Songs 8:11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers… This language is Oriental, yet the lesson is cosmopolitan. In every kingdom there must be a system of economics. For a prosperous condition there must be division of labour. The land must be cultivated. The people must have food. The king's household must be sustained. To this end scope should be given to personal skill and personal enterprise. So a wine king farms out his land to husbandmen, who are under obligation to render back a fair proportion of the produce. This system brings the greatest advantage to both parties. Now, all this has its counterpart in the kingdom of God. Every man is a steward entrusted with God's property. He cannot live for himself. A day of reckoning is appointed, when the account must be produced and examined. Life, with all its possessions and privileges, is a sacred responsibility. Independence of God is impossible. I. OBSERVE THAT GOD IS THE GREAT PROPRIETOR. "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." No part of this vast and illimitable universe is exempt from his lordship. 1. His claim is founded on creation. God alone is uncreated. The unfallen hosts of angels, all principalities and powers in heaven, no less than the tiniest insect on earth, are the workmanship of his skilful hands. Creation gives a prescriptive and an indisputable right. What I make I claim as my own, though probably the raw material belonged to another. But God created out of nothing, or rather out of himself; therefore his title is without a flaw. 2. His claim is founded on preservation. For preservation is simply a continuous act of creation. He sustains in existence every atom of material, every form of life, every dynamic force, and this through every successive hour. In this way he asserts perpetually his supreme rights of property. Every vineyard is his workmanship. The life of every tree is his gift. The nourishing qualities of the soil; the sunshine, dew, and rain; all influences of the revolving seasons - all are his contributions to the maintenance of the vineyard. This is simply a sample of God's sustaining activity. My life hangs upon him through every hour. "In him I live and move;" "By him all things consist." 3. His claim is founded on acknowledgment. We admit that we are not our own. The enlightened conscience of every man testifies that God is the supreme Owner. We are not masters even of ourselves, nor of our own life. We did not choose in what year, or in what city, or in what family, we would be born. We have no control over our continuance in life. The voice from heaven says, "Return to the dust, ye children of men!" We have no control over the mode or the time of our departure. Nor have we unlimited control over our property. Sudden misfortune may scatter our wealth. "Riches make themselves wings and fly away." We feel that we are accountable to God; for to the bar of our own consciences are we frequently brought, to be prejudged of the use we have made of life, and the decision of this court will simply be ratified in the great assize. We are tenants at will. We have only a life interest in our earthly possessions. We are stewards, not proprietors. II. OBSERVE THAT GOD HAS MADE US KEEPERS, OR STEWARDS. "He let out the vineyard unto keepers." The interest of the Proprietor is to be kept in view. We are "keepers" of his property. His good, not ours, must be sought. 1. This stewardship comprises everything. My body is not my own; it is a temple of the living God. Every organ of body and of mind is simply entrusted to my care. My tongue is not my own; it is an instrument for praising God. My learning is not my own; it should be laid on God's altar. My will is not my own; it should be made submissive to God's will. Hourly my prayer should be, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Even the skill for gaining money belongs to another. "Say not in thine heart, My power, and the might of my own hand, have gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth." If I live to please myself, I am usurping the place of my Lord, and I incur his displeasure. 2. We are stewards who know the will of our Master. He has not left us in ignorance respecting the business of our life, or in what way his property should be employed. The vineyard must be "kept," and must be made fruitful. His Word is full of instruction, which demands our careful study and our faithful observation. In these living oracles he clearly speaks, "Son, go work today in my vineyard." "As ye have opportunity, do good unto all men." "Follow me," says Jesus. In other words, he means, "Live as I live. Spend life in doing good." We cannot plead as an excuse for slothfulness that we know not the will of our Master. And if we desire to obtain fuller direction, the Master himself is at hand, and guides every submissive soul "Ask, and ye shall receive." For the promise still runs, "I will guide thee with mine eye." 3. We are stewards who have the ability to do our Master's will. He is no hard Taskmaster, requiring the tale of bricks without providing raw material. On the contrary, his yoke is easy. In every circumstance, his friendly voice whispers, "My grace is sufficient for thee." Often do we put up the prayer, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done." But it behoves us to remember that the means for attaining this great end lie within our reach. Had all servants of God been faithful in their office, what a different world would this be today! How large a proportion of our fellow men would be in the kingdom of God! It does not suffice that we serve Christ with one talent, while we allow other talents to lie idle. We cannot, with our money gifts, buy release from personal service. As no man can transfer to another his mental endowments, or his social influence, or his personal responsibility; so no man can transfer to another man his work. In these vineyards, service by proxy is not allowed. That person whom I presume to employ is already under the same obligation as myself, and cannot therefore serve as my substitute. Nor can we hope to see any great enlargement in the kingdom of Christ until each separate disciple feels and realizes that the burden of the world's salvation rests upon him. "As each one hath received the gift, let him minister the same, as a good steward of the manifold grace of God" III. NOTE THAT GOD APPOINTS A RECKONING TIME. In the annual vintage season, the husbandman was required to make a proper return to the owner. This return might be made either in kind or in some equivalent. 1. There is a special season for this reckoning time. Speaking generally, the reckoning time will be at the day of judgment. Yet, for all practical purposes, this tenure terminates st death. Then our Lord comes, and convoys his servant home. Then the authoritative voice says, "Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward." Then the faithful servant gives in his account with joy. "He has boldness in the day of judgment." It is the end for which he has toiled and waited. Just as the busy farmer rejoices greatly when his last harvest sheaves are garnered, because his toil has reached a successful end; so the disembodied Christian presents himself before his Lord with rapturous joy. For, with the fruits of his toil surrounding him, he confidently says, "Here am I, Lord, and the children thou hast given me. It is only thy talent I have thus multiplied. Not unto me, not unto me, but unto thy Name be all the glory." 2. Note the system of the reckoning. In God's kingdom the system must be strictly equitable; on God's part generous. That system is that a fair proportion of the gain belongs to God. He that is entrusted with ten talents is required to bring more gains than the man with only five. In proportion to our faith, fidelity, and zeal will be the measure of our success. Divested of all imagery, the simple fact is that each Christian is required to increase righteousness, loyalty, and love in God's world. I am expected to leave this world better, i.e. holier, than I found it. My business in life is to bring men nearer to God. If I can increase in men repentance, faith, piety, mutual benevolence, I have fulfilled my stewardship in some measure. If I have persuaded men to abandon a life of sin and to follow Jesus, I have brought honour to my Master's Name. My life work as a Christian is to enlarge the spiritual empire of Messiah. As in the fields of nature seed corn will produce sixty, or eighty, or a hundredfold; so each servant of Jesus Christ should lead sixty, or eighty, or a hundred men out of a state of rebellion into the covenant grace of our Immanuel. Saved ourselves, it should be our main business in life to save others. "What is my being but for thee, Its sure support, its noblest end? Thy ever-smiling face to see, And serve the cause of such a Friend?" D. Parallel Verses KJV: Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. |
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