THERE are few of our Lord's parables more plain and important than this. The accountableness of man for every blessing he receives is a fundamental point in religion; and the statement of it contained in this parable is so express and authoritative, as to demand our most attentive consideration. It was addressed by our Saviour to his disciples in order to correct their false expectation that the kingdom of God would immediately appear, and to direct them to a right use of the various advantages intrusted to them during his personal absence: but it is applicable to the servants of Christ in every age. It appeals at once to the conscience. It exhibits to the world at large a general rule of the moral government of God with his rational and intelligent creatures; whilst it displays especially to the church the order of the divine proceedings in the last awful day of judgment. It is of course very possible, by expounding it without a due reference to other parts of the sacred volume, to pervert the design of this, as well as of many other of our Saviour's parables. But where the primary doctrines of the fall of man, his responsibility, his condemnation by the holy law, redemption by the death and sacrifice. of Christ, justification by faith, salvation by grace, the regenerating and sanctifying influences of the Holy Ghost, and the necessity of

holy obedience, are rightly enforced, according to the general scope of Scripture, the instruction of this particular portion of it will be eminently useful. In considering it, there are three parts which seem to demand explanation.

I. The talents intrusted to the management of the servants.

II. The right employment of them by the faithful servants, with their reward.

III. The character and doom of the slothful servant.

We are to notice,

1. THE TALENTS INTRUSTED TO THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SERVANTS.

The man travelling into a far country, who called unto him his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods, represents to us our Lord and Saviour, who is the master and proprietor of his creatures; the absolute owner of all things, and the Lord and Redeemer of his church; and who has left his disciples, as to his visible presence, by his ascension into heaven. The servants to whom the talents were intrusted, represent the professed disciples and members of Christ, the visible body of the faithful; but particularly the ministers and stewards of his mysteries. The command given to them to manage his goods during his journey, teaches us the duty which he has enjoined on Christians,

in the period of their abode on earth, of anticipating his return to judgment, and employing themselves in the administration of his gifts. The talents given to the servants, represent the various powers and blessings which Christ has assigned to us for the salvation of our souls, the benefit of our neighbour, and the glory of his name. These are of various kinds; and to understand rightly the nature of them is the first main point necessary to a correct view of the whole parable.

Under this description of TALENTS may be reckoned all the unnumbered mercies of God, which as rational and moral agents we may convert to a good or a bad purpose: all the faculties of our minds, as well as all the members of our bodies, are like a deposit of money put into our hands to trade with, from which some gain is expected to arise. The understanding and will and imagination and memory and affections, our natural and acquired abilities, our time, our health, our influence, authority, property, privileges, family, offices, and gifts, are all a sacred trust. The duties and opportunities of the young, the middle-aged, and the old; of the sick and the strong; of the learned and the ignorant; of the rich and the poor; of the magistrate and the subject; of the husband and the wife; the parent and the child; the male and the female; are all like talents placed

under the respective management of each person. We are endued with reason. We have the gift of the Holy Scriptures. We have been born in a Protestant land. We have enjoyed the blessings of being initiated by baptism into the Christian church. The influence of the Holy Spirit has been secretly operating on our minds. We have had education, convictions of conscience, and calls and warnings from God in his providence. Thus we have each something committed to us. The knowledge of a Saviour and opportunities of salvation, at least, are a weighty and valuable trust. The ministers of God's holy word especially have received a solemn stewardship in the charge of souls, and in their gifts and qualifications for edifying the church.

The DIFFERENT NUMBER OF THE TALENTS, which is the next important circumstance in the parable, teaches us that the great Head of the church distributes his gifts according to his sovereign pleasure. Some have five talents intrusted to them, some two, and others one. A larger proportion of natural or acquired powers, a wider circle of influence, more numerous occasions of doing good, greater vigour of body or mind, better means of moral or religious instruction, purer and higher examples of piety, greater freedom from snares and temptations, more inviting opportunities of glorifying God,

are granted to one man than to another. The widow with her two mites, and Lazarus lying at a gate full of sores, differed in the amount of talents committed to their care, from the young man who had great possessions, or the rich one who pulled down his barns and built greater. Saul at the head of a kingdom, and Samuel the judge and prophet of Israel, differed in their gifts from the retired and sorrowful Hannah and Naomi. The seraphic and royal Psalmist, and Solomon whose wisdom filled the earth, had talents different from those intrusted to Ruth and Rahab. Bezaleel and Aholiab, again, filled with the spirit of wisdom to devise cunning works, to work in gold and silver and in brass, had not the same endowments or duties with Moses who saw God face to face, or Aaron who put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. The husbandman plowing all day to sow, whom his God doth instruct to discretion and doth teach, has distinct talents from the Apostle who had been in the third heavens, who spake with tongues and came behind in no gift, and who was a chosen vessel to bear his Saviour's name to the Gentiles. In like manner, Gaius, whose charity blessed the church, and the widows trusting in God who were supported by its bounty; Apollos, eloquent and mighty in the Scriptures, and Aquila and Priscilla, who by their occupation were