ar friends, these are all threadbare, elementary, 'A.B.C.'
truths. Are they the alphabet of our stewardship and administration of
our possessions?

III. One last suggestion I would make on this text is that it brings
before us the possible blessing and possible grave results of right or
wrong Christian giving.

'Will he be pleased with it? Or will he accept thy person?' Will the
governor think the hobbling creature, blind of an eye, and infected with
some sickness, to be a beautiful addition to his flock? Will it help
your suit with him? No!

It is New Testament teaching that our faithfulness in the administration
of earthly possessions of all sorts has a bearing on our spiritual life.
Remember our Lord's triple illustration of this principle, when He
speaks about faithfulness 'in that which is least,' leading on to the
possession of that which is the greatest; when He speaks of faithfulness
in regard to 'the unrighteous Mammon' leading on to being intrusted with
the true riches; when He speaks of faithfulness in our administration of
that which is another's--alien to ourselves, and which may pass into the
possession of a thousand more--leading on to our firmer hold, and our
deeper and fuller possession of the riches which, in the deepest sense
of the word, are our own. One very important element in the development
and advance of the religious life is our right use of these earthly
things. I have seen many a case in which a man was far better when he
was a poor man than he was when a rich one, in which slowly, stealthily,
certainly, the love of wealth has closed round a man like an iron band
round a sapling, and has hindered the growth of his Christian character,
and robbed him of the best things. And, God be thanked! one has seen
cases, too, in which, by their Christian use of outward possessions, men
have weakened the dominion of self upon themselves, have learned the
subordinate value of the wealth that can be counted and detached from
its possessor, and have grown in the grace and knowledge of the Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. Dear friends, God has given all of us something in
charge, the faithful use of which is a potent factor in the growth of
our Christian characters.

It is New Testament teaching that our faithful administration of earthly
possessions has a bearing on the future. Remember what Jesus Christ
said, 'That when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting
habitations.' Remember what His Apostle