The Servants and the Pounds

The Servants and the Pounds

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, APRIL 24, 1887,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a
kingdom and to return. So he called ten of his servants and delivered
to them ten pounds, and said to them, Do business till I come." Luke
19:12,13.

WE are told the reason for the Savior's delivering this parable at this
particular time. He was going up to Jerusalem and the ignorant and
enthusiastic crowd hoped that He might now set up a temporal
sovereignty. "They thought that the Kingdom of God should immediately
appear." Their minds were crowded with mistakes and the Savior would
set them right upon this matter. To banish from their minds the idea of
a Jewish empire in which every Hebrew would be a prince, our Lord told
them this story–I use the word advisedly, for his parable was also a
fact. He would show them that as yet they were not to be partakers in a
kingdom, but were soon to be waiters for an absent Lord who had gone to
receive a Kingdom and to return. In His absence, His disciples were to
be in the position of servants put in trust with property while their
Master was gone far away to receive a Kingdom and then to come again.
He was now like a nobleman who may be one among many citizens, but He
was going away to a court where He would be invested with royal
authority– and He would come back a King. They were to be put in trust
with certain pounds till He should return.

I confess I never thoroughly saw the meaning of this parable till I was
directed by an eminent expositor to a passage in Josephus, which, if it
is not the key of it, is a wonderfully close example of a class of
facts which, no doubt, often occurred in the Roman empire in our
Savior's day. Herod, you know, was king over Judea, but he was only a
subordinate king under the Roman emperor. Caesar at Rome made and
unmade kings at his pleasure. When Herod died, he was followed by his
son, Archelaus, of whom we read in Matthew's account of our Lord's
infancy that when Joseph heard that Archelaus was king in Judea in the
place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there. This Archelaus
had no right to the throne till he obtained the sanction of Caesar and,
therefore, he took a ship with certain attendants and went to Rome,
which, in those days, was a far country, that he might receive the
kingdom and return.

While he was on the way, his citizens, who hated him, sent an embassage
after him, so has the Revised Version correctly worded it–and this
embassage bore this message to Caesar–"We will not that this man reign
over us." The messengers represented to Caesar that Archelaus was not
fit to be king of the Jews. Certain of the pleadings are recorded in
Josephus and they show that barristers 1,900 years ago pleaded in much
the same style as their brethren of today! The people were weary of the
Herods and preferred anything to their cruel rule. They even asked that
Judea might become a Roman province and be joined to Syria, rather than
they should remain under the hated yoke of the Idumaean tyrants. It is
evident that in the case of Archelaus his citizens hated him and said,
"We will not have this man to reign over us." It pleased Caesar to
divide the kingdom and to put Archelaus on the throne as ethnarch, or a
ruler with less power than a king.

When Archelaus returned, he took fierce revenge upon those who had
opposed him and rewarded his faithful adherents most liberally. This
story of what had been done 30 years before would, no doubt, rise up in
the recollection of the people when Jesus spoke, for Archelaus had
built a palace for himself very near to Jericho–and it may be that
under the walls of that palace the Savior used the event as the basis
of His parable. Those who lived in our Lord's day must have understood
His allusions to current facts much better than we do who live 19
centuries later. The Providence of God provided that observant Jew,
Josephus, to store up much valuable information for us. Read the
passage in his history and you will see that even the details tally
with this parable. There is the story.

The Savior, without excusing Archelaus or commending him in the least
degree, simply makes his going to Rome an illustration. Here is a noble
personage who is to be a king, but to obtain the throne he must journey
to the distant court of a superior power. While he is going, his
citizens, who hate him so, send an embassage to oppose his claims, for
they will not have him for their king. However, he receives the kingdom
and returns to rule it. When he does so, he rewards those who have been
faithful to him and he punishes with overwhelming destruction those who
have tried to prevent his reigning. There is the story–let me further
interpret it.

The Savior likens Himself to a nobleman. He was here on earth a Man
among men and truly a Nobleman in the midst of His fellow citizens! It
was His to become king, king of all the earth! Indeed, He is such by
Nature and by right, but He must first go, by death, resurrection and
ascension, away to the highest courts and there, from the great Lord of
All, He must receive for Himself a Kingdom. It is written, "Ask of Me,
and I will give You the heathen for Your inheritance." And therefore
Jesus must plead His claims before the King and win His suit. The day
is coming when He will return, clothed with glory and honor, to take
unto Himself His great power and reign, for He must reign till all
enemies are put under His feet. When He comes, His enemies will be
destroyed and His faithful servants will be abundantly rewarded.

Let us now draw near to this feast of Divine teaching! May the Spirit
of God help us to gather practical lessons from this parable!

I. First, I invite you to notice that THERE ARE HERE TWO SETS OF
PERSONS. We see the enemies who would not have this man to reign over
them and the servants who had to trade with his money. There are many
divisions among men into nationalities, ranks, offices and characters,
but, after all, the deep divisions will always be two–the enemies and
the servants of Christ Jesus. You that are not servants, are enemies!
You that are not enemies must take care that you are servants. I find
no class of persons mentioned in the parable but these two and I feel
certain that there are no others on the face of the earth. You are all
either enemies or servants of Jesus Christ!

Consider the enemies! The person hated was a nobleman. He was a man,
but a noble man. What a Man is the Lord Jesus! Forgetting His Godhead
for the moment, regard Him only as the Man, Christ Jesus, and what a
Man! I need not dwell upon the nobility of His birth, of the seed of
David. But I would remind you of the nobility of His Character, for
that is where true nobility resides. In this respect, where is there
nobility to be compared to His? Brothers, it would be difficult to find
a second to the Man, Christ, within measurable distance of Him–even
those who copy Him most nearly confess, regretfully, that in many
things they fall short of His Glory. There was nothing petty, mean, or
selfish about Jesus of Nazareth. He was altogether the noble Man!

He deigned, for gracious purposes, to become a Citizen among others,
for since we read of His being anointed above His fellows, it is
implied that some were His fellows. He was a Man among men! He was of
the society of carpenters! He was also free of the company of itinerant
preachers. He associated with men of the sea, with men that handled the
net and the oar. He went in and out among the peasantry and in His
dress and style of living there was nothing to distinguish Him from the
rest of the citizens. Truly, He was separate from them by His holier
Character, but the separation was not caused by His unwillingness to
come down to them, but by their inability to go up to Him!

The citizens hated Him and they hated Him without cause. There is
always some cause for dislike in us, but there was none in Him. In
tone, or manner, or spirit, the best give some cause of offense–but in
Him there was nothing which could excuse their hate–it was a wanton
rejection of the fittest to reign.

As He claimed to be the King of the Jews, they especially hated His
royalty, saying, "We will not have this Man to reign over us." And
again, "We have no king but Caesar." "He came unto His own and His own
received Him not." Yet, my Brothers and Sisters, merely regarding Jesus
as a Man, if we wanted a king, He ought to be elected by the universal
suffrages of mankind–openly given by uplifted hands and joyful
acclamations, Io triumphe! Mighty Conqueror, reign forever! Prince of
the kings of the earth, lover of the sons of men, who did, for our
sake, pour out Your precious blood, You deserve to be King of all! The
most kingly of men should be king of men. Yet they hated His royal
claims and this, also, without cause. Which of them had He oppressed?
What revenue did He extort from the people? What Law of His was hard or
cruel? In what case did He ever judge unrighteously? Yet His citizens
hated Him!

There is that same hate of Christ in the world today. Do any of you
hate Him? "No," you say. Yet are not some of you who do not oppose Him,
treating Him with greater contempt than if you did oppose Him? You pass
Him by altogether! He is not in all your thoughts! You act as if He
were not worthy, even, to be opposed–you make nothing of

Him! He is not among the objects for which you live. Sometimes you may
speak with a partial admiration of His Character, but earnest
admiration leads to imitation. If Jesus is a Savior, what worse can you
do to Him than to refuse to be saved by Him? I charge you indifferent
ones with being, in the core of your hearts, His worst enemies! Oh that
you would repent of this and turn to Him, for He is coming again and
when He comes, He will say, "As for these, My enemies, slay them before
My eyes." The expression is full of terror! To be slain before the eyes
of injured love is doubly death! The Lord, by His Grace, deliver us
from so dread a doom!

The other set of persons in the parable were his servants–the original
would justify the translation, his bondservants. Those who were not his
enemies were his faithful servants. I suppose that the nobleman had
bought them with his money, or that they had been born in his house, or
that they had willingly bound themselves by indentures to him. When I
said that these were only his slaves, you inwardly said, "Then you that
believe in Jesus are His bond-servants." Spare us not even the harsher
word, "slaves!" We were never free till we came under bonds to
Jesus–and we grow in freedom as we yield to Him! Paul said, "I bear in
my body the marks of the Lord Jesus," as if the hot iron of affliction
had branded him with the name of Christ!

Yes, we are the property of the Lord Jesus and not our own! We cannot,
somehow, find words which will, in all their fullness express our
belonging to Jesus–we wish to sink into Christ and to become as
nothing for His sake. Truly He has called us friends, but we call
ourselves His servants. We take a great delight in acknowledging Him as
Master. like David, who said, "I am Your servant," and then again, "I
am Your servant," and then again, "and the son of Your handmaid." He
was born a servant, born of a mother who was also, herself, a servant.
After all this, he added, "You have loosed my bonds." Servitude to
Christ is perfect freedom and, in every respect, we have found it so!
We never expect to know perfect freedom until He has brought every
thought, every conception, imagination and desire into captivity to
Himself! We have been bought with His money and we cost Him dearly. We
have also been born in His house by a second birth and we are bound to
Him by indentures which we have gladly signed and sealed–and are ready
to sign and seal again–

"High Heaven that heard the solemn vow, That vow renewed shall daily
hear! Till in life's latest hour we bow, And bless in death a bond so
dear." Thus we are truly on the opposite side of His enemies, for we
are willingly His servants!

I have thus introduced to you the two classes. Before we go any
further, may the Holy Spirit operate upon us to make us discern to
which of these two we belong! If we are enemies, may we become servants
from this time forth!

II. We now advance a step further and notice THE ENGAGEMENTS OF THESE
SERVANTS. Their lord was going away and he left his 10 servants in
charge with a little capital with which they were to "do business," or
trade for him till he returned. He did not tell them how long he would
be away, perhaps he did not know, himself–I mean the king in the
story–but even our Master says, "Of that day and hour knows no man,
no, not the angels of Heaven." "I am going away," the nobleman said,
"you are my servants and I leave you as my servants in the midst of my
enemies. Be loyal to me and, to prove your faithfulness, continue to
trade in my name. I shall entrust to each of you a very small sum of
money, but it will keep you occupied and your trading on my account
will be your daily acknowledgment that you are loyal to me, whatever
others may be."

Notice, first, that this was honorable work. They were not entrusted
with large funds, but the amount was enough to serve as a test. It put
them upon their honor. If they were really attached to their master,
they would feel that he had placed a confidence in them which they must
justify. Slaves are not always to be entrusted with money. In fact, the
tendency of bondage has always been to take away from men the quality
of trustworthiness–our bondage to Christ has the opposite effect
because it is no bondage at all! These servants of the master were
treated in some respect as partners, they were to have fellowship with
him in his property. They were his confidants and trustees. His eyes
were not watching them, for he had gone into a far country and he
trusted them to be a law unto themselves. They were not to render a
daily account, but to be left alone until he returned.

Now that is just how the Master has treated us! He has put us in trust
with the Gospel and He relies upon our honor. He does not call us at
once to an audit, for He is not here. I do not think that systems of
Church government which involve a measure of the spy system are at all
after our Lord's mind. If Christians are what they ought to be, they
can be trusted–they are a law unto themselves. The Lord puts you not
under certain rules and regulations so as to ordain that

you shall give a tenth, though I wish you did give that much at least.
He does not say, "You shall subscribe so much at such a time and work
in such a way." No–you are not under Law, but under Grace. If you love
your Master, you will soon discover what to do for Him and you will do
it with delight!

The nobleman does not lay down rigid rules and order that at such an
hour in the morning the servants must begin work–and that they must
work on for so many hours. No. He says, "Take my pound and trade with
it." Our version, "Do business till I come," is a lumbering Latin way
of saying, "Trade with it till I come." And our Lord has put us on the
same footing of confidence, appealing to our honor and love. He will
not come and look after us today or tomorrow, though He will ultimately
have a strict reckoning with us. Meanwhile He has gone, but He has left
us here in the midst of His enemies–to show His enemies that He has
some friends–and that He must be a good Master since even those who
acknowledge themselves to be His vassals, rejoice to spend their whole
lives in His service!

It was work for which the nobleman gave them capital. He gave to each
of them a pound. "Not much," you will say. No, he did not intend it to
be much. They were not capable of managing very much. If he found them
faithful in "a very little," he could then raise them to a higher
responsibility. I do not read that any of them complained of the
smallness of his capital, or wished to have it doubled.

Brothers and Sisters, we need not ask for more talents–we have quite
as many as we shall be able to answer for. Preachers need not seek for
larger spheres–let them be faithful in those which they now occupy. A
Brother recently said to me, "I cannot do much with a hundred hearers,"
and I replied, "You will find it hard work to give in a good account
for even a hundred people." I confess it very quietly, but I have often
wished that I had a little congregation, that I might watch over every
soul in it. But now I am doomed to an everlasting dissatisfaction with
my work, for what am I among so many? I can only feel that I have not
even begun to do the hundredth part of what needs to be done in such a
Church as this!

Each one had a pound in his hand and his lord only said, "Do business
till I come." He did not expect them to do a wholesale business on so
small a stock, but they were to trade as the market would allow. He did
not expect them to make more than the pound would fairly bring in, for,
after all, he was not "an austere man." "Take that pound," he said,
"and do your best. I know the times are bad, for you have to trade
among enemies. You could not, perhaps, manage to put out 20 pounds
under such circumstances, but you can turn over a pound and use every
shilling of it." Thus he gave them a sufficient capital for his
purpose.

My friend, have you that pound anywhere about you? "Alas," says one, "I
have no abilities at all." How is that? Your Lord gave you a
pound–what has become of it? You are one of His servants and if you
are doing nothing, you are in an evil case and ought to be ashamed.
What have you done with that pound? Put your hand in your pocket. It is
not there. Is it in the napkin?–that napkin with which you ought to
have wiped the sweat of labor from your brow? Have you got that pound?
You say, "It is not much." The Master did not say it was much, on the
contrary, He called it, "very little." But have you used that very
little? This should go home to your consciences! You have been treated
as confidential servants and yet you are not true to your Lord. Why is
this?

What they had to do with the pound was prescribed in general terms.
They were to trade with it, not to play with it. I dare say they were
inclined to argue, "Our master's cause is assailed, let us fight for
him," yet he did not say, "fight," but trade! Peter drew his sword. Oh,
yes, we are eager combatants, but slow merchants! Many manifest a
defiant spirit and are never more satisfied than when they are in noise
and strife. The servants in this parable were not to fight, but to
trade, which is a much more cool-blooded and ignoble thing in common
esteem. We may leave our Lord's enemies to Himself–He will end their
rebellions one of these days. We are to follow a much lowlier line of
things.

No doubt certain of them might have thought that the pound would be
useful to purchase them comforts, or even luxuries–one would buy a new
coat and another would bring home a piece of furniture for his
house–and others would solemnly say, "We have our families to think
of." Yes, but their lord did not say so! The master said, "Do business
till I come." They were neither to fight with it, nor hoard it, nor
spend it, nor waste it, but to trade with it for him. The pound was not
put into their hands for display. They were not to glory over others
who had not so much as a penny to bless themselves with, for though
they were little capitalists, that capital was their lord's!

It is a pity when Graces or talents are boasted of as if they were our
own. A tradesman who is prospering seldom has much money to show–it is
all needed in his business. Sometimes he can scarcely put his hand upon
a five-pound note

because his cash is all absorbed–his golden grain is all sown in the
field of his trade. Speaking for myself, I cannot find any room for
glorying in myself, for if I have either Grace or strength, I certainly
have none to spare! I have barely enough for the work in hand and not
enough for the service in prospect. Our pound is not to be hung on our
watch-chain, but to be traded with!

Trading represents a life which may be called commonplace, but it is
eminently practical–and it has an exceedingly practical effect upon
the person engaged in it. This is owing in part to the fact that it is
an occupation in which there is great scope for judgment. They were not
tied down to a special kind of trade. The man who made his one pound
into 10 chose the best form of business. He sought not that which was
most pleasant, but that which was most profitable. So you are left,
dear Friends, to choose your own line of service for your Master–only
you must trade for Him and for Him everything must be done well. At the
present time no trading pays better than the mission to the Congo, or
to the hill-tribes of India–large dividends come, also, from dealings
with the poorest of the poor in the slums and as much from widows and
orphans who are in extreme destitution. When men have to lay down their
lives for the Lord Jesus, after a life languished away with fever, the
returns are amazing! Where the need is greatest, our Lord receives most
glory. It is left to you to judge what you can do, how you can do it
and where you will do it. Do that which will most surely win souls and
that which will best establish your Lord's Kingdom. Exercise your very
best judgment and get into that line of holy service in which you can
bring in the largest revenue for your glorious Master.

The work which the nobleman prescribed was one that would bring them
out. The man who never succeeds in trade, do you know him? I know him.
He complains that he has a small head and usually the complaint is
founded on fact. He needs to follow a business in which the bread and
butter will be brought to his door ready spread and even then, unless
it is cut up into dice pieces on his plate, he will get no breakfast.
The man that is to succeed in trade in these times must have
confidence, look alive, keep his eyes open and be all there. Our times
are hard, but not so hard as those described in the parable when the
faithful servants were trading in the midst of traitors–they had need
of sharp wits. Trade develops a man's perseverance, patience and
courage. It tests honesty, truthfulness and firmness. It is a
singularly excellent discipline for character.

When this nobleman gave his servant the pound, it was that the servant
might see what stuff he was made of. Trade with small capital means
personal work and drudgery, long hours and few holidays–plenty of
disappointment and small gains. It means working with might and main
and doing the thing with all your heart and mind. In such a manner are
we to serve Christ. The word, "trade," has a world of meaning in it. I
cannot bring it out this morning, but there is no need, for the most of
you know more about trade than I do and you can instruct yourselves.
You are to trade for the Lord Jesus Christ in a higher and yet more
emphatic sense than that in which you have traded for yourselves. With
your physical strength, your mental faculties, your substance, your
family–with everything–you are to bring glory to God and honor to the
name of Jesus! It is to be your life-business to work for Jesus and
with Jesus.

Trading, if it is successfully carried on, is an engrossing concern,
calling out the whole man. It is a continuous toil, a varied trial, a
remarkable test, a valuable discipline–and this is why the nobleman
put his bondsmen to it, that he might afterwards use them in still
higher service. Brothers and Sisters, learn what is meant by trading
and then carry on a spiritual trade with all your heart.

At the same time, let us notice that it was work suitable to their
capacity. Small as the capital was, it was enough for them, for they
were no more than bondsmen, not of a high grade of rank or education.
Their master gave them only a pound, which did not mean more than £3
10s of our money. One could not get a large shop, or even a decent
stock with that small amount. They could not complain that they were
placed in a business which was too heavy for them to manage. They
could, any of them, buy a few goods and hawk them. The Lord Jesus
Christ does not ask you to do more than you can do. He does not break
you down with cares beyond your capacity. We have not yet reached the
limit of our pow-ers–we can yet do more. Jesus is no exacting master.
It is only a false and lying servant who will call Him "an austere Man,
reaping where He has not sowed." Nothing of the kind! He has given us a
light business–our work for Him is suited to our limited powers and He
is ready, by His Holy Spirit, to assist us. Let us use well our single
pound. Let it be our ambition to make 10 of it, at the very least, and
may the Lord graciously prosper our endeavors, that we may have large
interest to present to Him when He shall come!

Did you enquire as to how these men were to be supported? Their master
did not tell them to live off his pound. No, they were his servants and
so they lived under his roof–and he provided for all their needs. He
had gone on a journey, but his establishment was not given up–the
table was still spread and the children and the servants had bread
enough and to spare. "Oh," says one, "that alters the case!" Just so,
but it does not make it different from yours, or, if it does, I am
sorry for you. Are you your own provider? Do you cry, "What shall I
eat? What shall I drink?" Do you not know that all these things do the
nations of the earth seek after? Whereas Jesus says, "Your heavenly
Father knows that you have need of all these things." As I understand
my life, I am to do my Lord's work and He is to provide for me. He may
do this through my own industry, but still it is His work to do it–not
mine! If the Providence of God is not sufficient to provide for us,
then I am sure we cannot provide for ourselves! And if it is
sufficient, we shall be wise to cast all our care on the Lord and live
undividedly for His praise! Remember that text, "Seek you first the
Kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be
added unto you." You, as a servant, are not to be entangled with
carking cares about your own interests, but you are to give your whole
thought and life to your Master's service. He will take care of you,
now, and reward you when He shall come.

III. Thirdly, to understand this parable, we must remember THE
EXPECTANCY WHICH WAS ALWAYS TO INFLUENCE THEM. They were left as
trusted servants till he should return, but that return was a main item
in the matter.

They were to believe that he would return and that he would return a
king. The citizens did not believe it. They hoped that Caesar would
refuse him the throne, but we are to be sure that our noble Master will
receive the Kingdom. This rebel world does not believe that Jesus will
ever be King. The other day we read of the "Eclipse of Christianity."
Constantly we see His dominion assailed. They say that it is
practically disproved by facts. Is it? Sirs, excuse me, I am
desperately prejudiced, for I am His servant! I owe Him my life, my
all! I am persuaded that He is and must be King of kings! I know Him so
well that I am sure that He will prevail at the court to which He has
gone. He is in very high favor there. The last time I saw the face of
the great King, I obtained that favor through the use of His name. I
receive anything I ask for when I mention His name and so I am sure
that He is in wonderful high repute above. Why, His Father is the
Sovereign! I am sure He will not deny the kingdom to His only-begotten
Son! Jesus will come in His Kingdom–I am sure of it! Let us work in
the full conviction that our absent Lord will soon be here, again, with
a glorious diadem upon His brow. When He went away, He took with Him
the scars of one who died a felon's death–and He will come again with
them, but the nail prints will be no memorials of His shame–they will
be as jewels to His hands!

The nobleman's servants were to regard their absent master as already
king and they were so to trade among his enemies that they should never
compromise their own loyalty. They were of the king's party and of no
other. It is a very awkward position to be in–to trade among people
that are enemies to your king! You need, in such a case, to be wise as
serpents and harmless as doves. This is precisely our position! We have
to bring glory to God out of men who hate Him! We have to magnify our
Lord among men who would, if they could, crucify Him again! We have to
go in and out among them in such a manner that they can never say that
we side with them in their rebellion, or wink at their disloyalty! We
cannot be, "Hail fellow: well met!" with those whose life is a
practical insult to the crown rights of King Jesus! We must, above all
things, prove ourselves loyal to our absent Lord lest He appoint us our
portion among His enemies.

I find that the original would suggest to anyone carefully reading it,
that they were to regard their master as already returning. This should
be our view of our Lord's Advent–He is even now on His way here! No
sooner had He risen from the grave than, practically, our Lord was
coming back! Strange paradox! But His ascension into Heaven was, in a
certain sense, part of His coming back to us, for the way for Him, from
the Cross on earth to the crown of the whole earth, was via the New
Jerusalem. He is coming, now, as fast as Wisdom judges it to be right.
I am sure our Savior will not delay a moment beyond what is absolutely
necessary, for He loves the Church which is His bride–and as her
Bridegroom, He will not delay the long-expected hour of their
meeting–never to part again. He is ready–it is the bride that needs
to make herself ready! Jesus desires to come! His heart is responsive
to our cry when we say, "Come quickly!" He will come sooner than we
think. We are bound to feel that He is, at this moment, on the road,
and we are to live as if He might arrive at any moment!

We must trade on till our Lord has come. There must be no retiring from
His business, even if we retire from our own. There must be no ceasing
because we fancy we have done enough. Our rest will be when He comes!
But till then, we must trade on.

Let us labor as in His actual Presence. How would you act with Jesus at
your elbow? Act just so. He sees us as clearly as if His bodily
Presence were in our midst. Be awakened and inspired by the Redeemer's
eyes. Thus will you live in this trial state after the best possible
manner.

IV. Now comes the sweet part of the subject. Note well THE SECRET
DESIGN OF THE LORD. Did it ever strike you that this nobleman had a
very kindly design towards his servants? Did this nobleman give these
men one pound each with the sole design that they should make money for
him? It would be absurd to think so! A few pounds would be no item to
one who was made a king. No, no! It was as Mr. Bruce says, "He was not
money-making, but character-making." His design was not to gain by
them, but to educate them!

First, their being entrusted with a pound each was a test. This
nobleman said to himself, "When I am a king, I must have faithful
servants in power around me. My going away gives me an opportunity of
seeing what my servants are made of. I shall thus test their capacity
and their industry, their honesty and their zeal. If they prove
faithful over a few things, they will be fit to be trusted with greater
matters." The test was only a pound and they could not make much
mischief out of that, but it would be quite sufficient to try their
capacity and fidelity, for he that is faithful in that which is least
will be faithful, also, in much. They did not all endure the test, but
by its means he revealed their characters.

It was also a preparation of them for future service. He would lift
them up from being servants to become rulers! They were, therefore, to
be put in a place of measurable responsibility and to be made men of
thereby. They were to be rulers over a very little–say a pound and
that which came of it–and this would be an education for them. In the
process of trading, they would be in training to rule. The best way to
learn to be a master is to be first a servant! And the reason why some
masters are hard and tyrannical is because they do not know the heart
of a servant by experience. They know nothing of service and so they
have not the wisdom, the generosity and the tenderness which masters
should show towards servants. So this nobleman was wise–he was at the
same time testing and training his men.

Besides this, I think he was giving them a little anticipation of their
future honors. He was about to make them rulers over cities and so he
first made them rulers over pounds. They had been servants and taken
orders from him every morning, but now they have no master to go to and
must use their own discretion. They were, in effect, in a small sphere,
made into little kings. In all that country the citizens had rebelled,
but there was a little kingdom of the nobleman's own ser-vants–and
these obeyed him and did their best to maintain his interest in their
little way. They were already made free, placed in a measure of
authority and made to know the sweets and the burdens of personal
responsibility.

Oh, you who work for God, when you are overseers of others for
Him–when you win souls for Him and when you conquer adversaries in His
name–you are already anticipating your eternal reward! We are
fashioning our future position upon the anvil of our lives, for Heaven,
though it is a state and a place prepared for us by the Lord Jesus,
lies also mainly in character. The man is more the source of joy than
the streets of gold in which he will walk. If you hide your pound and
neglect your Master's service here, you are making for yourselves a dim
and hazy future in that grand millennial reign of His! You that addict
yourselves to your holy trade and consecrate yourselves entirely to
your Lord shall have large honors when He comes to reign gloriously
among His ancients!

For see, when the nobleman came to the man who had earned 10 pounds, he
gave him 10 cities. Think of that! There is no proportion between the
poor service and the rich reward! A pound is rewarded with a city!
Their master was not bound to pay them anything–they were his
bond-servants but what he gave them was of his overflowing generosity!
I do not think that he who brought five pounds was in the least blamed.
He may have been just as diligent as the other, but he had less
capacity. But how he must have opened his eyes when his master gave him
five cities! Perhaps he wondered more than the first. Fancy if any one
of us had been put to trade with a pound upon commission and had
received five cities for reward! The money earned would not buy the
smallest house and yet it brings in to the worker five cities! What
surprise filled the heart of the recipient of such bounty! It never
entered into his heart to envy the brother who had 10 cities, for the
five were so vast a recompense. He must have been carried away with
rapture with the prospect before him!

Though there may be degrees of glory, the only difference will be in
the capacity of the blessed to contain it. All the vessels will be
full, but they will not be all equally large–the man of the 10 pounds
will simply be a larger vessel, full to

the brim–the man with the five will be less capacious, but quite as
full, to his own glad amazement and joyful bewilderment! However, let
us go in for winning the 10 pounds if we can! For our Lord's sake, let
us trade in spiritual things with all our hearts.

"But," says one, "where and what will these cities be?" It may be that
all this will literally happen during the millennial period, but I do
not know. When Christ shall come, the dead in Christ will rise first
and we read that, "the rest of the dead lived not again till the
thousand years were finished." There may be space during that era for
all the special rewards of the Gospel dispensation. It may also be, but
I do not know, and so I cannot tell you, that we are, in future
dispensations, to fill unto other worlds much the same office as angels
fill to ours. Jesus has made us kings and priests–and we are in
training for our thrones. What if in this congregation I am learning to
proclaim my Master's Glory to myriads of worlds! Possibly the preacher
who is faithful here may yet be made to tell forth His Lord's Glory to
constellations at a later time. What if one might stand upon a central
star and preach Christ to worlds on worlds instead of preaching Him to
these two galleries and to this area! Why not?

At any rate, if I should ever gain a voice loud enough to be heard for
millions of miles, I would speak none other than those glorious Truths
of God which the Lord has revealed in Christ Jesus! If we are faithful
here, we may expect our Master to entrust us with higher service
hereafter! Only let us see to it that we are able to endure the test
and that we profit by the training. As our account comes out in the
very little, so will it be with us on the grand scale of eternity. This
puts another face upon the work of this lower sphere. Rulers over 10
cities! Rulers over five cities! Brothers and Sisters, you are not fit
for such dignities if you cannot serve your Lord well in this world
with the little He has entrusted to you. If you live wholly to Him
here, you will be prepared for the glories unspeakable which await all
consecrated souls. Let us go in for a devoted life at once! Time is so
short and the things we deal with are comparatively so small! We are
soon coming out of the eggshell of time–and when we break loose into
eternity and see the vastness of the Divine purposes, we shall be
altogether amazed at the service bestowed–which will be the reward of
service done. O Lord, make us faithful! Amen.