CHRISTIAN DEVOTEDNESS, ETC.

This manifestation of love he believes to have been made by the entire and real (not figurations) devotion of themselves, their property, time and talents to Christ, their Lord and King. The subsequent remarks, however, more especially relate to the bestowment of property, and that whether of capital already possessed, or of income to be acquired by industry.

To all arguments drawn from passages of this description, the usual answer is, That the exhortations contained in them are not to be taken literally, but are to be considered merely as loose general statements, strongly, and only in appearance absolutely, made, with a view of producing greater effect. In endeavouring, therefore, to ascertain their true meaning, let us examine the evidence supplied by the remarks and conduct of our Blessed Lord and his Apostles, in those cases which bear upon the point in question.

When the young man came to enquire what good thing he could do to inherit eternal life, after having mentioned several duties, our Lord says,--"Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said,--How hardly shall they, that have riches, enter into the Kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God!' And they that heard it said,--'Who then can be saved?' And he said,--'The things, that are impossible with men, are possible with God.' Then Peter said: 'Lo, we have left all and followed thee.' And he said unto them,--'Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the Kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting'" (Luke 18. 22-30).

Some, however, may be prepared to assert that his words give no encouragement or allowance to any such conclusions; and this assertion they may support by another--that a love of riches was the peculiar failing of the young man, whose conduct suggested the observations of our Saviour. It ought, however, to be remarked that he does not say, How hardly shall this rich man enter into the Kingdom of God!--but in the most general terms,--to "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God!"--it may be desirable for those who consider the expression...--"Trust in riches"--used in the parallel passage of St. Mark (10. 24) as mitigating considerably the severity of our Saviour's declaration to view the connection of the several parts of the passage in which the expression is found. 23. "Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples--'How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God.' 24. And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answered again and saith unto them,--'Children, how hardly shall they that trust in riches enter into the Kingdom of God!' 25. 'It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.' 26. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, 'Who then can be saved?'" Our Lord, in the 23rd verse, asserts it to be almost impossible for those who have riches to enter into the Kingdom of God. When he observes the astonishment of his disciples, he explains to them the reason of his passing a judgment so severe, by stating the cause of that difficulty, of which he spoke as amounting almost to an impossibility. It is next to Impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God, because he trusts in his riches. So that the expression is not introduced with a view of making riches appear less dangerous to the possessor, but rather with a view of explaining why they are so dangerous.

The repetition of the general declaration in the strongest terms as it is found in the 25th verse, shows that this is the meaning of our Lord; and the increased astonishment of the Disciples plainly gives the same intimation. It is evident that they were not led, by this explanation, to consider the case of the rich less hopeless or deplorable; for they cry out: "Who then can be saved? "--evidently the expression of men whose difficulties were confirmed, not removed, by the answer they had received. The simple meaning, therefore, of the passage seems to be this; The danger of riches is their being trusted in; and the difficulty of possessing them, and not trusting in them for happiness and protection, is as the difficulty of a camel's going through the eye of a needle: therefore, "lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also". But the man whose soul the love of Christ has touched, does not look on the question as one merely involving danger to himself: he looks on wealth, as well as every other gift, as an instrument of bringing glory to his Lord, by feeding the little ones of his kingdom, or in some way extending the savour of his name. It is not a matter of law, but a golden opportunity on which affection seizes, to bring a leaf to the wreath of praise and honour, that crowns Him Lord, to the glory of God the Father, who has won the hearts, and is entitled to the uncontrolled dominion of his own saints.

From the observations suggested by the conduct of the "young man" let us pass on to the memorable comment of our Lord on the charity of the poor Widow, as recorded by St. Mark (12. 41, etc.). "Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them,--'Verily, I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: for all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.'" In the world's estimation nothing could be more improvident or more improper than her conduct; and I fear that few of us would have the heart to commend one who should go and do likewise. But how does our Blessed Lord judge, who judges not according to appearance, but righteous judgment? Observing that she ants quite according to his precept of giving up all, He does not call his disciples round him, to warn them, by her example, not to take his words literally, as he did Peter on the use of the sword; but, on the contrary, points out carefully the peculiarity and unequalled greatness of her sacrifice, and holds her up to admiration on account of it. The rich cast in of their abundance, much; she, of her penury, cast in a little; but it was all that she had, even all her living. We have now only to go one step farther in order to ascertain in what sense the Apostles understood that command of our Saviour now under consideration. The conduct of them and their adherents is thus recorded by St. Luke (Acts 2.44, etc., and 4.32, 34 and 35.) "All that believed were together and had all things common: and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things that he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands, or houses, sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the Apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need."

By what arguments can it be shown that such a "union of heart and of soul", as is here described, is not just as important to us now, as it was to the primitive Christians? If this community of hearts and possessions was according to the mind of the Spirit then, why not now? We have the general precept enforcing the conduct of our Blessed Lord himself;--a particular exhortation to it in his conversation with the "young man"; and a most pointed approbation of it in the case of the poor widow. We have, moreover, to encourage and urge it, not only the example of the Apostles, but that of all those who believed in Jerusalem. The former truly said, "Lo we have left all and followed thee"; and of the latter it was also truly written,--"Neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own". I would just remark that such conduct does not essentially involve the institution of a common stock, but will be effectually secured by each individual blending himself with the whole household of faith, feeling their wants, and rejoicing in their welfare, as his own. This sympathy of the members of the holy family toward each other, is strongly enforced, and beautifully illustrated by St. Paul. "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. I mean not that other men may be eased, and you burdened; but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want, that there may be equality; as It is written: "He that gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack" (2 Cor. 8. 9, 13, 14, 15). As then here, the superabundance of him, who had gathered much, ministered to the deficiency of him who had gathered little; so now, whatever the bounty of God may bestow upon us, above a sufficiency for our present necessities, is to be esteemed a blessing in proportion as it is distributed to relieve the temporal and spiritual wants of others.

Again I ask--How do we evade the application of all these precepts and arguments and exhortations and warnings and examples to our own times? Is there in the Holy Scriptures any limitation as to the time when the love which distinguished the primitive church was to be in exercise? Is not humiliation and suffering, the very character of this dispensation, as of the life of Him who introduced it? Are there no farther ends to be obtained by the crucifixion of self and selfish interests, and manifesting the mind that was in Christ Jesus? Let the disputes and divisions in the Church of God, and the 600,000,000 who have never heard the name of salvation by the blood of Jesus declare. Let the Agents of our Societies declare, who travel from one end of the land to the other, to gather a scanty pittance from half-reluctant Christians--nay, who are often led to sharpen their goads at the Philistines' grind-stones, to the dishonour of the cause of God. What then is the ground of evasion? Why, that those were apostolic times and apostolic men. Could there be a stronger reason urged for following their steps? Their having supernatural aids, in addition to moral, makes the obligation to use moral more imperative on our part, if possible, than on theirs; for we have now only the silent and unobserved influences of the Spirit of God operating by them. Those, who may be inclined to ask--Were not the miraculous powers, entrusted to the Apostles for the advancement of Christianity, also subservient to their personal comfort, amidst their want and pain and distress? We would refer those who enquire to the words of the Apostle Paul. "Even unto this present hour," says he (1 Cor. 4. 11 and 2 Cor. 11. 27), "we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place. I have been in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." It was, indeed, the very ground of the Apostles' glorying and rejoicing--that they were counted worthy to suffer for the sake of Him who had died for them; and it was these very sufferings which they endured, and sacrifices which they made, that proved most effectual in converting others to the faith, by drawing their attention to Him whom they loved, and for whom they suffered gladly the loss of all things. They felt the beneficial effects of suffering on their own souls, and they saw it blessed to the conversion of the souls of others: and, looking beyond things which are seen and temporal, they beheld that "exceeding and eternal weight of glory" which their sufferings were working out (2 Cor. 4. 17);--they knew that, if they suffered with their master, they should also reign with him. Considering the preceding remarks to establish the sense, in which the Apostles received the command of our Saviour in regard to giving up all, as well as the meaning of our Saviour Himself; it may appear superfluous to state anything farther; particularly as my only desire is, to open the eyes of those who love their Lord and Master with a pure heart, fervently to the understanding of his mind on the subject of this little book; for it is not money, time, and talents, that I desire to see brought into the external service of Christ, as such; but only as the incense of praise and thanksgiving to Him "who has loved us, and washed [properly "loosed"] us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God the Father", from His own redeemed, yea, the ransomed of the Lord, not the extorted, but voluntary homage from those hearts which would crown Him Lord of all. And certainly, any farther statement would be superfluous, if we were called upon to sit in judgment on the meaning of writers, whose opinions laid us under no practical obligation, or whose sentiments were in unison with our whole nature. Here however, the case is widely different; we have an old nature for this earth, as well as a new nature for heaven; and therefore, things require to be stated as fully as may be, that Satan may be stopped at every turn by "it is written". To admit an opinion--is to admit a truth; and to admit a truth--is to admit the obligation to act upon it, against our earthly constitution. And as the admission and reception of the particular truth now under consideration, strikes at the very root of many of nature's most fondly cherished feelings, and of many apparently so amiable, that we scarcely allow ourselves to doubt that they are of God; it may be necessary to enlarge still more upon the subject, and show that the reception of this truth prepared the way for the success of the Apostles, by leaving them free to follow Him who had called them to be soldiers, and that it will, by the grace of God,--promised to us as well as to them;--accomplish as great things in our days as it did in theirs, springing, as it did, and ever will, from this one source, Christ in us the hope of Glory, dwelling in us richly in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; yea: in those cases where the world think we fail, as well as those in which we seem to succeed: for if Christ and the spirit of His Kingdom be manifested, we are a sweet savour of Christ unto God, whether they receive our testimony or reject it; yea, though we preach as Noah did, an hundred and twenty years, and no man regard us.

II. I come, therefore, secondly, to consider the important bearing of the Principle, I have endeavoured to establish and illustrate, on several momentous commands which, without the reception of it, are rendered exceedingly difficult, nay, impossible, to be understood and received; notwithstanding that the import and object of these commands are abundantly obvious, and the performance of them tends most directly and most powerfully to promote the highest good which the church is capable of enjoying.

If there had been an unerring physician of the body sent to a consumptive family who left it as his prescription: "How hardly shall they survive the climate of the North; it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than your children escape destruction in the blasts of the North"; if after this you saw the parents struggling for northern climates, you must say they either did not believe the physician, or they were deliberately doing what they could to destroy their children.

Again I say, let me not be misunderstood, as though I wished to make all Christianity consist in giving up money, time, and talents, unless they are the expressions of love to the Lord, and flow from a desire to meet His mind and promote his glory, they are but sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. Yet surely, they are the natural external expressions of internal love; and although they be insincerely assumed by Hypocrisy, it is her homage to truth; and although the self-righteous Pharisee may present the semblance of devotion, as a vain and hateful barter for heaven, yet it requires very little spirituality of mind to discern that this arises in a different source and terminates in a different object: the one begins in self and ends in self; the other begins in Christ, and ends in Christ. When, therefore, the Lord requires his Church to be careful for nothing, it is only that He might display his watchfulness and carefulness over her. Surely it is a most unspeakable privilege to be allowed to cast all our cares upon God; and to feel that we are thereby delivered from the slavery of earthly expectations, and made free to speak the truth m love, without fear or apprehension? What is the glorious liberty of the children of God, but to be dependent only upon One, "who giveth liberally and upbraideth not,"--who says,--"Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." God, in pity to our weakness and unbelief, condescends to reason with us thus:--"What man is there of you, whom, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7. 7, etc.). Let us therefore do the will of such a Father to the utmost of our ability now, and trust him for the future: "for he hath said, 'I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee'; so that we may boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear, what man shall do unto me'" (Heb. 13. 6). "Trust therefore in the Lord, and do good; and verily thou shalt be fed" (Ps. 37. 3). Oh! if every one, who believed himself ransomed by the precious blood of Christ, felt himself so entirely the purchased possession of Him, who thus so dearly bought him, as to determine henceforth to know nothing save Jesus Christ and him crucified; nor to labour for anything, but that the unspeakably glad tidings of salvation through Him might be spread throughout the world, till every heart of the ransomed family drank of the same overflowing cup of consolation; how soon would the wants of the whole habitable earth be answered by thousands crying out,--"Here am I, send me"; while those sheep to whom the glad tidings would be borne, would discern the shepherd's voice, receive with thankfulness such messengers of peace, seeing by their fruits "that God was in them of a truth".

We all know what a persuasive power the deaths of the Martyrs exerted on the minds of those who witnessed them; and, in its just measure and proportion, would the dedication of property, time and talents, have a similar effect at the present day. It would convince those, whom we are anxious to convince, of the reality of our faith in that Redeemer and that inheritance, which they now think only a name, in consequence of the secular spirit that disfigures the Christianity of too many of its professors. How differently would the Heathen look on our endeavours to publish the mercy of our glorified Lord, if the hardy and suffering spirit of primitive times were to descend again on the silken age into which we are fallen! and if they perceived in us that love which led them to endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Example is a far more fruitful source of self-denial than the influence exerted on the mind by precept. If we call on those, who know nothing of the savour of that Name which is as ointment poured forth, to give up all for Christ, and this you literally do to every Hindoo and Mahomedan; let us, who thus call, and who profess to know much of the power of His Name, do so likewise; that they may catch a kindred spirit from a living exhibition. Let us evidence, in very deed, that we love not the world, neither the things of the world, but that the love of the Father is in us. "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he, that doeth the will of God, abideth for ever" (1 John 2. 15).

III. I shall now conclude with a few arguments to prove, that if the extension of the spirit of Christ's Kingdom be the proper object of the Church's pursuit--which is, on earth, essentially a spirit of self-denial for others' good--the entire surrender contended for, is as consonant with reason as it is with revelation; and consequently the great end of our existence should be the extension of this spirit; and the most important enquiry, in which we can be engaged, is,--how this may be most effectually accomplished.

Let us, therefore, begin with the consideration of our children, as it regards their apprehension of this spirit of our Lord's kingdom. There is no one calling himself a Christian, who does not profess to desire, and there is no one really a Christian, who does not in earnest desire for his children, both the apprehension and attainment of this blessing. The lips of all, and the hearts of the saints continually declare it as their wish that their children may receive the word of truth, "not as the word of man, but as it is indeed the word of God";--that they may esteem and receive it as "a lamp unto their feet and a light unto their paths";--that they may prize it as the greatest and best gift of God, next to Him of whom it bears testimony and to whom it owes its preciousness. How then is a Christian to direct most powerfully and practically, the opening and susceptible minds of his children towards this Word of Truth? Is it to be done by exhibiting to them a life devoted to the study of that word, as revealing the will of Him whom he loves, and Him of whom it testifies, so that they may attach true ideas to true words, following simply its precepts as judging them concerning all things, to be right for himself, and promoting the extension of this knowledge as equally essential to others;--by a dedication of time and talents to this end;--by habits of continued self-denial, having for their object the acquisition of greater means towards the accomplishment of a work for which he would have them to believe that Jesus their Lord left the bosom of his Father and descended to earth, and for the furtherance of which Apostles and Martyrs regarded all;--temporal advantages as loss, and were ready to suffer the privation of them all? Or is it to be done by speaking, in very high terms, of the excellence and importance of the work;--by accompanying the words with a gift of one, five, fifty, or a hundred pounds a year for the promotion of it, but, in other respects, providing for temporal conveniences and enjoyments like the world? As long as the human mind is capable of being influenced by example, the first of these two exhibitions must exert the most powerful influence on the youthful mind. It must have a direct and almost invincible tendency to impress that mind with a conviction of the sincerity of our love of the Truth, of the reality of our devotion towards its great Author, of our deep feeling of its necessity as the only guide to purity and happiness, and of our ardent desire that all men may know and receive and embrace it. And although all this is infinitely removed from a work of grace on the soul, the almighty work of the Spirit of God; yet they may be, and continually are, the instruments he uses for arresting the sinner, and turning his attention to Jesus, and leading beyond the apprehension of the truth--in the understanding, to the Author and Finisher of faith for the realization of it in the heart. But, on the contrary, every appropriation towards providing temporal comforts, and conveniences, and pleasures, either for them or for ourselves, has a tendency directly the reverse. It shows that there is, in this value for the world, a rival interest in the heart; it weakens their conviction of our sincerity; and lessens, in exact proportion to its amount, the practical conviction on their minds--that there is but "one thing needful" in our estimation.

How much would the judgment of the Christian World be modified with regard to the Leadings of Providence, if the eye had always the glory of God as the single object on which it rested! If that glory were our only aim, we should be all led to press forward, in the path to affluence and honours, with a more fluttering step and chastened energy. How slowly would a servant of Christ, who profitably labours among many thousand souls with a bare subsistence, be led to interpret the possibility of obtaining a more abundant provision (if with a less extensive sphere of usefulness) into a leading of providence which encourages and demands his removal. He might, on the other hand, be led sometimes even to suspect the possibility of its being only a temptation of Satan, laid in his way, with a view of limiting the held of his usefulness. That malicious and powerful Spirit doubtless now tempts the servant, as he once did his Lord, by saying,--"All this power will I give thee and this glory: for that is delivered unto me: and to whomsoever I will, I give it. If thou, therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine" (Luke 4. 6). We should never forget that this power of Satan over the world and the things of the world, is acknowledged by our Saviour himself, when he calls him "the prince of this world" (John 14. 30). With the solicitations of this "Prince of Darkness" coming, as he often does, in the form of "an angel of light" there concur affections of our nature, called tender and amiable. The whole heart is misled; the judgment is biassed; and the understanding darkened. He, on the contrary, who considers and uses an increase of means only as a sacred deposit, committed to him for the extension of Christ's Kingdom, and not for individual aggrandizement, is liable to no such deception with respect to the Leadings of Providence. He has no personal interest in the pecuniary advantages attendant on any situation; and his only question is--whether it be one in which he may best serve and glorify his Master. When his heavenly Father sends him prosperity beyond what is sufficient for his immediate wants, he does not ask himself--May not I possibly need this superabundance at some future period? or, if I never require it myself, may not my Wife, or Children, or Relatives? He dares not to ask a question so full of unbelief, nor presumes to turn the very abundance of the past mercies of God into an argument against trusting Him for the future. He knows that the best security for all spiritual blessings and all temporal mercies, both to himself and to his friends, lies in doing the will, and trusting unreservedly in the promises: of that God who hath said:--"Can a mother forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the fruit of her womb? Yea, she may forget; yet will not I forget thee" (Isaiah 49. 15). What, therefore, he has freely received, he freely gives; and trusts for the future the promises of his Heavenly Father, with a sincere, filial, and ingenuous confidence.

The view here taken may naturally lead the minds of many inquirers after the truth to ask,--'Is not this tempting God?' To this difficulty Scripture supplies us with many very interesting and striking answers; from which I shall select a few.

When Abraham was called to quit his kindred and country and to put his trust under the shadow of the Almighty's wing,--his going, notwithstanding that he knew not whither, and that he was perfectly unacquainted in what manner or to what extent he was to be provided for, constitutes that peculiar feature in his obedience, which all Christians feel and appreciate, and the spirit of which they profess to desire to have animating their own. The same is also observable in the sacrifice of his son. Compliance in this case seems the death-blow to his fondest hopes; and to trust that, notwithstanding his compliance, the promises which God had made to him would be fulfilled, was a confidence resting on somewhat beyond the bounds of all human probability. Yet he does not hesitate to obey (and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us why), because he believed that God was able to raise his son up from the dead. Was this then tempting God? What says his Word? "The Angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of Heaven the second time, and said, 'By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord; for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son; that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice'" (Gen. 22. 15, etc.).

Again, in the 34th Chapter of Exodus it is written,--"Thrice in the year shall all your men--children appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders; neither shall any man desire thy land when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year." Now, would obedience to this precept be tempting God? Doubtless not. Yet surely there is a much greater natural difficulty in the way of protecting the defenceless wives and families of a whole people during the absence of all the males at Jerusalem, than there is in providing subsistence sufficient for those who daily labour; for by this means the great mass of mankind are, and ever have been provided for.

The institution of the sabbatical year appears to afford another very apt illustration. Let us therefore for a moment consider the commands and promises annexed to its observance, as well as the threatenings pronounced, and the punishments inflicted, in case of disobedience. "Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; but in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the Land, a sabbath for the Lord; thou shalt neither sow thy held, nor prune thy vineyard. And if ye shall say,--'What shall we eat the seventh year? behold we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase':--then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in, ye shall eat of the old store. If ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me, I will bring your land into desolation, and I will scatter you among the heathen: and your lands shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land: even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest: because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it" (Lev. 25. 3, 4, 20; and C. 26.).

Now these illustrations of the nature of the divine government are very instructive, whether we contemplate Abraham's obedience and reward, or the disobedience and punishment of his posterity. Abraham appears to pursue a line of conduct, which must end in the loss of everything dear to him; yet in the way of obedience, unimagined mercies and favours meet him. His posterity, by neglecting to go thrice in the year to Jerusalem, or to obey the command respecting the observance of the sabbatical year, seem to the natural eye to be in the way of safety and abundance; yet their enemies brought famine and desolation on their land, and they themselves, their wives, and their little ones, were carried away into captivity. Now the anxieties which led the Jews to ask,--"What will become of our wives and our children during our absence at Jerusalem?" or, "What will become of our households during the seventh year?"--are natural anxieties, as strong and as amiable as can influence the decision of the human heart. Yet these very anxieties were the immediate cause of their doubts, their distrust, and their disobedience. If then the following even these strong dictates of the heart, against a command of God, has proved perfect foolishness to those who have presumed so to do, let us take warning by their example; for to this end were these things written.

There is one inference which, guided by the analogy of faith I would draw from the preceding observations. If trusting against the natural appearance of things, was demanded under the comparatively dim light of the Old Testament,--a dispensation which, considered nationally, had peculiar respect to temporal prosperity; much more might we expect it to be required under the bright light of the Gospel,--a dispensation in which temporal prosperity and all temporal distinctions are cast entirely into the shade: and as the disobedience of the Jews cut them off--not only from the direct blessings promised to obedience, but also from the striking manifestations of the divine providence over them, which the three years' corn in one year, and the protection of their families and possessions during their absence at Jerusalem, would have afforded them; so we, by our want of confidence in God, lose those endearing evidences of His love, which a simple trust in His promises is the appointed means of drawing down from His open and bountiful hand.

What preachers of righteousness would these Jews have been, had they obeyed the commands of their God! What a sermon on God's providence over His chosen, would the three years' provision in one year, and the miraculous protection of their coasts, have been to the Heathen around! It may be of importance for us to remember, that it is God alone whom we are afraid to trust. Where we have no doubt of the integrity or ability of man, we fearlessly trust. If one of the Princes of this world has an arduous undertaking to accomplish, which requires the undivided care and attention of those to whom it is committed; and if he says to his servants,--"Pursue steadily and singly the business entrusted to you, without distraction about personal provision, of which I will take sufficient care"; how many are the candidates, how eager the contention, how secure the confidence! Nay more, the obvious tendency of such a plan toward the attainment of the end in view, is seen, and its wisdom appreciated.

Now that all this may not appear irresistible to many, I am fully aware; and having been myself, in times past, led to wish that a few passages, such as 1 Tim. 5. 8: 2 Cor. 12. 14, had admitted of clearer explanation, or, rather, required none, I shall now, in a few words, endeavour to explain what appears to me to be the principle of the New Testament revelation, which is not to supply the logician with an irresistible chain of premises and conclusions, but the child with a light to his Father's mind; therefore, on the divinity of our Blessed Lord, the Lord's day, the principle of communion, of church discipline, and of literally giving up all--if a man wishes to be disputatious and escape the easy and blessed yoke of Christ's love he may, and therefore will walk in darkness, whilst the child is, in his simplicity, surrounded by a food of light.

I shall, therefore, briefly recapitulate the reasons why it appears to me that our Saviour spoke literal truth, and meant to be understood as so speaking, when he used such expressions as these--"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth", and, "Sell all that thou hast":--

1. Because he commanded the young man to do so;

2. Because he commended the poor widow for doing so;

3. Because the Apostles and all who believed at Jerusalem, did so, by selling their goods, houses, and lands:

4. Because without this Dedication, it is impossible to receive the command,--"Love thy neighbour as thyself":

That the hearty reception of this principle may be connected, by natural consequence, with many and great difficulties in this life--no one, who knows any thing of human nature, as opposed to the nature of Christ's kingdom, or the Gospel History, can doubt. In this world's history, great things are not accomplished but by great sacrifices. A life free from sufferings and sacrifices our Lord has not promised, and the Apostles did not enjoy. Such a portion they did not even expect, but were always prepared to live on the remembrance of the "faithful saying--If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him". It should therefore be no question of ours whether, in literally fulfilling our Saviour's command, we shall be subjected to many sufferings and privations, or not. The question is--Is it the command of Him, who loved us too well to enjoin any thing but for our good; and whether in his sovereign arrangement, the embracing of it may not be connected with the advancement of His Kingdom, and promotion of His glory? It would at least elevate the church from the disgraceful position in which she now stands, striking hands with Geshem and Sanballat, to raise up the walls of Jerusalem. She would then rejoice to say: "We will do the Lord's work ourselves." Another question is, whether the gathering in the sheep of Christ out of a lost world, or even of a single one, be not worthy of all the sacrifices we are called upon to make; and whether the means we have pointed out have not, in the appointment of the Lord, a tendency to the accomplishment of this end? If, from the word of truth, we can answer--"Indisputably"; troubles, dangers, and difficulties, should be as nothing. "Not my will but thine be done."

If the world esteem this madness, we must say with the Apostle,--"Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us: because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead [therefore all died]: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose again" (2 Cor. 5. 13).

Thus I leave the question to those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity; who desire that his name may be a praise in the earth; and who, seeing that the harvest is truly plenteous, but the labourers few, are constant in prayer to the Lord of the Harvest that he would send forth more labourers into it and that he would more abundantly pour out his Holy Spirit upon his Church, that it may more fervently desire, and more assiduously labour for, the coming of that day, when the Lord shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe. And may the Lord direct all our hearts into the love of God, and patient waiting for Christ, that if we should be alive and remain at his coming, we may be caught up to join the saints who are to come with their Lord in the clouds; and so be ever with the Lord; or if we go before, may we come with Him in the day of His glory. Amen.