Every one possesses some talents. He who has bestowed them expects that we shall diligently improve them. He has departed, but he desires that we should act as in his presence. In this respect he is never absent--"Lo, I am with you alway." Now is the time for laying out our gifts in the Lord's service; for it will be too late to begin, in terror, when he comes to judgment. "After a long time the Lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them" (ver. 19). The time is not long in the account of the Lord himself: his latest warning to the Church is, "Behold I come quickly;" and with him a thousand years are as one day. Nor is the time long to ungodly men; for in such an hour as they think not, the Son of man cometh. At whatever time he comes, he comes too soon for them who would give all the world, if it were theirs, that he should not come at all. But to the true disciples of Christ, especially in times of persecution, the period of his absence has often appeared long: they have often borrowed the unbeliever's cry, "Where is the promise of his coming?" and used it with a new significance. But to saints and sinners, whether they long for his presence or loathe it, he certainly will come at length. The two who had received from their Lord unequal gifts, and had laid them out with equal faithfulness, give in their account with joy. They are equally approved; and either is rewarded with the fruit of his own diligence. The case of the unfaithful one, in accordance with the obvious design of the parable, is given with much greater fulness of detail than those of the faithful two. Permitting our comment on this point to mould itself after the proportions of the text, we shall look more narrowly into this man's character and conduct. All the more willingly shall we devote the most of our attention to the darker side of the picture, that the evangelical obedience of the faithful servants may be most distinctly seen in the dark mirror of the opposite unfruitfulness. In the case of the unprofitable servant, as it emerges in the latter portion of the parable, three points demand our attention separately and successively,--the Reason, the Nature, and the Reward of his unfaithfulness. 1. The reason of his unfaithfulness, as explained by himself, is, "I knew thee that thou art an hard man," &c. The naive confession of this man is a very interesting feature of the story, and a very precious lesson to us regarding the deep things of God. Through this opening light is thrown at once upon the spring of continued disobedience in human hearts, and upon the nature of the remedy which the ailment needs.