1 J. I. Vance, Tendenq/, Ti'i.
ST. MATTHEW xxv. 21 401
He gives gold, for iron He gives silver, for stones He gives iron, for a few things He gives many things !
Tf The bounty of the Lord gives enlarged opportunity for energy and usefulness. The " few things " of earth are ito be replaced by " many things " which Divine grace provides for the faithful. The close of the earthly life, which seems as the yielding up at once of the capital and the gain procured by it, is followed by introduction into a new and grander order of things, in which larger possessions and wider opportunities are intrusted to each one. The greater power appears as a wider influence and rule under God's government. In the everlasting life procured for us by Jesus, a future is prepared for enlarged work and also for extended reward. In the heavenly kingdom, where righteousness reigns in man and extended favour comes from God, life is pro- gressive in ever increasing ratio.1
4. The faithful servant is admitted into the Master's own joy. " Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
(1) What is the joy of God? As concerns us, one thing and only one — our goodness. Not our activity, not our intelligence, but to see us growing more and more like Himself, purer, truer, more loving — this is the sight in us that sends a new current of joy through the perfect happiness of the perfectly happy God. To reach by His grace, by His training, some new measure of His holiness, to recognize it and begin to use it and rejoice in it as His gift; to Lift up our hearts with the same happiness as fills His heart when a new temptation is conquered and a new purity reached — this is to enter into the joy of our Lord.
^| In one of His most beautiful parables, the Lord gives us a glimpse of one of His joys. A shepherd has lost a sheep. It has wandered on to the wilds, and has missed the flock. The good shepherd goes in search of it. He roams over the storm -swept, rain-beaten moors. He peers into precipitous ravines. He descends into valleys of shadow, where the wild beast has its lair. He trudges high and low, far and wide, gazing with strained vision, and at last he finds his sheep, maybe entangled in the prickly brushwood, or bruised and broken by the rocky boulders of some treacherous ravine. "And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulder, rejoicing." That is one of the joys of the Lord — the finding of the lost ! " Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Can we do it ? Stay a moment. Let us follow the shepherd home. 1 H. Calderwood, The Parables of Our Lord, 417. ST. MATT. — 26
402 THE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT
" And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost." Could they do it ? I know that they could come to his house, and sit down to the feast, and enjoy the good things provided, and fill the house with music and song. But could they really enter into his joy ? Suppose that among his neighbours there were some who had been with him upon the wilds, who had dared the dangers of the heights and the terrors of the beasts, who had f nidged with tired feet far into the chilly night — would not these be just the neighbours who would be able to enter into the shepherd's joy ? To enter into the joy of finding, we must have entered into the pain of seeking. To enter into the joy of my Lord, I too must become " a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." '
(2) A measure of joy accompanies all good and faithful work. " The doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." Before the deed reaches completion a wave of heavenly satisfaction and joy breaks over the soul of the doer, which reveals the truth that man is in his element when doing good. Our conscience condemns us when we do an unkind action ; we are pained when we fall below our ideal of true manhood ; pain accompanies the dirty deed as inevitably as when the body receives a blow. The years, as they roll on, will cause us to lose many an object that we would fain keep, but they will not obliterate the memory of painful actions. " Verily we are guilty concerning our brother," said Joseph's brethren when they appeared before the ruler of Egypt. There was something, maybe, in the tone of the ruler's voice which reminded them of Joseph and of their own dastardly deed. Painful was the recollection and fearsome was the whisper- ing of their guilt concerning their brother. On the other hand, our moral nature approves kindness in the glow of pleasure which begins within in the doing of the deed. The doer becomes con- scious of the music of heaven as he goes along his way. The angels of heaven seem to him to be opening doors of pleasure and joy each step he takes, and voices ring out the Divine invitation, " Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."