6. Thy Lord will ♦farther enquire, “Hast thou been a wise and faithful steward, with regard to the talents of a mixt nature which I lent thee? Didst thou employ thy _health_ and _strength_, not in folly or sin, not in the pleasures which perished in the using, _not in making provision for the flesh, to fulfil the desires thereof_, but in a vigorous pursuit of that better part, which none could take away from thee? Didst thou employ whatever was pleasing in thy _person_ or _address_, whatever advantages thou hadst by _education_, whatever share of _learning_, whatever _knowledge_ of things or men was committed to thee, for the promoting of virtue in the world, for the enlargement of my kingdom? Didst thou employ whatever share of _power_ thou hadst, whatever _influence_ over others, by the love or esteem of thee which they had conceived, for the increase of their wisdom and holiness? Didst thou employ that inestimable talent of _time_, with wariness and circumspection, as duly weighing the value of every moment, and knowing that all were numbered in eternity? Above all, wast thou a good steward of my _grace_, preventing, accompanying, and following thee? Did thou duly observe and carefully improve all the influences of my Spirit? Every good desire? Every measure of light? All his sharp or gentle reproofs? How didst thou profit by _the Spirit of Bondage and fear_, which was previous to _the Spirit of Adoption_? And when thou wast made a partaker of this Spirit, _crying in thy heart, Abba, Father_, didst thou stand fast in the glorious liberty wherewith I made thee free? Didst thou from thenceforth present thy soul and body, all thy thoughts, thy words and actions, in one flame of love, as an holy sacrifice, glorifying me with thy body and thy spirit? Then _well-done, good and faithful servant! Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!_” And what will remain, either to the faithful or unfaithful steward? Nothing but the execution of that sentence, which has been passed by the righteous Judge; fixing thee in a state which admits of no change, through everlasting ages. It remains only, that thou be rewarded to all eternity, according to thy works.
♦ ‘faarther’ replaced with ‘farther’
IV. 1. From these plain considerations we may learn, first, How important is this short, uncertain day of life! How precious, above all utterance, above all conception, is every portion of it!
“The least of these a serious care demands; For tho’ they’re little, they are golden sands!”
How deeply does it concern every child of man, to let none of these run to waste; but to improve them all to the noblest purposes, as long as the breath of God is in his nostrils!
2. We learn from hence, secondly, that there is no employment of our time, no action or conversation that is purely _indifferent_. All is good or bad, because all our time, as every thing we have, is _not our own_. All these are, as our Lord speaks, τὰ ἀλλότρια, the property of another; of God, our Creator. Now these either are, or are not employed, according to his will. If they are so employed, all is good; if they are not, all is evil. Again: it is his will, that we should continually grow in grace, and in the living knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Consequently, every thought, word, and work whereby this knowledge is increased, whereby we grow in grace, is good: and every one whereby this knowledge is not increased, is truly and properly evil.
3. We learn from hence, thirdly, that there are no works of supererogation; that we can never do more than our duty: seeing all we have is not our own, but God’s, all we can do is due to him. We have not received this or that, or many things only, but every thing from him: therefore every thing is his due. He that gives us all, must needs have a right to all. So that if we pay him any thing less than all, we cannot be _faithful stewards_. And considering _every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own_ labour, we cannot be _wise stewards_, unless we labour to the uttermost of our power: not leaving any thing undone, which we possibly can do, but putting forth all our strength.