thiness, that the knowledge of the sins of others may only make me feel the more how truly they are my brothers. It is through thy pardoning love alone that I can be saved, let me then rejoice and be glad at each new instance of thy mercy. Thou didst love thy Son before the foundation of the world,* and yet thou didst give him to be our Saviour, and he was willing to die that we might be saved. Oh let the mind that was in him be found in us, that we like him may love one another; and that all may know, by the spirit thou hast given us, that we are thine for ever. Amen.

XXI.

LUKE XVI.

THE UNJUST STEWARD.

LUKE xvi. 1-9. "And he (Jesus) said unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward: and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my Lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his Lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my Lord? And he said, an hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take

Then said he And he said an

thy bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty. to another, And how much owest thou?

John xvii. 24.

hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the Lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations."

The parable of the Prodigal Son had been spoken to all, but, as it seems, chiefly for the instruction of the Pharisees. Our Lord now more particularly turned to those among the crowd who were His disciples-those who followed not to gainsay His words but to be taught by him.

At first sight the parable he now spoke might fill us with surprise, for it might, if only read hastily over, seem to recommend the bad example of a bad man; but if we consider the Parables that go before, and that follow after it, we shall find its meaning plain.

We have read the history of the Prodigal Son who wasted his goods in riotous living, but who, " coming to himself,”—to a better mind, repented, and was forgiven. We shall presently read in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the sad history of one who never came to himself till death had ended his time of trial, who lived and died, caring for nothing but the good things of this life; and between these two parables we find this one, known by the name of the parable of the Unjust Steward. We shall keep all the three in remembrance, and we shall find that they shed as it were a light upon each other.

In the history of the Unjust Steward, it is not his injustice and bad conduct that is brought forward as an example for us to follow; but by it our Lord Jesus would shew to us that worldly men are often quick-witted, and determined in carrying out their plans for gaining worldly advantage, and therefore they seem, for a time at least, to gain their ends. The lesson

he would teach is this-that we shall, if we are really wise, be as eager and earnest in God's work as they are in their own, turning every thing, even the difficulties that lie in our way, into so many helps to religion by their causing us to cling closer to God.

The dishonest steward seems to have been, like Eliezer in the house of Abraham, and like Joseph in the house of Potiphar, ruler over all that the rich man had; but unlike them he wasted his master's goods. He was taken by surprise, when his Lord (or master) suddenly informed him that he had discovered his mismanagement, and intended to take away his place, so that he should no longer be steward. For a moment he knew not what to do. He would not, and because he would not, thought he could not, turn to another course of life he was not used to labour, and his pride could not stoop to beg. But his perplexity did not last long. He soon decided what to do. His thoughts ran in one line, and to his point straight he

went.

He had to give in an account of his stewardship, and he made it the means of helping him in the sore strait to which his dishonesty had brought him. He had to call in his lord's bills, that he might give an account of his property, and he soon brought into his interest the different men who owed to his lord either the money due for grain, and oil, or a part of the fruits of the fields, and olive-yards, which they rented from him. This last, where money is scarce and the produce of the land abundant, is a very usual way of paying rent. He proposed to them to change the writings, by which their debt might be proved, and to cheat his master of a great part of what they owed him.

He could be the only witness against them, therefore they were in his power, and, having once agreed to the fraud, they would be sure to bribe him to silence, by sharing with him part

of their ill-gotten gains; they would not dare to let him want, lest he should be tempted to betray them.

When it is said that his lord commended the unjust steward, it means that his master was struck with the daring cleverness of the man who had thus turned the very thing that was likely to have been his ruin, by exposing his fraud, into a means of helping him out of the distress his dishonesty ought to have brought upon him. We must be careful not to confound the rich man in the parable, who was the lord of the dishonest steward, with our blessed Lord, who now adds, "the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light." What then ought to be the wisdom of the children of light, --that is of those upon whom the bright light of God's truth is shining.

The Lord Jesus tells us in words which should be listened to with thoughtful attention-" I say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations."

66

Few, if any, can choose their situation in life. They are born when and where God pleases, yet the things around them, and the people with whom they must dwell, have a great effect for good or evil upon their own characters. The children of this world—or more plainly speaking— worldly people, like the unjust steward in the parable, use every person and every thing as so many stepping-stones to help them in what they call getting on in life." They turn every thing to their advantage to gain their ends, and they do this because they know distinctly what it is they desire. Let us, if we would be "children of the light," also turn every thing, even those things that might be hindrances, into helps, to forward us on the way to heaven, by making us more fit for the kingdom of God. Thus let us "make friends of the mammon of unrighteousness," so conducting ourselves in all we do as to shew a heavenly wisdom in our generation, that is among and towards them with whom

we live. Are we rich? Let us "not be high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us all things richly to enjoy. Let us do good, that we may be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate. Laying up in store for ourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that we may lay hold on eternal life.” 1 Tim. vi. 17-19. Thus when we fail-that is, when we die, our riches, instead of having hindered our being accepted as children of God, shall rather by the use we have made of them, prove our title to the numbered among His family.

But it is not the rich only who can thus make to themselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness. The want of this mammon (by which name money is meant) may also be made a hindrance or a help on the way to heaven. If the poor man "covets after riches," he has erred from the faith, and has "pierced himself through with many sorrows," for "the love of money is the root of all evil." It will surely be a hindrance to him; but, if on the contrary he feels that "godliness with contentment is great gain," and "having food and raiment is therewith content," then his very poverty is a help to him in bringing his mind into a childlike submission to the will of God the very temper that is fit for the kingdom of God.

*

To every man-to rich and poor- to servant and master— God gives a stewardship; that is, He entrusts him with certain talents, and places him in the situation He, in His divine wisdom, sees best fitted for their employment; and thus all things, even our very trials and difficulties, yea, even our temptations, are His goods, and we must one day give to Him an account of our stewardship. Let us be wise now, and so use them all, that when we fail, they may prove to have been, not a hindrance, but a means towards our being received into the everlasting habitations of God's kingdom.

* 1 Tim. vi. 10.

Ibid 6, 8.