lents." We find it in St. Matt, xxv: 14-30. And _the
lessons from Olivet_, which we are now to try and learn, are all
drawn from the words of our Saviour, contained in the verses just
mentioned.

This, then, is our present subject--_The Lessons from Olivet_. And
there _four_ lessons, in this part of our Saviour's discourse, of
which we are now to speak. _The first is--the lesson about the
Master. The second--the lesson about the servants. The third is--the
lesson about the talents; and the fourth, the lesson about the
rewards_.

_The lesson about_--THE MASTER--_is the first thing of which we are
to speak_.

In the 14th verse of this 25th chapter of St. Matthew, Jesus speaks
of himself as--"a man travelling into a far country,"--and of his
people as--"his own servants." In the 19th verse he speaks of himself
as "the lord of those servants, coming back, after a long time, to
reckon with them."

In St. Luke xix: 11-27 we have another of our Saviour's parables,
very similar to the one now before us. There, he speaks of himself as
"a _nobleman_ who went into a far country to receive for himself a
kingdom, and to return." This language was borrowed from a custom
that prevailed in those days. The headquarters of the government of
the world then was in the city of Rome. The kings and rulers of
different countries received their appointments to the offices they
held from the Roman Emperor. Archelaus, the son of Herod, succeeded
his father as king of Judea. But, it was necessary for him to go to
Rome and get permission from the emperor to hold and exercise that
office. He had done this, not very long before our Saviour applied to
himself the words we are now considering. This was a fact well known.
And this is the illustration which Jesus here uses in reference to
himself. He is the Head--the Prince--the Lord--the Master of all
things in his church. He spoke of himself to his disciples as their
"Lord and Master," St. John xiii: 14. He tells us that he has gone to
heaven, as Archelaus went to Rome, "to receive for himself a kingdom
and to return." He said he would be absent "a long time," verse 19.
And this is true. He has been absent more than eighteen hundred
years. He said he would "return," or come again. And so he will. It
is just as certain that he will come again as it is that he went
away. And he will come, not in figure, or in spirit, but in person,
as he went. Remember what the angels said about this to his
discip