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OrELiKA, Ala., D c. 31, 1850.
When afrtbe Association in Montgomery county,
Ala., last October, two or three requests were made
by different brethren for me to write on certain
scriptural subjects, but I hare not had the oppor
tunity to do so. This being a cold, rainy day, and
the last day of the present year, I am kept wilhin
the house, and will try to comply with the request
of brother Smith in offering a few thoughts respect
ing the Parable of the “ unjust steward,” as record
ed in Luke 16.
At the time of the coming of Christ, and for
some time thereafter, there appeals to have been
but few, if any, who properly understood His char
acter, the nature of his kingdom, the efleet of his
coming, his death, resuirection, ascension, &c. —
Even those who had some understanding of his
gloiious gospel, did not seem to know that it was
to extend beyond the limits of the Jewish nation,
or to any others but the natural descendants of
Abraham. Many of the parables of our Lord were
designed to correct these erroneous impressions,
and to show, as Paul afterwards plainly taught,
that between “Jew and Gentile there is no differ
ence,” and that the time would come, notwithstand
ing the Jewish notion of exclusive privileges, the
gospel should go to the gentile nations, and the
Jews should be dispersed and put out of their stew
ardship. In the 15lb chapter we notice three dis
tinct parables having a bearing upon this point,
which appear to have been spoken because of the
murmuring of the Scribes and Pharisees, saying,
“ This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them.”
lie then tells them of the lost sheep, of the lost
piece of money, and of the prodigal son, and final
ly said also unto his disciples, “There was a cer
tain rich man which bad a steward, and the same
was accused unto'Liin that Ue had wasted his
goods.”
This steward being iufoimed that he would be
put out of the stewardship, began to consider his
future welfare, and acted wisely, though unjustly,
in having his lord’s debtors to reduce their bill by
making it less than it really was. But why did he
do this—what was the motive? Simply to make
these debtors bis fritnds to maintain him when he
should be put out of the stewardship.
The Lord commended the wisdom, but not the
injustice of the steward, and in this wise transaction
there is a lesson soy Jewish disciples, to be wise as
serpents but harmless as doves. They were to be
sent forth as “ lambs among wolves,” not only in
Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria, but “ uuto
the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts i. 8.
Let them not, therefore, think that they are bet
ter than others, or that the exclusive national priv
ilege which Israel had long enjoyed would con
tinue. The disciples thought strange that Christ
would talk with a Samaritan woman, and the wo
man herself, supposing Jesus to be a Jew, thought
strange that he should ask water of her, for the
Jews and Samaritans had no dealings with each
other. These pre-possessed and prejudiced feelings
which so strongly existed were designed to be il
lustrated, and to some extent aflayed and broken
down by the many instructive parables which
SOUTHERN BAPTIST MESSENGER.
Christ introduced. The middle wall of partition
was soon to be broken down, the temple worship
and Jewish ceremonies should all be fulfilled in the
death of Christ. The Jews should fail as a nation,
and be dispersed among all nations. Therefore it
become them to act wisely, and cultivate a spirit of
love aod kindness towards others, “Make to your
selves friends the mammon of unrighteousness,
that when ye fail they may receive you into ever
lasting habitations.” Mammon is riches, or the
heathen God of riches, and while the Jews were so
peculiarly favored above other nations, they should
not make a god of their wealth and riches, but as
good stewards give it up freely at the command of
their Lord, to clothe the naked and feed the buo
gry whether Jew or Gentile, and in Ibe true Spirit
of the Gospel promote peace on earth and good
will to man. The Jewish disciple is taught by this
parable to not make a god of any blessing, but to
be ready to distribute, willing to communicate,
“Laying up in store for themselves a good founda
tion against the time to come.” 1 Tim. vi. 18. —
The * ‘everlasting habitations” are simply the things
pertaining to this life, which those that use this
woild’s goods as not abusing them enjoy, while
those that make a god or worship earthly riches,
frequently find such riches take wings and fly
away. W. M. MITCHELL.
—■* .. •*=—
“ And if children, then heirs: heirs of God, and
joiat-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with
him.”—Horn. viii. 17.
Dear Brethren Editors —l feel as though 1
should like to presant you with some of my thoughts
upon the above passage of Scripture, and leave it
with your good judgment whether it will be for
the good of Zion to place it before your readers or
not,
l lt .'a Hmt tbte ebildreJn spoken o 4
in oui text, aie those children who have been born
of the Spirit, because we find in Rom. ix. 8, “ they
which are the children of the flesh, these are not
the children of God.” And another thing, we know
that an illegitimate child cannot be a lawful heir,
therefore all who are heirs of God, God must be
their Father, and the New Jerusalem which i s
above, their Mother, and unless God is our Father
and the New Jerusalem our Mother, we are not
heirs of God, or joint-heirs with Christ. God is a
Spirit, and all of his children must be born of the
Spirit. Again we know that God is incorruptible,
therefore it follows that all of his children must be
born of incorruptible seed.
I am well aware that there is many at the pres
ent day who seem to suppose that it is the earthly
natural man that is born again, and by that birth
their natures, passions and carnal mind become
good ; but I cannot think so, and I cannot see how
any s®n or daughter of the Lord Almighty, who
knows the plague of their own heart can have such
a view. But the Savior says, “ that which is born
of the flesh is flesh, and that which is boro of the
Spirit, is Spirit .” And Paul says, “ the carnal
mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. And again,
it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by
a bond-maid, the other by a free-woman, but he
who was of the bond-woman, was born after the
flesh, but he of the free-woman was by promise
and God’s word is, cast out the bond-woman and
her son, for the son of the bond-woman shall not
be heir with the son of the free-woman.
Therefore it is plain to be seen that for any one
to be a lawful child or a lawful heir, he rau9t have
a lawful father and a lawful mother. But perhaps
some may say that we are children by adoption.
But my dear reader, how can a man who has a
family of cbild/en by a law ful wife, adopt any of
those children ? It cannot be done, but an illegit
imate child may be adopted, hut they cannot he a
lawful lieir. But ihose children who have God for
their Father, and the New Jerusalem for their
Mother, which are born not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, hut of God,
and are born of incorruptible seed by the word of
God, and were created in Christ Jesus, or the new
man, which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness, such children are God’s lawful
children and lawful heirs, and I cannot see how it
can be consistently made to appear that Gud can
adopt them, or how they can be children by adop
tion, when they ate his by birth. But the New
Jerusalem which is above is not the mother of
these natural, earthly, corruptible bodies, but if we
turn to Gen. iii. 19, we shall find who is the moth
er of these earthly bodies, which reads, “In the
sweat of thy face sbalt thou eat bread, till thou re
turn unto the ground, for out of it was thou taken,
for dust thou art, and unto dust sbalt thou return.”
Therefore, it appears plain to me, that the earth is
the mother of these earthly bodies, and they must
return back into their mother’s arms. Now my
dear brethren, it appears t® me that it is these earth
ly bodies which when they are,raised
spiritual bodies. And it is quite evident from the
Scripture that many of the old saints have looked
forward with pleasing anticipation to the time
when these vile bodies shall be raised, or changed
and fashioned like unto the glorious body of their
Redeemer; for the Psalmist says, “as forme I
shall behold thy face in righteousness; 1 shall be
satisfied when 1 awake with thy likeness.” And
Job says, “though after my skin worms destroy this
body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” And Paul
is very explicit on this point, for when speaking of
the creature being delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children
of God he says, “ Not only they but ourselves also,
which have the first fruits of the Spirit; even we
ourselves, gtoan within ourselves waiting for the
adoption, to-wit: the redemption of our body.”
The children being joint-heirs with Christ shows
plainly that they sustain a very near relationship
to him, in fact, they are so closely joined together,
that it is impossible for the joint ever to be seper
ated. For their names were written in the book
of life before they were ever created in Adam. —
They were chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world; their life is hid with Christ in God.
Christ was given to be the Head over all things to
the Church, which is his body, and ail of his chil-