the only thing to do with the assessor is to tell him to hold his
tongue and let the judge speak. It is no answer to the prophet's
prohibition to say, 'But what shall I do for the hundred talents?' A
yet better answer than the prophet gave Amaziah would have been,
'Never mind about the hundred talents; do what is right, and leave the
rest to God.' However, that was not the answer.

II. The triumphant answer.

'The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.' Now, this answer,
like the question, may be right or wrong, according as it is taken. In
what aspect is it wrong? In what sense is it not true? I suppose this
prophet did not mean more than the undeniable truth that God was able
to give Amaziah more than a hundred talents. He was not thinking of
the loftier meanings which we necessarily, as Christian people, at a
later stage of Revelation, and with a clearer vision of many things,
attach to the words. He simply meant, 'You will very likely get more
than the hundred talents that you have lost, if you do what pleases
God.' He was speaking from the point of view of the Old Testament;
though even in the Old Testament we have instances enough that
prosperity did not always attend righteousness. In the Old Testament
we find the Book of Job, and the Book of Ecclesiastes, and many a
psalm, all of which were written in order to grapple with the
question, 'How is it that God does not give the good man more than the
hundred talents that he has lost for the sake of being good?' It is
not true, and it is a dangerous mistake to suggest that it is true,
that a man in this world never loses by being a good, honest,
consistent Christian. He often does lose a great deal, as far as this
world is concerned; and he has to make up his mind to lose it, and it
would be a very poor thing to say to him, 'Now, live like a Christian