentiles should have no part in the resurrection, been as old as our Lord's time, it is easy to see

on

these words might have been understood
as a direct intended opposition to it.

C Nor shall the haughtiest sinner, &c.]
I can imagine no more magnificent image
than this; the assembled world distin-
guished with such unerring penetration,
and distributed into two grand classes,
with as much ease as sheep and goats are
ranged by a shepherd in different compa-
nies.-The propriety with which our Lord
speaks of himself in the following words,
by the title of a King, is very observable;
and it adds unutterable beauty to the con-
descending words he is represented as
speaking on this great occasion.

d I was

264

clxvi.

Mat.

He will reward the righteous for their kindness to him.

tion of the world:

35 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirs

SECT. on his right hand, Come, ye blessed and favour- kingdom prepared for ite people of my Father, approach yet nearer you from the founda to me, that having been assessors with me in XXV. what yet remains of this day's awful proceedings 34 (1 Cor. vi. 2, 3.) you may go in with me to inherit the kingdom of holiness, glory, and joy, appointed for your portion in the Divine purpose and decree, and prepared for you from the founda35 tion of the world. And I am now descended to receive you to this kingdom with all these public marks of approbation and honour; for I well ty, and ye gave me remember your good deeds in the days of your drink: I was a stran flesh, and felt my own bowels refreshed by ger, and ye took me them, when I was hungry, and ye gave me [food] to eat; when I was thirsty and ye caused me to drink; when I was a stranger, and ye took me 36 in like one of your own families: When [I was] naked, and ye clothed me; when I was sick, and ye visited me, sick, and ye looked after me : when I was shut I was in prison, and ye up in solitude, confinement, and affliction of a came unto me. prison, and ye came kindly to condole with me in my sufferings, and to relieve my necessities there.

37

in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was

37 Then shall the righteous answer him,

saying, Lord, when

saw we thee an hun

Then shall the righteous, in humble amazement, be ready to answer him, and say Lord, what service were we ever capable of doing thee, that can deserve such notice from thee? gered, and fed thee? or When did we ever see thee hungry, and fed drink? thirsty, and gave thee [thee?] or thirsty, and caused [thee] to drink?

38 When saw we

thee a stranger, and

took thee in or naked,

thee?

38 Or when did we ever see thee in the destitute condition of a stranger, and took [thee] in? or 29 naked, and clothed [thee?]. Or when did we and clothed thee? ever see thee sick, or in prison, and came to thee 39 Or when saw for thy relief? We never saw thee, blessed we thee sick, or in Lord, in such circumstances of distress, nor prison, and came unto ever had an opportunity of shewing any such kindness to thee, that thou shouldst now distinguish us in such a manner, and speak so honourably of the service we have done thee. 40 And the king answering with renewed condescension from his exalted throne, shall not disdain to say unto them, I well know that abounded in such kind and compassionate actions to the necessitous and afflicted saints

a I was sick, and ye looked after me.]
This seems the exactest sense of επισκε

χάσθε με, which in general signifies to
take the oversight and care of any thing that
requires diligent inspection and attend-
ance (compare Jam. i. 27. and Elsner.

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I ye say unto you, In as

around

much

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