"Though little I bring,
Said the tiny spring,
As it burst from the mighty hill,
'Tis pleasant to know,
Wherever I flow,
The pastures are greener still.
"And the drops of rain
As they fall on the plain,
When parched by the summer heat,
Refresh the sweet flowers
Which droop in the bowers,
And hang down their heads at our feet.
"May we strive to fulfill
All His righteous will,
Who formed the whole earth by His word!
Creator Divine!
We would ever be Thine,
And serve Thee--our God, and our Lord!"
Let us never forget this third lesson from Olivet, the lesson
about,--the talents.
_The fourth, and last lesson from Olivet is the lesson about_--THE
REWARDS.
The parable tells us that when the Master came back, and reckoned
with his servants, he said to each of those who had made a right use
of his talents:--"Well done, good and faithful servant, thou hast
been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many
things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord." In the parable in St.
Luke we are told that the servant who had gained ten pounds was made
ruler over ten cities; and he who had gained five pounds was made
ruler over five cities. This shows us that God will reward his
people, hereafter, according to the degree of faithfulness with which
each one shall have used the talents given to him. And this is the
lesson which the apostle Paul teaches us when he says that, "Every
man shall receive _his own reward_ according to _his own labor."_ I.
Cor. iii: 8.
All the willing, loving servants of God will receive a crown of life
when Jesus comes to reckon with them. But those crowns will not be
all alike. They are spoken of as "crowns of gold:" Rev. iv: 4; as
"crowns of glory:" I. Peter v: 4, and as "crowns of life:" Rev. iii:
11. But still there will be very great differences between these
crowns. Some will be simply crowns of gold, or of glory, without any
gems or jewels to ornament them. Some will have two or three small
jewels shining in them. But, others again will be full of the most
beautiful jewels, all glittering and sparkling with glory. And this
will all depend upon the way in which those who wear these crowns
used their talents while they were on earth, and the amount of work
they did for Jesus. There is an incident mentioned in Roman history
about a soldier, which illustrates this part of our subject very
well.
"The Faithful Soldier and His Rewards." This man had served forty
years in the cause of his country--of these, ten years had been spent
as a private soldier, and thirty as an officer. He had been present
in one hundred and twenty battles, and had been severely wounded
forty-five times. He had received fourteen civic crowns, for having
saved the lives of so many Roman citizens; three mural crowns, for
having been the first to mount the breach when attacking a fortress;
and eight golden crowns, for having, on so many occasions, rescued
the standard of a Roman legion from the hands of the enemy. He had in
his house eighty-three gold chains, sixty bracelets, eighteen golden
spears, and twenty-three horse trappings,--the rewards for his many
faithful services as a soldier. And when his friends looked at all
those honors and treasures which he had received, from time to time,
how well they might have said as they pointed to those numerous
prizes--that he had "received _his own reward_, according to _his own
labor_," and faithfulness! And so it will be with the soldiers of the
cross, who are faithful in using the talents given them by their
heavenly Master.
"A Great Harvest from a Little Seed," Some years ago there was a
celebrated artist in Paris whose name was Ary Scheffer. On one
occasion he wished to introduce a beggar into a certain picture he
was painting. Baron Rothschild, the famous banker, and one of the
richest men in the world, was a particular friend of this artist. He
happened to come into his studio at the very time he was trying to
get a beggar to be the model of one which he desired to put into his
painting.
"Wait till to-morrow," said Mr. Rothschild, "and I will dress myself
up as a beggar, and make you an excellent model."
"Very well," said the artist, who was pleased with the strangeness of
the proposal. The next day the rich banker appeared, dressed up as a
beggar, and a very sorry looking beggar he was. While the artist was
engaged in painting him, another friend of his came into the studio.
He was a kind-hearted, generous man. As he looked on the model
beggar, he was touched by his wretched appearance, and as he passed
him, he slipped a louis d'or--a French gold coin, worth about five
dollars of our money--into his hand. The pretended beggar took the
coin, and put it in his pocket.
Ten years after this, the gentleman who gave this piece of money
received an order on the bank of the Rothschilds for ten thousand
francs. This was enclosed in a letter which read as follows:
"Sir: You one day gave a louis d'or to Baron Rothschild, in the
studio of Ary Scheffer. He has invested it, and made good use of it,
and to-day he sends you the capital you entrusted to him, together
with the interest it has gained. A good action is always followed by
a good reward.
"JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD."
In those few years that one gold coin, of twenty francs, had
increased to ten thousand francs. And this illustrates the way in
which Jesus the heavenly Master rewards those who use their talents
for him. See how he teaches this lesson, when he says--"Whosoever
shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold
water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall
in _no wise lose his reward_." St. Matt, x: 42. And in another place
we are told that the reward shall be "an hundred fold," and shall run
on into "everlasting life." St. Matt, xix: 29. How sweetly some one
has thus written about