he was dead, and is alive. Now he is admitted into the family of God; his sins are all forgiven; he is clad in his Saviour's righteousness; peace and love, honour and joy, are given to him. He is made an heir of heaven, and already has he a foretaste of his inheritance. Thus does God forgive and bless the penitent sinner who comes to him by Christ.

But whom are we to understand by the elder son? Evidently the Pharisees and Scribes, in reply to whose murmuring the parable was spoken. They were like the elder son, as living in outward obedience to the law of God, whereas the publicans and sinners were like the prodigal. And they murmured at our Lord receiving sinners, just as the elder son was displeased at the father's kind reception of the prodigal.

The elder son, in the true self-righteous spirit of the Pharisee, claimed for himself that he had never transgressed his father's commandment; and, in the parable, the father acknowledged the claim, "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.” Yet we know well that the self-righteous Pharisees were not approved by God, but were, on the contrary, most displeasing to him. In like manner let us feel sure that no one who is a true Christian, and accepted by God, can feel anything but joy when a sinner is brought to Christ. There can be in such a one no The Christian himself is but a

envy or jealousy.

sinner who has found mercy; and glad indeed is he, when others find it too.

XXXI.

THE UNJUST STEWARD.

"And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations." LUKE xvi. 1-9.

STEWARD is one entrusted with his master's
property, and set over his concerns.
He is a

servant; but, being placed in authority over the other servants, and having the management of great affairs, he is in some respects more like a master, especially if he be the steward of a rich man, such as the man in the parable. Only there is always this, that makes him a servant still: he is accountable to his master.

We are all stewards, and God is our Master. He has entrusted us with his goods, some with more, some

with less. Whatever we have, is not ours but his; and we are accountable to him for the use of it. It is to be used, not for our own pleasure merely, but in the service of God, and in doing good.

It is more easy to understand this with regard to a rich man than a poor man, especially for those who are poor themselves. We sometimes hear it said about one who is very rich indeed, but has not learnt to make a right use of his riches, "He does not do much good with his money"; as if he were bound to do good with his money, because he has so much. But why the rich man only? Why not the poor also? Both are God's stewards. To the rich man God has committed much, to the poor man little; but the poor man is just as much bound to spend his little aright, as the rich man is to spend his wealth. Besides, money is not all. A steward has goods of all sorts in his charge, and so have God's stewards. Money is one sort, but time and health and strength are goods also. Every one has something. Every one is a steward of God.

The steward in the parable was a dishonest one. He had wasted his master's goods. Probably he had done so for a long time; but now at length it came to his master's ears, and he was accused of it. It is not said that he had stolen his master's property, or spent his money in anything wicked, but simply that he had wasted it. A steward's business is to look after his master's concerns carefully, so that no loss may befall him, and that his goods may be turned to the best account. This man had not done so. He had been careless and neglectful, indifferent to his master's interest, not strict and conscientious in his management. Thus he had wasted his master's goods, and

now he was called to account for it, and was told that he must lose his place.

Some people make it their boast, or at least their excuse, that they do no one any harm. Now, in the first place this is not the truth, if they are not doing good; for we are all doing either good or harm to those around us, by our example if not in any other way. But, even supposing it to be true, yet if this were all such people could say, their own words would condemn them. For they would thus own themselves to be unjust and unfaithful stewards. God has given them means of usefulness; if they are not doing good with them, they are wasting their Master's goods. Whoever is leading an idle, self-indulgent life; with no serious thought of life's duties, no conscientious regard to the will of God, no desire and endeavour to serve him and to do good; whoever is living so, though he may be free from gross sin, and may be outwardly moral and respectable, is yet an unfaithful steward. For those means and opportunities of which he is making no use, or which he is using only for himself, are the goods which God has entrusted to him as a steward, and he is wasting them. I need not say how much more strongly this applies to those who are spending money, time, and strength in actual sin.

This was enough. The man must lose his post: "Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward." God does not always deal so with men. Though he stands in need of no one to accuse us to him, though his eye is always on us, and he knows exactly how we are using his goods, yet he does not in general put us out of our stewardship at once, even when he sees us to be unfaithful

God's dealings are various.

stewards. Sometimes indeed a sudden call is sent, and the unfaithful steward has to face his Master unexpectedly. But, generally speaking, the unfaithful steward is continued in office as long as the faithful: the man who does no good with what he has remains in possession of it as long as he who is a blessing to all around him: the careless and selfish live as long as the conscientious and godly. But, with all of us, the present stewardship is but for a time. Putting aside for the moment the case of the faithful, the unjust and unfaithful steward is put out of his stewardship sooner or later. He was always one who wasted his Master's goods, and his Master knew it all along, but he bore with him awhile; now, however, he may be no longer steward. If by no other means, such as loss of health, or loss of fortune, yet by death he is at last put out; and a sad account he has to give.

The steward in the parable, when put out of his employment, had to consider what to do for a livelihood. We read of no defence made: the case was too clear. "What shall I do?" thought he, "for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed." How false is the rule of the ungodly, as to what is disgraceful! This man was ashamed to beg, yet he had not been ashamed to wrong his master. Outward debasement he could not face, yet he had gone on long in secret unfaithfulness. It was the being found out, and losing his place, and having to seek his bread, that troubled him, not the thought of his wrong-doing.

So far was he from being sorry, that he determined to wrong his master yet more by dishonestly providing