1 iMiircus Dods, The Farable$ of Our Lord, i. 263. ' G. H. Morrison.
ST. MATTHEW xxv. 21 399
and as England arose to pay her tribute of honour to the heroic man who had given his life to close the open sore of the world, all eyes were turned to the faithful servant who stood at the head of his grave.1
II.
The Rewards that Christ Dispenses.
1. The first word of the Master is a word of recognition and approval — " Well done ! " Foamier names his latest book, Two New Worlds. It is a study of the infra-world and the supra- world — a theory of the wonders of electrons and stars, a mathe- matical survey of the infinitesimal and the infinite. Now, here are two words that hold more wonders than two worlds. Here is the ultimate pronouncement of God and His universe upon the highest attainment of the human spirit. " Well done ! "
T| The God of the Holy Scriptures is characteristically generous in His moral estimates of His servants. He pronounces perfect and good men in whom we have no difficulty in seeing moral defect. The epithets are freely applied wherever there is single-hearted devotion to the cause of God — to a Moses, a David, a Job, a Barnabas. And those who serve the Lord of the Kingdom ought to bear this truth in mind. It is well that we think humbly of ourselves, but it is not well that we imagine that God thinks meanly of the best endeavours of His servants. It is injurious as towards Him, and it is degrading in its effect on our own character. Religion, to be an elevating influence, must be a worship of a generous, magnanimous God. Therefore, while in the language of a former parable we say of ourselves we are unprofit- able servants, so disclaiming all self-righteous pretensions to merit, let us remember that we serve One who will pronounce on every single-hearted worker, be his position distinguished or obscure, or his success great or small, the honourable sentence, " Well done, good and faithful servant."2
2. The faithful servant is given a larger sphere of power and influence. " I will set thee over many things." God's rewards are never arbitrary. They grow out of the struggle that we wage, as the fruit of autumn grows from the flower of spring. All
1 II. A. Stimuon, The New Things of dod, 224.
3 A. B. Bruce, The Parabolic Teaching of Christ, 213.
4oo THE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT
the rewards that we shall ever gain are with us in their rudi- ments already, just as the doom that awaits some in eternity is germinating in their heart this very hour. We see, in the light of that, why Christ associates faithfulness and rule : " Because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things." It is because one is the outflow of the other, as is the burn of the spring among the heather. It is because, as flower from the bud, influence blossoms from fidelity.
T| What is it to be faithful ? It is to be full of faith. The man who has no faith is not faith full but faith empty. He is faithless. It is trusting God down to the end of the journey, through storm and sunshine, through adversity and prosperity, through good report and evil report, saying, even with the last breath, " Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." It is fidelity. It is being trustworthy as well as trustful. It is trusting God until men can trust me. It is being so loyal to duty, so devoted to truth, so steadfast to principle, that no lure of quick success can tempt me to be faithless. It means that I should rather be defeated than lie, that I should rather fail in business than succeed through dishonesty, that I should rather be broken in fortune and ruined in reputation than compromise my honour. And it is all this, not for a day or a year, or a decade, but for life, not merely when it pays but when it costs, not only when it is applauded but when it is hissed ; it is " unto death." x
3. While the reward bears a direct relation to present fidelity, like all God's gifts it is exceeding abundant — "a few things," " many things." The greatness of God is that He asks so little and gives so much. A missionary left a few pages of the Gospel in an Indian village. Swifter than the arrows he shot from his bow, the message went straight to an Indian's heart. Meanwhile, the missionary had travelled on some two hundred miles. But the Indian measured the missionary's footprint, made him a fine pair of moccasins, tracked him over hill and valley until he found him, and gave him the tokens of his gratitude. God always takes the measure of His servant's footprint. And though he travel never so far and never so lonely, God will overtake him — no, not that, God will go with him, God will sing to him, God will cheer him, God will rest him, God will comfort him, God will richly reward him ! God's remunerations are incalculable ! For brass