Sunday at Home.

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 6, 6 May 1893, Page 7

Sunday at Home.

(By the Eev. A. H. Stobo, (Invercargill.)

ABOUT INVESTMENTS.

“And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends by means of tlie mammon of unrighteousness, that when it shall fail they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles/* —Luke xvi., 9 (B. V.}. It is reserved for Him who has the keys of Hades (or the unkmown world) and of death to tell us that we may so dispose of our money here as that we shall reap a return in the life to come. But how is this to he done ? We are not to suppose that our Lord is setting the conduct of this steward before ns for imitation in all its details. He made a dishonest appropriation of his Lord’s money, hut then it is the parable not of a good man but of a had —of one of the children of this worded —of au unjust steward. The great point of the parable is this : By means of money he was generous to others although unrighteously, the 'mammon of unrighteousness —that they might requite him in his time of need by receiving him into their houses. The text makes the application of the parable to ourselves. We are not saved, it is time, by onr money, our almsgivings, oi' our good deeds, hut by Christ alone ; yet all the while the use of our money has a most important hearing upon our future destiny. What is salvation ? The most essential thing in it is the getting of a Christ-like charactei'. The riches of unselfish, Chx’ist-like character are the only x-iches which we can carry with ns into the eternal world, and thex-e they shall blossom and bear fruit in a rich reward. What a wretched man that is who is merely through life gathering and hoax'ding the worldly mammon without also sowing it as he goes along in deeds of love and beneficence to his fellowmen ! Yon greedy Israelite gathered manna fox' many days, but could not keep the sui’plus —it stank. His modern representative not only, in the long run, loses his pains, hut loses himself, is drowned (Ist Tim., 6-9) “in destxmction and pex’dition.” Wesley’s advice —“ Get all you can, save all you can” —is exceedingly good; all our close-fisted people arc ready to respond “Amen,” but they are perfectly staggex’ed when he goes on to say —“ Give all you can.” There is no safety in the mere getting, without the sowing also. “ What ! sow my money, and then it will disappear! Yes ; sow, not as the prodigal does, but as the faxmiex’ does, in the spx’ing, when he takes his seed from the bag and it disappears. He sows in faith of a harvest. You hoax’d, and hoax’d, and hoax’d until selfishness has eaten out your soul, and you ax*e no companion fox’ loving, lioly angels; but must go down by the gravitation of like to like. A wretched man died not long ago —supposed to he extremely poor. He left injunctions that he should be buried in his wearing coat. A suspicion was excited in some shi’ewder mind, the coat was torn open, and sewed in tlxe lining was found a large sum of money. What a double joy to the widow that she was getting rid of such a miserable carcase, and rescuing from its embrace what might he a blessing to the family, although it had only proved a cursd to the dead. Yet that money, rightly used, might have been the means of lending him wings to x’ise, instead of sinking him in pei'dition. Oh! think what it is to have a soul saved, and not mex’ely saved, but having an abundant entrance ministered unto it into the realms of glory. It is time that Chi’ist must open the dooi’, hut what will it he to have the helpless and the friendless and the misei’able whom we cherished ready to meet us and welcome us on the eternal shox*e, and to join, if we may so say, in pushing hack for us the doors that we may entei’ in ! Where is oni’ faith in God s WVjrd if wo are afraid to invest oni’ money now in Ohi’ist’s cause, and fox - Ghxist’s sake, as if it could never meet us yonder ? Are Australian banks, that ax-e going cx’ash, crash, ci'ash, a safer investment ? Think of the

solemn words on the Judgment Day : “ Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.” The Apostle Paul makes the practical application of our text to the x’ich (Ist Tim., 6, 17-19). We conclude with the applicatioxx which oux’ Loi’d makes to xxs all, whether-rich ox* poox’, Matt. 6,19-20 : “ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where mo tlx and X’ust doth cox’X’upt, and where thieves break through and steal; hut lay up for youx’selves treasures in heaven,” &c.