tions upon him! He imposes upon us no difficulties to which we should feel a repugnance in submitting, when we reflect what he has undergone, both in the flesh and in the spirit, to ransom us from the bondage of sin. If we follow his instructions with right minds and willing hearts, we shall, as he has promised, find "rest unto our souls;" and we shall not be backward to acknowledge, that "his yoke is easy and his burden light." Now, "the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ;" to whom, together with the Holy Ghost, be glory, dominion, and power, for ever and ever!

P

SERMON XIV.

THE UNJUST STEWARD.

ST. LUKE, Xvi. 8.

"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."

THE design of this parable has been frequently mistaken, and its application misunderstood. We are to bear in mind, that the parables which Christ delivered, were invariably designed to lead to some moral inference; not to amuse the mind with any artificial ingenuity in the detail, or to challenge the investigation of learned criticism. They were addressed generally to a mixed auditory; to the unlettered apostles, as well as to the learned scribes; and, therefore, except where their divine Author particularly intended that their meaning should be involved, they were expressed in those terms, which were best comprehended by the Jewish multitude, and delivered under those images which were most familiar to them. It was sufficient

for the Saviour's purpose, that the moral of these allegories should be distinct and intelligible. This was the whole aim of his intention in delivering them; and, therefore, though the critic should imagine that the parallel between the figurative allusion, and the literal fact be not everywhere precisely exact, still, this will in nothing affect the truth of the doctrine which these parables convey, provided the inference to be derived from them be clear and determinate. The corollary, from the parable before us, obviously is, that if "the children of light" were, "in their generation," to act as providently as the "children of this world" do in theirs, they would receive the approbation of their Lord. In other words, if the righteous were only as solicitous about their souls, and did as much to secure their salvation, as the mere men of the world do to promote the security and comfort of their bodies, they would have "praise of God," and his praise is ever an earnest of reward.

Now, the parable before us is susceptible of two different interpretations, each leading precisely to the same conclusion, so that the doctrine intended to be conveyed remains undisturbed, whichever interpretation we embrace.

The one view of the subject will be this. The function of steward, among the opulent Jews, was nearly similar to that of a land-steward in the present age. Among the various duties attached to his office, he gave leases of portions of his

employer's land, and settled the rent which each tenant was to pay. As probably the emoluments of his office depended upon the annual income of his lord, derived to him from these rents, it was the interest of the steward to fix them as high as possible. When his injustice to his master was punished with dismissal, he prudently resolved to do that justice towards the tenants which his avarice had hitherto restrained him from performing. He, therefore, immediately reduced their rents, which were probably paid, as the custom then was, in the produce of their lands or of their flocks, to a more equitable rate. This at once laid them under a powerful obligation to himself, without really injuring his master; because, while their rents were disproportioned to their means, the land proprietor ran a continual risk of loss in their becoming insolvent; but, while they held their farms upon fair and liberal terms, they were much more likely to be punctual in their payments. It was for this reason, therefore, that his lord—not our Saviour, but the injured master--"commended the unjust steward, because he had acted wisely," or prudently; an acceptation which the original word will, with equal propriety, bear. The steward was not commended by his employer for those acts of injustice which had caused his dismissal, but for that single proof of his justice and prudence, which is expressed in the parable. We may imagine, that he went round to all the tenants, reduced