LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Theological Seminary, 
 
 PRINCETON, N.J. 
 
 BV 772 Tg6 1855 
 
 
 Gold and the Gospel 
 
 
 A DONATION 
 
 deceived . 
 
/ 
 
 GOLD AND THE GOSPEL. 
 
 ^^§XX]t a^BUlB 
 
 SCRIPTURAL DUTY OF GIVING IN PROPORTION 
 TO MEANS AND INCOME. 
 
 5^etu- J)ork : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 
 
 70R THE TRA.CT SOCIETY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHITRCH, 
 200 MULBERRY-STREET. 
 
 1 Sor,. 
 
.r PSIIfCETOH 
 
 , INTRODUCTION 
 
 ThI'] rights of God are by no means gener- 
 ally acknowledged in this fallen world. Men 
 deem themselves the sovereign proprietors 
 of wliatever they can acquire. The silver 
 and the gold are appropriated, with no well- 
 defined sense of responsibility, to meet tlieir 
 own imaginary or real wants, and whatever 
 is devoted to the canse of God is called char- 
 ity/ But shall we indulge the thought of 
 giving to him his own ? " The earth is the 
 Lord's, and the fullness thereof." The fail- 
 ure to understand this fact, and act upon it, 
 has retarded, for ages, the conversion of the 
 world, and left countless generations to per- 
 ish without the hope of redemption. It is 
 matter of devout gratitude that the attention 
 of the Church is now directed to this subject 
 of momentous importance. Throughout the 
 Christian world men are inquiring, with evi- 
 dent conviction of sad delinquencies, AVhat 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 are tlie rights of God in relation to property ? 
 What is the measure of human responsibility 
 in regard to the enterprises of the Church? 
 And under the evident guidance of the Holy 
 Spirit they are turning everywhere to the 
 Bible, to see whether divine revelation has 
 answered these questions. Tliis is a most 
 favorable indication. Powerful essays are 
 called out by the anxious concern and no- 
 ble benevolence of Christian philanthropists, 
 which are demonstrating the law of Chris- 
 tian liberality with great clearness and force, 
 and the Cluirch is already feeling the elevat- 
 ing influence of the movement. The ac- 
 counts of her various treasuries indicate a 
 progress, within the last five years, which is 
 really amazing, but full of encouragement. 
 
 With these convictions, we welcome, with 
 pccidiar satisfaction, the Ulster prize essays, 
 published under the title of Gold and the 
 Gospel. They are well adapted to the 
 American mind, and the inquiring and im- 
 proving condition of the American Church- 
 es. Two of them we are most happy to 
 present to our readers, devoutly praying that 
 they may be accompanied everywhere by 
 the divine blessing, producing conviction 
 and prompt continued action in the spirit 
 they suggest. Tliey will by no means su- 
 
INTEOD U CTIOW . '5 
 
 persede, but certainly j^repare the way for 
 others, by American writers. 
 
 The power of order is acknowledged in 
 almost everything. The merchant who con- 
 ducts his business in a confused, irregular 
 manner, fails. The mechanic who has not 
 " a place for everything, and everything in 
 its place," seldom attains skill in his depart- 
 ment of labor. The agriculturist who has 
 no method in cultivating the soil, is likely to 
 " beg in harvest and have nothing." In the 
 smallest matter we insist npon some regular 
 plan, and in propoi'tion as our schemes or 
 duties rise in importance, the obligations of 
 order increase. How unreasonable, then, 
 that in the great work of religious benevo- 
 lence, we should allow everything to be con- 
 fused and accidental! Christians generally, 
 there is reason to fear, give when they are 
 importuned, and not unfrequently congratu- 
 late themselves when they escape: give by 
 impulse, and more or less, as they happen to 
 feel, or find it convenient under the circum- 
 stances. It is difficult to see how this can 
 be accepted by the omniscient God as the 
 fulfillment of a high religious duty. If the 
 claim of the Church upon you be a valid one 
 for the relief of the poor, for the support of 
 education or the ministry, of Christian mis- 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sions, or the Bible, tract, or Sanday-school 
 cause, how can it be affected by the absence 
 or presence of an importunate representative 
 of the cause, or the failure to receive a formal 
 application, with eloquent appeals, under the 
 pressure of custom or example? That por- 
 tion of your treasures which belongs to each 
 and to all of these noble enterprises is your 
 debt. 'No time — ^no circumstances can dis- 
 charge it, without your voluntary act ; and 
 your interest as well as duty requires that it 
 should be paid. To search out the objects 
 of your benevolence — to inquire for the va- 
 rious treasuries of the Lord, and with due 
 promptness and regularity to pay over the 
 proportion which is due, with many prayers 
 for the divine blessing upon your appropri- 
 ations, ought to be your highest privilege. 
 When will the Church rise to this elevated 
 standard ? 
 
 Jesse T. Peck. 
 
AN ESSAY 
 
 mBMt d C^ristiHu i^ikral% 
 
 Rev. henry CONSTABLE, A.M., 
 
 CnRATK OF ATHNOWEN, DI0CE9K OF CORK. 
 
.T PEIIT-G.1TQH -^^ 
 
 I 
 
 Mum%^h^ 
 
 AUTHOR^S PREFACE. 
 
 It is the object of the following Essay to establish, 
 that God has at all times laid down a standard by 
 which man is to regulate his liberality in his cause, 
 and that this standard has been the same for all dis- 
 pensations. The writer is free to confess that, when 
 led on the present occasion to consider this subject 
 with attention, he was disposed to view it in a some- 
 what different light from that in which he has pre- 
 sented it here. He was inclined to think, that while 
 Holy Scripture required of the Christian to honor Crod 
 with a portion of his substance, that portion was left 
 undetermined, and each was permitted to give just as 
 his own conscience and judgment suggested. The 
 more he considered the matter, however, in the light 
 of reason and of Scripture, the more inclined he be- 
 came to doubt the correctness of his opinion ; until, 
 at length, he came to the conclusion, that in this, as 
 in other respects, God has laid down a rule by which 
 Christians ought to walk. It may be that the argu- 
 ments, almost wholly drawn from Scripture, which 
 have convinced his own mind, may have the same 
 effect on others. If they shaU lead even a single 
 worldling to perceive that he is not, in the disposition 
 of his property, free from the claims of Him who is, 
 
10 PREFACE. 
 
 in fact, the sole great Proprietor of all; or if they shall 
 induce any, who heretofore may have satisfied them- 
 selves with giving in the noblest of all causes some 
 miserable portion wholly unworthy of Him to whom 
 it is offered, to feel that more is required at their hands, 
 he will not have written in vain. For the sake of 
 convenience the Essay has been divided into the fol- 
 lowing chapters : — 
 
 Chap. 1. God is the owner of all things. 
 
 " 2. God is the disposer of all things. 
 
 " 3. Man's use of God's goods has always been 
 limited. 
 
 " 4. It is reasonable to think this limit should be 
 a definite one. 
 
 " 5. A tenth required of mankind from the ear- 
 liest times. 
 
 " 6. Abraham and Jacob's tenth. 
 
 " Y. The Jewish tithe. 
 
 " 8. The Jewish free-wUl offering. 
 
 " 9. A tenth required from Christians. 
 
 " 10. The Christian's free-will offerings. 
 
 " 11. The objects on which the Christian is to ex- 
 pend his offerings. 
 
 " 12. Motives to liberality. 
 
 " 13. A test of covetousness. 
 
i 
 
 \theologic^t. , 
 measure of christian liberality. 
 
 OHAPTEK I. 
 
 "THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S AITO THE FULLNESS 
 THEREOF." 
 
 The leading maxim of a celebrated modern 
 Socialist is, that " property is a crime.'' 
 False and ruinous as such a maxim is in the 
 mouths of those who proclaim war against 
 property for the sake of plunder, and seek to 
 overturn tlie powers that be in order to erect 
 themselves into a tyranny, there is yet a 
 point of view in which it is indisputable by 
 the believer. Man has a right of property 
 toward his fellow-man ; he has none toward 
 his God. Yiewed in this latter light, no man 
 can say that what he possesses is his own. 
 For here comes in the prior, the inalienable 
 claim of the great Maker and Owner of all 
 things ; and in regard of him the wealthiest 
 and the most powerful descend at once from 
 
12 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY, 
 
 the rank of proprietors to that of the stew- 
 ards of another's rights. 
 
 Such is, unquestionably, man's relation to 
 God, as placed before us in Holy Scripture. 
 "All the earth is mine," is the Creator's 
 claim ; and who is prepared to deny it? Ac- 
 cordingly, he asserts his right, one by one, 
 to each and every of those tilings which man 
 prizes most. " Sanctify unto me all the first- 
 born of the children of Israel, both of man 
 and beast, it is mine." Of the land of Ca- 
 naan — the land of so many promises — the 
 land hardly obtained, after travel, and toil, 
 and warfare, he said, " The land shall not be 
 sold forever, for the land is mine." " Every 
 beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle 
 upon a thousand hills." " The silver is mine, 
 and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts." 
 "All souls are mine." 
 
 If we turn to the pages of the ISTew Testa- 
 ment, we shall find the same universal claim 
 made and acted on. " Come and follow me," 
 was the address of Christ to whomsoever he 
 pleased, and whenever he pleased. It im- 
 plied the forsaking of every earthly calling 
 and possession, and yet was not asked as a 
 favor, but as a right. " "Walking by the sea of 
 Galilee," he sees two brethren following their 
 occupation of fishermen : he saith to them, 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 13 
 
 " Follow me, and they straightway left their 
 nets and followed him." Going further on, 
 he sees two more occupied in the same j^ur- 
 suit. But these were the stay and comfort 
 of a father. Shall he de^jrive an aged father 
 of his sons? What matter? The Lord liad 
 need of them. The higher claim steps in 
 before the lesser. To these, too, the call is 
 given ; " and they left the ship and their 
 father, and followed him." But some one 
 may say, these were poor fishermen, and in 
 asking them to forsake all he asked not for 
 much. This were, indeed, poor reasoning, 
 and w^ould indicate a shallow acquaintance 
 with the human heart. A man's all is equally 
 precious to him, whether it be little or great; 
 and so He, who knew the heart, pronounced 
 of the widow's gift, that it was more than all 
 the costly offerings of the wealthy, because, 
 though in amount but two mites, it was in 
 fact her all. But Matthew was not a poor 
 man, and he was called from the midst of his 
 gainful occupation. The young man whom 
 Christ commanded to sell all that he had was 
 noted for his riches ; yet the same summons 
 came to him that was addressed to tlie hum- 
 ble fishers by the sea of Galilee. How great 
 the difference, however, between these par- 
 ties ! They recognized the claims of the Lord 
 
14: MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERxVLlTY. 
 
 to themselves and their possessions ; he re- 
 fused to do so. They perceived themselves 
 to be but stewards ; he held fast by the no- 
 tion of ownership. They resigned their trust 
 to Him who gave it ; he usurped it. They 
 were faithful in that which was another's, 
 and obtained the true riches ; lie shut him- 
 self out by his unfaithfulness from the king- 
 dom of God. 
 
 If we would see a picture of man's exact 
 position in this respect drawn by the great 
 Master's hand, we will find it in the remark- 
 able parable of the talents, in the 25th chap- 
 ter of St. Matthew. Who are they to whom 
 the talents are given ? They are all of them 
 the servants of God. Whose are the talents ? 
 They are God's goods. For what are they 
 given ? To redound to the glory and praise 
 of the Giver. Have they passed out of his 
 control and thought? No; he exacts of them 
 a strict account. True, to some is given more 
 than to others : but all are in their respective 
 talents on the exact same footing — that of 
 managers in trust, and under a grave respon- 
 sibihty, of another's goods. It is quite true, 
 indeed, that riches are not the only talents 
 intrusted to man, or spoken of here ; but 
 they are certainly among them, and not the 
 least important of them. 
 
MEASUKE OF CHKlJSTIAN LIBERALITY. 15 
 
 O vain man of the world, witli tliy heart 
 set Tipon thy treasures, be they great or little, 
 with the firm puVpose to use them for thy- 
 self, and to call them and think them thine 
 own, in what a light does Scripture place 
 thee ! Thou art in its searching eye but the 
 usurper of another's rights — the breaker of a 
 trust which thy God has given thee — the 
 earner of vengeance when he comes to call 
 thee to account. What would you think of 
 him w^lio was intrusted by his friend with 
 property, who, during that friend's absence, 
 appropriated this property to himself, and on 
 his return denied that he had done him wrons:? 
 Great would be your indignation and severe 
 your judgment, and yet thou art thyself the 
 man ! God has given you wealth, or the powder 
 and opportunity to get wealth ; but thou hast 
 said with prosperous and covetous Israel of old, 
 that it was " thy own power, and the might of 
 thy hand," and the strength of thy intellect, 
 which have done it all. You look not be- 
 yond your intellect to Him that gave it to 
 you — beyond your enterprise to him that 
 endowed you with it — beyond your bodily 
 strength to him that made you strong — be- 
 yond the opportunities of your position to 
 him that placed you in it. You contract 
 your thoughts within second causes, and re- 
 
16 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 fleet not on the first great Cause. You bound 
 your vision by the narrow horizon of your 
 own making, and will not look beyond it, 
 lest you should discover that you are, after 
 all, in God's own world — a servant amid an 
 innumerable ministry — a steward amid count- 
 less multitudes, who render, or must one day 
 render, an account of their stewardship. O, 
 reflect but for a moment on what an extend- 
 ed view into the realities of creation will 
 bring before you ! Behold the bright throng 
 of angels, creatures of mighty power and 
 transcendent intellect ! They are busy ; not 
 one of them is idle. They pervade each part 
 of the boundless universe; they visit each 
 planet and star which stud infinite space ; 
 millions of them walk this earth. On whose 
 business do they speed ? For whom do they 
 exercise their mighty energies ? All is done 
 for God. With ceaseless praise they behold 
 his works; with ceaseless activity they do 
 his will ; proud even to w^ait upon sinful man, 
 because they are sent by God. Or, cast your 
 eyes even on those your fellow-creatures upon 
 earth, whom at times you are disposed, per- 
 haps, to regard as fools. Amid your ever- 
 crowding businesses and your fast-succeeding 
 pleasures you have, doubtless, heard of, you 
 liave occasionally met with, a peculiar peo- 
 
. MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 17 
 
 pie. Observe them, mark them well. There 
 may be hypocrites among them, but all are 
 not hypocrites. There may be dross, but 
 there is also gold. You will find one idea, 
 to you a strange one, their ruling idea — it is 
 that they are not their own; that all that they 
 are and have, their time, their energies, their 
 knowledge, their riches, their souls and bodies, 
 belong to the God of their redemption. Yes, 
 even here, at this time are, and at all times 
 have been, such a people. Their graces ob- 
 scured by infirmity and tarnished by sin, 
 they are yet, in the actuating and governing 
 principle oT their minds, one with the un- 
 sullied angels, in that with them they ascribe 
 to their Lord the undivided right to them 
 and to theirs. Why should you stand upon 
 a difl^erent footing ? Are you not alike the 
 creatures of God ? Is it not from the same 
 bounty on his part that your blessings are 
 derived ? Is not that bounty the great origi- 
 nal fountain whence streams of goodness and 
 love flow to every individual of the race ? 
 Cease, then, to speak of your possessions as 
 your own ; be wise, and call them what they 
 are — a trust from your God. 
 2 
 
18 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 '•IS IT NOT LAWFUL FOR ME TO DO WHAT I WILL 
 WITH MINE OWN?" 
 
 If God be, in trntli, the owner of all things, 
 as we Iiave seen from Scripture that he is, it 
 follows, as a matter of course, that he is also 
 the disposer of his property. "May I not 
 do what I will with my own ?■ ' is the lan- 
 guage of ownership ; and without this power 
 it is but an empty name. And so St. Paul says 
 of the heir, while under age, and incapable 
 of making disposition of his property, that 
 ho "diftereth nothing from a servant, though 
 he be Lord of all." It plainly rests with God, 
 then, in intrusting his property to man, to 
 make what regulations he pleases for its dis- 
 230sal. "What those regulations are, we will 
 consider further on, and are now merely in- 
 sisting on his right to make them. AVe appre- 
 hend, indeed, that there will be few, if any, to 
 dispute this point — at least when they have 
 calmly reflected on the matter. The owner 
 of property among men, in engaging a stew- 
 ard over his estates, or a manager over his 
 business, is never thought to exceed his rights 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 19 
 
 in defining to such parties the manner in 
 which they are to transact his business. 
 Surely the great Owner of the universe has 
 an equal, or rather a far better right to do 
 the same. He may indeed, as pleases him, 
 see fit to place greater or less restrictions on 
 human management; to leave man in a 
 greater or less degree to his own judgment; 
 to leave what portion he esteems suitable to 
 man's discretion ; or to tie up what portion 
 he thinks fit to be used in a particular way. 
 All that we contend for now is God's perfect 
 right to interfere in what degree he pleases 
 with man's management of his trusts. This 
 point is, indeed, so plain — follows so neces- 
 sarily from the conclusion of our first chap- 
 ter, that to insist at further length upon it 
 would be the merest waste of time. It only 
 remains for us to inc^uire on what terms God 
 has put us in trust with his goods ; has he 
 left us at an absolute freedom in their use ? 
 or has he pointed out how we are to use a 
 portion of them, and what that portion is 
 to be? 
 
 That God has not resigned to man the ab- 
 solute disposal even of a portion of his trust 
 w^e can prove beyond a doubt. The proof 
 arises from this fact, that there is not a single 
 o-ift of God to man which he does not with- 
 
^U MEABUKE UK CHlilSTlAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 draw at pleasure. I argue upon the assump- 
 tion, which no Christian disputes, that God's 
 providence directs or overrules every event 
 of every man's life ; that there is no such 
 thing as chance, and no power independent 
 of God's. Now, let us nin over in our minds 
 the various gifts of God to man, and we will 
 see that they have been, and continue to be, 
 taken away from men of every variety and 
 shade of character, the enemies and friends 
 of God alike. The deluge deprived the world 
 of the ungodly of their all, and fire from 
 heaven did the same for the wicked inhabit- 
 ants of Sodom. Saul had his crown wrested 
 from him, and Israel and Judah were left with- 
 out home, or possession, or native land, when 
 the decree of God sent them captives to As- 
 syria and Babylon. Abraham, the friend of 
 God, gave up his country, and, in intention, 
 his son, at the divine command : Lot barely 
 escaped with life from Sodom, but left all 
 his wealth behind : Job in one day lost ser- 
 vants and substance, sons and daughters, was 
 left as naked of worldly goods as when he 
 came from his mother's womb, yet nothing 
 escaped from his lips but the words of pious 
 submission to the great Disposer, " The Lord 
 gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed 
 be the name of the Lord." So in the New 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 21 
 
 Testament, those cases on which we relied 
 as proving God's ownership were, in fact, 
 instances of his disposing of men's posses- 
 sions, and need not be referred to further. 
 And what are pestilences, and famines, and 
 earthquakes, and other fearful judgments, 
 but heaven-sent witnesses to the truth that 
 God has not ceased to exercise sovereign au- 
 thority in the disposal of his trust to man, or 
 to control and withdraw that trust, or any 
 portion of it, as seems fit to his discretion ? 
 
 It may, perhaps, appear at first that I have 
 dwelt too long on these preliminary points ; 
 but I have thought it better, where human 
 covetousness and selfishness are so deeply 
 concerned, to go to the root of the matter, to 
 lay plainly before the mind God's full right 
 and claim to all which we call ours, that we 
 may be the less disposed to contest what his 
 ordinary providence requires at our hands, 
 viz., the application of a portion of our goods 
 to his especial cause. 
 
22 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 CHAPTEE in. 
 
 '•THOU MADEST HIM TO HAVE DOMINION OVER 
 THE WORKS OF THY HANDS." 
 
 I HAVE hitherto considered God's claims in 
 their widest, though at the same time their 
 true and legitimate, extent, and have shown 
 that they extend to the possession and dis- 
 posal of our all. This should never be lost 
 sight of by us, no matter how little God may 
 seem disposed to insist on his fullest right. 
 Tliat he has insisted, and does at times insist, 
 and may at any time he pleases insist upon it, 
 with ourselves or others, with few or many, 
 or all, is testified equally in the Book of 
 Providence and the pages of Revelation : 
 while the submission of our minds to this his 
 sovereign authority, and the determination 
 to bend to his will in this respect, if called 
 upon, seems essential to the Christian char- 
 acter, according to that saying of our Lord, 
 " Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not 
 all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." 
 But there is a wide difference in God's 
 ordinary providence between his claims, 
 however rightful, and his requirements from 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIEERALIXr. 23 
 
 man. He lias from time to time, indeed, put 
 forward his fullest claim to man's all, lest it 
 sliould be forgotten, and at last peril aps de- 
 nied; just as lie lias, from time to time, 
 wroufflit miracles to show, alono- with otlier 
 reasons, that he has not resigned to what is 
 called the course of nature his control over 
 her laws. But in his usual course he does 
 not act thus. Of his trust to man he leaves 
 him a large portion to use for his own especial 
 comfort and benefit. Having endowed him 
 with reason and judgment, he has left much 
 at his discretion. Wishing his happiness, he 
 has bestowed his gifts to produce and to in- 
 crease it, and has given him ''richly all things 
 to enjoy." He has, indeed, forbidden the 
 abuse of the smallest portion of his goods ; 
 the spending of any, however trifling a pro- 
 poi-tion, in any way that would militate 
 against his glory or the advancement of his 
 cause in the world ; and has, in fact, required 
 as much in that portion which man spends 
 upon himself as in that which he devotes 
 especially to his Maker and Redeemer, that 
 " all should be done with an eye to the glory 
 of God." With these important considera- 
 tions, which must never be forgotten by the 
 Christian, he has left him at liberty in the 
 use of a large proportion of his trust. 
 
24 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 Thus has God treated his creature man in 
 a liberal spirit. He has not fettered him 
 with restrictions meeting him at every step. 
 Having gifted him with a noble capacit j and 
 large susceptibilities of enjoyment, he has 
 placed him in a situation, and allowed him 
 a freedom, which affords ample scope for 
 both. It was not a mockery of his real con- 
 dition to describe him as made "in God's 
 image" in the matter of dominion. And 
 truly as well as beautifully has David cele- 
 brated the power bestowed by God upon liis 
 creatures, — "Thou madest him to have do- 
 minion over the works of thy hands ; thou 
 hast put all things under his feet." 
 
 But what we do contend for now is this, 
 that to man's discretionary use of God's trust 
 to him there is, and has always been, a limit. 
 He may expatiate in a wide field, but not a 
 boundless one. He shall indeed feel him- 
 self at freedom in the use and enjoyment of 
 temporal blessings, but there shall be at the 
 same time something to remind him that 
 there is One above him to whom these 
 things, after all, belong, and by whom they 
 have been intrusted to him. The wide ocean 
 might seem to be without a master, rolling 
 its huge billows where it pleased, were it 
 not met by that restraining shore — those 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 25 
 
 bars and doors which he hath placed who 
 said to it, "Tims far shalt thou come, and 
 no farther : and here shall thy proud waves 
 be stayed." And just so might man imagine 
 himself without a superior — the original, not 
 the delegated, lord of this lower world, im- 
 less he too were met with a bound beyond 
 which he might not pass ; unless, in the dis- 
 posal of his property, there were a portion 
 placed out of his discretion, of which God 
 had said, "This may not be used for thy 
 pleasure ; it is tnine.''^ 
 
 JEven m Eden it was so. Even to man, 
 just come from his Maker's hands, the voice, 
 scarce silent, that had called all things into 
 being, the impress of Heaven's workman- 
 ship still fresh and vivid upon the creation, 
 even to unfallen Adam, this limit was placed. 
 The fruit of his fairest trees, and the seventh 
 part of his time, wxre hallowed. He might 
 not touch the one, nor infringe upon the 
 other. They were the peculiar property of 
 Him who had placed him in the garden to 
 dress it and to keep it — the sign and token 
 of his inalienable sovereignty. 
 
 If this were the case with sinless man, 
 how much more does sinful man require it ? 
 " Who is lord over us ?" is the suggestion of 
 the natural heart. Deny it, or disguise it as 
 
26 MEASURE OF CHllISTIAN LIBEEALITY. 
 
 they will, practical independence of God is 
 the darling aim of the natural man, in all 
 his ways, in the use of all his talents, and, 
 among them, of his substance. To use it 
 just as he pleases himself, — on his pleasures, 
 on his vanities, subservient to the attainment 
 of power, or, as in the miser's case, to hoard 
 and worship it for itself, is the determination 
 and the habit of the unregenerate mind. To 
 use it as God pleases — with a thankful spirit 
 for his own purposes, with as thankful a 
 spirit when expended on objects foreign to 
 liimself — this is not in all his thoughts. And 
 this tendency remains in the merely regen- 
 erate. Checked, conquered, crucified, it is 
 still there, perhaps, to his dying day, a lurk- 
 ing, treacherous foe. Too often it insensibly 
 influences the conduct and thoughts of God's 
 saints. Unseen and unsuspected, it breathes 
 a noxious vapor, deadening the liberality, 
 and checking each generous impulse ; or, 
 watching its opportunity, it comes forth and 
 lords it for a time wdth all its former sway. 
 How absolutely necessary, then, that there 
 be a perpetual check to this universal ten- 
 dency ! — a perpetual reminder to man that 
 he is not a sovereign, but a subject ; that his 
 goods are not his own, but God's : and this 
 is found in that perpetual ordinance in force 
 
MEASUKE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 27 
 
 in patriarchal, and Jewish, and Christian 
 times alike, whereby God has reserved for 
 his own especial glory and service a portion 
 of that which in his bounty he has bestowed 
 on man. This is the rent which reminds the 
 tenant that he is not owner in fee ; this is 
 the interest which reminds the borrower that 
 the principal belongs not to him ; this is the 
 tribute-money, which reminds a subject na- 
 tion that it is not independent ; this is God's 
 share, to remind his creature that all belongs 
 to him. 
 
 "What that proportion may be is not the 
 subject of the present chapter, but will be dis- 
 cussed in those that follow. All that is here 
 insisted on is this, which every page almost 
 of the Old and New Testament asserts, that 
 while to God belongs our all, and while at 
 times he insists on this his claim, he at all 
 times requires from us abortion of our goods, 
 a tribute to his sovereignty, and a means of 
 spreading his name and glory throughout the 
 world. 
 
28 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 CHAPTEE TV. 
 
 "THE WAY OF MAN IS NOT IN HIMSELF." 
 
 I HAVE thus prepared the way for the con- 
 sideration of the chief point of inquiry in our 
 essay, What is the proportion of his means 
 which the Christian should give to God? 
 The Lord's right to a portion, or to all, will 
 not now be contested ; nor will it be denied 
 that he actually claims a part. It remains 
 to be seen if we have any sufficient reason 
 to decide what that part should be. Has 
 God left the decision of this important mat- 
 ter to each man's conscience and judgment, 
 or has he made known his own will thereon ? 
 I do not think that any a priori reasoning 
 can determine this point, — at least with such 
 as are disposed to reduce God's claims to as 
 small a compass as they can ; but I certainly 
 think that the weight of antecedent proba- 
 bility is in favor of his having done so. Let 
 us remember, at this stage of our inquiry, 
 that the gift of any portion, no matter what, 
 of our goods to the bestower of them does 
 not appear by any means to be a natural 
 suggestion of the mind, as some might sup- 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 29 
 
 pose. To propitiate an offended Being with 
 presents does, indeed, appear natural to man ; 
 but it was not with such a view at all that 
 the men of enlightened religion, such as 
 Abraham, offered their gifts to God. They 
 regarded their Maker as their friend, and 
 gave him a portion of their substance in 
 thankful acknowledgment that it was he 
 who had given it all. I^ow, if we reflect, 
 we will see that this is by no means an ob- 
 vious conclusion to come to. The recipient 
 of bounty with ourselves does not feel him- 
 self called on to return a portion of that 
 bounty to the giver. And far less would he 
 feel the necessity of such return when it was 
 God who was the bestower, from the con- 
 sideration that he, who had all things in his 
 power, could not possibly want anything at 
 his creatures' hands. If, then, it be but rea- 
 sonable to suppose that it was God who first 
 claimed from the creature a portion of his 
 gifts, it seems equally reasonable to suppose 
 tliat he mentioned what that portion was to 
 be. This is the natural inference, unless we 
 are to suppose that anything^ no matter how 
 mean, and trifling, and worthless, is suffi- 
 cient for God. But few, I imagine, will 
 suppose this, who reflect upon the goodness 
 and greatness of God as seen in the crea- 
 
30 MEASURE OF CHEISTIAl^^ LIBERALITY. 
 
 tion ; and most assuredly none will allow it, 
 w^lio will learn God's character from liis own 
 accomit of it in Scripture, where they find 
 him rejecting with disdain the unsuitable 
 acknowledgment of his mercies. If it be, 
 then, a matter of importance what is the 
 suitable proportion that man should give, 
 does it not seem most likely that he, who 
 could best determine this, and alone with 
 authority to determine it, should, indeed, 
 have done so? Man were else left to a 
 painful uncertainty. The scrupulous mind, 
 anxious to please God, could never be cer- 
 tain of having done so, and would, in many 
 instances, even when far exceeding the ex- 
 pected proportion, be yet subject to per- 
 plexity and uneasiness ; while in the case of, 
 we fear, the vast majority of mankind, the 
 fact of this portion being left entirely to 
 their discretion would be made the pretext 
 of their reducing it to so small a point that 
 the gift, so far from honoring God, would 
 rather be an affront to his name. 
 
 For these and other reasons, I think that 
 the probability is, that God would himself 
 decide this matter, and declare plainly w^hat 
 proportion of man's substance he exj^ected 
 as a suitable tribute to his sovereignty, a 
 becoming token of our gratitude, and a suf 
 
IklEASUliK OF CHRISTIAN LIBEKALITT. 31 
 
 iiciency to uphold his worship in the world. 
 But on this point I Avill not argue any further. 
 To some it may appear of force ; to others it 
 may seem destitute of strength. All that I 
 will require to be conceded is, that at any 
 rate no antecedent improbability lies against 
 my argument. The great and deciding ar- 
 guments must be drawn from other sources ; 
 and, beyond all others, from the inquiry, 
 " What hath God said ?" Has he spoken 
 to us in that Book which is tlie lamp to our 
 feet and the lantern to our paths, or has he 
 been silent there? If he has spoken there, 
 clearly then the controversy is decided with 
 those to whom this essay is addressed, — 
 namely, such as take the Bible for their one 
 infellible guide ; if he has not spoken, I 
 should despair of deciding it by any other 
 reasoning. But that he has done so, — not 
 merely for one time, dispensation, or people, 
 but for all times and dispensations, — that he 
 has done so for us Christians, as he did for 
 his ancient people Israel, is the conclusion 
 to which a careful examination of Scripture 
 has led me, and which I will endeavor to 
 prove in the following pages. 
 
 In pursuing my inquiry, I will first advert 
 to the fact of a certain proportion being- 
 found among a great variety of nations as 
 
32 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 the measure of their gifts to God ; I will 
 then examine what the Old Testament has 
 said upon this subject, — not confining my- 
 self to any one part of it, but examining its 
 several notices upon the subject ; satisfied 
 that each throws light upon and confirms 
 the rest, and that the whole taken together 
 with the evidence of the New^ Testament 
 leads to one incontrovertible conclusion. 
 The conclusion is, that God requires from 
 men in general a tenth-part of that increase 
 with which he blesses them to be spent in 
 his especial cause ; while from some more 
 peculiarly favored he looks for more : the 
 gift of the former portion being to be re- 
 garded as a positive duty, that of the latter 
 as the free-will offering of loving and grate- 
 ful hearts, left in its amount to each accord- 
 ing as he is disposed to act, according as 
 circumstances seem to call for an extended 
 liberality, or his own generous and grateful 
 impulses, quickened by a sense of God's ex- 
 ceeding goodness, lead him to bestow it. 
 Our review of the Old Testament will lead 
 me to dwell chiefly on four points, — namely, 
 tlie gift of a tenth by Abraham to Melchize- 
 dek, Jacob's vow of a tenth to God, God's 
 requirement of a tenth from his people 
 Israel, and tliat people's free-will offerings 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 33 
 
 on extraordinary occasions over and above 
 their tenth. 
 
 And may He, whose office it is to guide 
 to truth, by enlightening the understanding, 
 and purifying the wills of his people, guide 
 us in our inquiry on this important subject, 
 enable us to perceive what is revealed to us, 
 and to regulate our practice thereby. 
 3 
 
34 MEABUKE OF CHRISTIAN LrBERALITY. 
 
 CHAPTEK Y. 
 
 "IS HE THE GOD OF THE JEWS ONLY?" 
 
 That God has in the case of his people Israel 
 required the tenth of man's substance to be 
 giv^en for his service, and expended as the 
 circumstances of that dispensation recpired, 
 is not disputed. The first question, then, 
 that meets us is, AVhen did he first require 
 it? Was this, as a divine institution^ first 
 imposed on a particular nation, and first or- 
 dained in the Mosaic law, or does it date 
 from a much higher antiquity? Do we 
 draw our first great argument with Chris- 
 tians, that it is their duty to devote a tenth 
 to their Lord from the fact of their being the 
 successors of Israel, to whom it was a duty, 
 or can we appeal to an earlier authority, 
 before Moses gave the law from Sinai, or 
 Abraham was separated from the Gentile 
 world ? It will be perceived, that I rest my 
 great reliance in this question on the climne 
 institution of this proportion of a tenth. I 
 certainly do so. I am fully persuaded, that 
 if it has not this foundation to rest on, other 
 arguments, however forcible with individ- 
 
MEA.SUEE OF CHRISTIAN LEBEKALITY. 35 
 
 uals, will have no overpowering weight to 
 silence the objections orovercome the natural 
 selfishness of the mass of men, even of men 
 professing godliness. 
 
 The mere fact that this or that person, 
 however wise and pions, gave a tenth of his 
 goods to God, and that God was pleased 
 with his servant for thus honoring him with 
 his substance, will not, I think, come home 
 with such conclusive power to the Chris- 
 tian's conscience as will make him say that 
 he is to do the same, as an act of duty ex- 
 pected from him by his God. Man's inge- 
 nuity, quickened by his selfishness, will, in 
 such a case, straightway set to work to dis- 
 cover some diifering circumstances between 
 such individuals and himself, as will, in his 
 opinion, fully excuse him from the necessity 
 of imitation. He will say, suppose, of Abra- 
 ham and Jacob, "These were men who at- 
 tained to far greater wealth than I am ^^os- 
 sessed of, nor had they in those simple ages 
 the same pressing calls upon their means 
 which dayly meet me ; I am, therefore, no 
 more bound by their voluntary act to give a 
 tenth, than I am bound to give a half be- 
 cause Zaccheus gave one, or to give the 
 whole of my substance, because the first 
 Christians of Jerusalem did so." And if he 
 
36 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAJST LLBEKALITY. 
 
 is reminded that Abraham and Jacob's ac- 
 knowledgment to God were blessed by him, 
 he can also reply that Zaccheus's conduct 
 was approved by Christ, and that of the 
 saints of Jerusalem mentioned by an in- 
 spired writer as indicating a love and a self- 
 denial beyond all praise. Men will, in fact, 
 find so many reasons, to them at least plausi- 
 ble and convincing, why they are not bound 
 by such voluntary acts of individuals, that, 
 while they are free to confess that God ex- 
 pects from them, too, a portion of their sub- 
 stance, they will wholly deny any necessity 
 of that portion being a tenth. And so we 
 shall be forced to leave the matter to each 
 man's judgment and discretion ; and while 
 some few will not feel this to be any release, 
 many more will seize upon it as a full ex- 
 cuse for the miserable share they give to 
 God, — ^which, perhaps, they call " honoring 
 him with their substance," but w^hich is far 
 more like dishonoring him with their nig- 
 gardliness. 
 
 I, therefore, place my main reliance in 
 this argument on the proportions of a tenth 
 being of divine institution. Other argu- 
 ments need not be discarded, but in their 
 place may come in with such force as they 
 possess. But it is on God's ordinance of the 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 37 
 
 thing that I rely, and without it I should 
 despair of establishing the matter. Kow 
 we have without any controversy his insti- 
 tution of this proportion in the Mosaic ritual, 
 and even if we could trace the institution no 
 higher — if we were forced to allow that here 
 fii*st was the payment of a tenth to God im- 
 posed as a duty upon each member of his 
 Church, even from this, as I trust will be 
 seen in a succeeding chapter, can be shown 
 that the same proportion is required from 
 the members of the Christian community. 
 But I apprehend that a far earlier origin 
 may reasonably be concluded for the divine 
 institution of a tenth — that it probably dates 
 from the very first promulgation of fallen 
 man's religion, that it certainly dates from 
 times long anterior to that of the law of 
 Moses. 
 
 The argument is one to which no claim of 
 originality can be made, and is simply this : 
 We find that, as well among the ancestors 
 of the Jewish nation as among Gentile na- 
 tions remote from and unconnected with 
 each other, the payment of a tenth for pur- 
 poses of religion was a recognized custom, 
 pointing clearly to a common authoritative 
 origin, which could be no other than the 
 command of God. To give instances of this 
 
38 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 custom would far exceed the limits of the 
 present essay ; they may be found in detail 
 in the learned writings of Spelman and Sel- 
 den, who have traced back the custom of 
 dedicating tithes to religious purposes to a 
 very remote antiquity. The statements of 
 two of our ablest writers on this point are so 
 forcible that I will quote them in preference 
 to any language of my own. " Whatever 
 custom," says Dr. Kennicott, " has prevailed 
 over the world, among nations the most op- 
 posite in polity and customs in general, 
 nations not united by commerce or commu- 
 nication, (when that custom has nothing in 
 nature or the reason of things to give it 
 birth, and establish to itself such a curren- 
 cy,) must be derived from some revelation, 
 which revelation may in certain places have 
 been forgotten, though the custom intro- 
 duced by and founded on such revelation 
 still continued ; and, further, this revelation 
 must have been made antecedent to the dis- 
 persion at Babel, when all mankind, being 
 but one nation, and living together in the 
 form of one large family, were of one lan- 
 guage and governed by the same laws and 
 customs." Collyer, in his "Sacred Inter- 
 preter," writes to the same effect: "From 
 Pagan writers we learn," he says, "that 
 
^MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 39 
 
 several nations, verj far distant from each 
 other, in different parts of the world, and, 
 as it seems, without the least acquaintance 
 or commerce one with another, observed 
 this custom. Now, since this proportion of 
 one in ten is certainly indifferent in itself, 
 any more than one in seven or eight, it is 
 reasonable to believe that this custom of 
 paying tithe, like that of sacrificing, had 
 some divine direction for it ; and that it was 
 derived from Adam to IS'oah, and from him 
 to his posterity, till at length, at the disper- 
 sion of Babel, it spread over all the world." 
 The conclusion of Kennicott and Colly er is 
 surely the conclusion of unprejudiced reason. 
 The wide-spread establishment of a custom, 
 which does not certainl}^ suggest itself natu- 
 rally to the mind, and which requires of 
 man the surrender of what he values most, 
 can be accounted for in no other way. Even 
 if men in different places might agree in 
 giving a portion of their goods to God, they 
 would not all hit upon the same proportion. 
 Some would give more, others less, and 
 probably no two would be agreed. It may, 
 perhaps, somewhat serve to confirm this ar- 
 gument, to show its force in other cases. 
 For instance, the divine origin of the insti- 
 tution of sacrifice is generally admitted 
 
40 MEASURE OF CHKI8TIAN LIBEKALrTY. 
 
 among Christians. Now what is the proof 
 on which men rely for it ? We read indeed 
 in Scripture of the offering of sacrifices 
 from the very earliest times, but in no part 
 are we told that God had first appointed 
 that mode of worship. Its origin is not told 
 us in the Book of Genesis, nor does any sub- 
 sequent scripture refer to it. Its divine in- 
 stitution is received chiefly on these grounds, 
 that while there appears no reason for sup- 
 posing that the propriety of such a mode of 
 worship would naturally suggest itself to the 
 minds of all men, there has yet never been 
 a nation, however remote or ancient, among 
 whom this practice has not prevailed . Hence 
 we learn to refer it to one common authori- 
 tative origin, — to attribute it to the com- 
 mand of God to mankind, when mankind 
 formed but a single family, which family, 
 in its subsequent increases, separations, and 
 migrations, would carry into every land the 
 original tradition, more or less impaired, or 
 altered, or obscured by the various phases 
 of the superstitious and cruel idolatries, 
 which everywhere, alas ! overspread and 
 debased the primitive religion of mankind. 
 I think, then, that we are justified in con- 
 cluding that the origin of the giving of a 
 tenth was God's express command, — a con- 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 41 
 
 elusion reasonable even at this stage of our 
 argument, and which, as it appears to me, 
 when taken in connection with the succeed- 
 ing proofs, will amount to an evidence con- 
 vincing and entire. I will now direct 
 attention to the declarations of Scripture on 
 this head, where we will find every notice 
 of it, and every inference deducible from its 
 notices, in full and perfect harmony with 
 our argument. 
 
42 MEASIJEE OF CHEISTIAISr LIBERALITY. 
 
 CHAPTEE YI. 
 
 "OF ALL THAT THOU SHALT GIVE ME, I WILL 
 SURELY GIVE THE TENTH UNTO THEE." 
 
 We have reason to conclude from Scripture 
 that every important part of human wor- 
 ship and obedience has had its origin, not 
 from man, but directly from God himself. 
 Man did not form his religion from the dic- 
 tates of his own reason and conscience, but 
 received it by revelation ; and it has ever 
 formed one grand distinction between false 
 religions of every shade and the true, that 
 the former have, in greater or less degree, 
 sprung from what St. Paul calls " will-wor- 
 ship," while the latter has adhered to the 
 declared will of God, neither daring to add 
 to nor detract therefrom. True worship 
 never sprang from the earth, and ascended 
 with acceptance to heaven ; but from heaven 
 she came to earth, and thence went back, a 
 welcome visitant to her original home, the 
 bosom of God. 
 
 'No worship of man's own choosing, that 
 is, no heresy, was ever acceptable to God ; 
 to all such he replies, " Who hath required 
 
MEASUKE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 43 
 
 this at your hands ?" So persuaded was 
 Mr. Hallet of the force of this, that he does 
 not hesitate to pronounce that God's accept- 
 ance of Abel's offering was " a demonstra- 
 tion" of its being in obedience to the divine 
 commandment, according to that obvious 
 maxim of all true religion, " In vain do they 
 worship me, teaching for doctrines the com- 
 mandments of men." Even apparently 
 minute and unimportant matters have not 
 been thought by God unworthy of notice, or 
 the deviation from them undeserving of con- 
 demnation. How minute, for example, are 
 the directions of the Levitical law, and yet 
 how sorely was their infraction punished, as 
 witness the account of Korah and his com- 
 pany, of Uzzah, and many others. And 
 hence we have Scriptural reason for suppos- 
 ing that the important matter of the propor- 
 tion of man's acknowledgment to God was 
 not left undetermined, — that believers, in 
 the early days of the world, did not offer 
 their tenth to God from their own sponta- 
 neous impulse, but in obedience to a known 
 commandment. And if it be said that this 
 argument might hold good for the direction 
 of a portion of man's substance being given 
 to God, but that God would, probably, leave 
 the exact proportion to each believer's own 
 
44 MEASURE OF CHKISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 discretion, we answer, that he has himself 
 shown that the proportion of the gift is not 
 beneath his notice, for in the Mosaic law he 
 has ordained a tenth. 
 
 The institution of the Sabbath day affords 
 a parallel case, and one bearing very forcibly, 
 as it appears to me, on our present inquiry. 
 In acknowledgment of the great fact of the 
 creation, and of the sovereign power of the 
 Creator over his creature, God Avould have 
 man to dedicate a portion of his time to his 
 service. Did he then leave this portion un- 
 defined? Had he done so, humanly speak- 
 ing, we would not have had a Sabbath day 
 at all. Men, left to their own judgment, 
 would have varied from each other in the 
 portion set apart. Indolence and aversion 
 to spiritual things would narrow and curtail 
 that portion, till, at length, the very sem- 
 blance of it would have vanished from 
 among men. But he strictly defined its 
 duration in the beginning, and, on the giv- 
 ing of the law to Israel, repeated that defi- 
 nition; and so we Christians have the 
 Sabbath day, the sweet season of bodily 
 rest and spiritual activity, whose observance 
 is the great means of upholding religion in 
 the world, and which ever points the hopes 
 of the way-worn pilgnm of the cross to his 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 45 
 
 eternal rest. If, then, the proportion of 
 man's time that was to be specially dedi- 
 cated to God has been dictated by him, is it 
 not in strict analogy that he should also 
 have defined the proportion of man's sub- 
 stance? And if this, and the offering of 
 sacrifices, and, in fact, every other portion 
 of worship, were revealed from on high, this 
 is surely a Scriptural argument for con- 
 cluding that this part alone was not left 
 unrevealed, in what way and with what 
 proportion of his goods man should honor 
 tlie Creator and Giver of all ! 
 
 Before we come to the consideration of 
 the tenth prescribed in the Mosaic law, we 
 have two extremely important references 
 made to them in the Bible : the first is 
 Abram's gift of a tenth to Melchizedek, and 
 the second Jacob's vow of the same pro- 
 portion to God. To both of them particular 
 attention is due. The first of them, in all its 
 circumstances, forms one of the most mar- 
 velous episodes in Scripture history. It 
 brings forward, for a moment, upon the 
 stage that man of mysterious origin and 
 existence — Melchizedek, to whom David 
 makes one glorious allusion, and of whom 
 Paul speaks in language which, while it 
 heightens our veneration, increases our won- 
 
46 MEASUEE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 der, till, lost in amazement, we are ready to 
 muse in our hearts, as the people did of 
 John, " whether he were indeed the Christ 
 or not." However this be, the transaction is 
 an important one in our argument. It agrees 
 most completely with our hypothesis of the 
 divine origin of the tenth, and with no other ; 
 and the time Avhen it occurred, and the per- 
 sons concerned in it, make it of peculiar force. 
 
 Chedorlaomer and his confederate kings 
 make war on the king of Sodom and his 
 associates, and prevail in battle. The vic- 
 tors seize upon the persons and goods of the 
 vanquished, and with them of Lot and his 
 goods, and proceed with them to their own 
 country. Abram, hearing of his nephew's 
 captivity, arms his dependents — probably 
 few in number compared with those against 
 whom they went — overtakes them on their 
 return, defeats them, and recovers Lot and 
 all the persons and goods that had been car- 
 ried off. To God he owed his victory, and 
 to God was due an acknowledgment of his 
 aid. Accordingly, returning, he meets God's 
 high-priest, and to him he pays a tenth of 
 all the spoils. 
 
 Kow, every part of this transaction has 
 force. The goods, let it be remembered, 
 had been all of them the property of those 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERAI.ITY. 47 
 
 to wliose rescue Abram had gone ; none of 
 them had belonged to the party of Chedor- 
 hiomer, and, consequent!}^, Abram's only 
 claim to them lay in liis having recovered 
 them in battle. This did give him a claim, 
 which the king of Sodom was willing to 
 acknowledge, but which Abram wholly re- 
 fused to profit by for himself: "I will not 
 take," he said, "anything that is thine." 
 ISTow tliis, I think, places his gift to Mel- 
 chizedek in a far stronger light than it would 
 have been in, had we viewed it as simply 
 having been an acknowledgment to God for 
 having restored to him his own property, or 
 for having placed within his hands the prop- 
 erty of the kings he had subdued. He had 
 in the transaction gained nothing for him- 
 self; he will accept of nothing for himself; 
 he disowns his own claim to any portion of 
 the spoils. But he evidently knew that God 
 had his claim to a part of them, in token of 
 his right to all; and the only use he will 
 make of a victory, which had placed all in 
 his possession, is to pay to God his portion 
 of a tenth : the rest he returns to the orio;inal 
 owners. This fact, I think, inconsistent with 
 any other theory than that here advocated — 
 that the gift of a tenth was at this time of 
 divine appointment. Had the goods been 
 
48 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAJST LIBERALITY. 
 
 his own, it might have the appearance of a 
 voluntary act of gratitude ; but, since he re- 
 fused any personal right in them for himself, 
 it has all the appearance of being an act of 
 known and recognized duty. If they had 
 been his own, he might, doubtless, have 
 given to God what proportion of his goods 
 he pleased ; but, as they were not his own, 
 he would scarcely have been generous with 
 another's property. He surrendered his own 
 claim, but he could not surrender God's. 
 The tenth which he gave him he must have 
 felt was not his to withhold, — that it was the 
 peculiar property of him to whom all be- 
 longed. 
 
 With this agrees every other circumstance 
 of the narrative. Thus the manner in Avhich 
 it is spoken of is just that in which a thing 
 of usual and expected occurrence would be 
 mentioned. Were it new or unusual, some 
 notice of the novelty might be expected, as 
 we are told in Scripture of the invention and 
 introduction of other and far less important 
 matters. But this is treated of as a matter 
 of course. Again, Abram's gift is accepted 
 by Melchizedek plainly as his right. As 
 God's priest he blesses Abram, and as God's 
 priest he receives tithes from Abram. Tlie 
 one appeal's just as much a part of his office 
 
MEASURE OF CIIKI8TIAN LIBERALrTY. 49 
 
 as the otlier. JSTow, this gift of a tenth was 
 certainly an act of religion. It was not re- 
 quired by Melchizedek from any poverty of 
 circumstances, for he was a king, and prob- 
 ably a richer man than Abram. It was 
 purely an act of religious homage, and so 
 St. Paul reckons it in the seventh chapter of 
 Hebrews. 
 
 The same apostle's comparison of Mel- 
 chizedek with the Levitical priesthood, and 
 his assertion of the superiority of the former 
 over the latter, absolutely requires us to be- 
 lieve that the payment of a tenth by Abram 
 to him was not a voluntary act, which he 
 might haA^e withheld at pleasure, but was 
 the discharge of positive obligation. If we 
 consider his argument with a little attention 
 we will not fail to see this. The Levitical 
 priesthood, hy the command of God^ received 
 tithes of their people. Their comjm^arid to do 
 so is noticed by the apostle in the fifth verse 
 as their privilege, and is certainly a most 
 important part of it. But it follows as cer- 
 tainly that Melchizedek had the same claim 
 to a tenth from Abram which they had from 
 the Jews, — that is, a divine command. If 
 you deny this, and say that Abram's gift of 
 a tenth was purely voluntary — that Melchiz- 
 edek had no positive right to this propor- 
 4 
 
50 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 tion — that it miglit have been withheld from 
 him without any infringement on his just 
 claims, you certainly place him in this re- 
 spect on an inferior footing to the priesthood 
 of Aaron, and take away one of those grounds 
 on which St. Paul claims for him a superi- 
 ority over Levi — namely, his right to a tenth 
 from Abram. This latter argument appears 
 a conclusive one, and seems to follow from 
 the apostle's comparison of the two orders 
 of priesthood in the seventh chapter of He- 
 brews. For surely, if a tenth were Levi's 
 right by divine ordinance, while Melchize- 
 dek had no such right at all, he is in this 
 respect inferior to Levi, and Paul's argument 
 from his reception of a tenth from Abram an 
 inconclusive one. 
 
 This case being then established, the time 
 of the occurrence and the persons engaged 
 in it render it of peculiar value. It took 
 place before the covenant or circumcision 
 was ordained ; before the first step was taken 
 toward the formation of that Jewish consti- 
 tution which was developed under Moses ; 
 and, consequently, wholly free from the in- 
 ference (a groundless one, as we shall after- 
 ward see) that, being a part of the Mosaic 
 dispensation, it has been done away in Christ. 
 Again, to Avhom was this tenth paid? To 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 51 
 
 Melcliizedek. I will not inquire here who 
 Melchizeclek was. It is beside our object, 
 and perhaps beyond our power to determine. 
 It is sufficient to say, that of all the person- 
 ages of the Old Testament he is preemi- 
 nently the type of Christ. ITeither Moses, 
 the great lawgiver of Israel, nor Aaron, their 
 high-priest, nor Joshua, the renowned cap- 
 tain to lead them to their promised Canaan, 
 nor David, triumphant over his people's 
 enemies, nor Solomon, reigning in glory 
 over a united and peaceful community, are 
 to be compared as types of Christ with that 
 great king of righteousness and peace, who 
 was also, in a sense that none before or since, 
 save the glorious Antitype, have been — the 
 spriest of God. 
 
 It was then to a person who was the pe- 
 culiar type of the Head of the Christian dis- 
 pensation, and in times peculiarly prophetical 
 of the Christian era, as well as at a period 
 distinguished by a plain mark of separation 
 from all that might be distinctive of Judaism, 
 we find this payment of a tenth to God in 
 force by his own command. When we come 
 to speak of the Christian's obligation in this 
 respect to God we will draw our inference 
 from this important transaction, and will 
 now pass on to consider another of equal 
 
52 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LrBERALITT. 
 
 value in our argument — the celebrated vow 
 of the patriarch Jacob. 
 
 With what deep delight does the believer's 
 mind dwell on the vision of Bethel ! Sin 
 had placed an infinite distance between 
 heaven and earth, but here we find the com- 
 munication of these two reopened, and sweet 
 communion established. The scene is, in- 
 deed, a bright spot amid a dark world — a 
 green, smiling region within a surrounding 
 desert — a transfiguration scene, which lights 
 uj) the earth again Avith its former bright- 
 ness, and points to the time when it shall be 
 said of it with truth, " It is good to be here." 
 It draws back the mind to that golden age 
 when God walked ^ith his newly-formed 
 creature as with a friend; and draws it on 
 to the restoration of that age when the be- 
 liever shall see heaven opened, and the an- 
 gels of God ascending and descending upon 
 the Son of man. But our argument confines 
 us to a single feature in this transaction. 
 Jacob, flying from his brother, lies down at 
 the close of day to refresh himself in sleep. 
 Alone he could not be, for he was the ob- 
 ject of that care which never slumbers, and 
 which selected the time wlien he seemed 
 most friendless to display itself most fully. 
 In his vision of the night he beholds the in- 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 53 
 
 habitants of heaven, and heaven's great 
 King, and hears from his lips the assuring 
 promise of provision for " the life that now 
 is, as well as for that which was to come." 
 He awakes from sleep impressed with the 
 certainty, that this was, indeed, a " heaven- 
 sent dream." The spirit of Jacob was the 
 free spirit of all God's children. They bar- 
 gain not to be admitted to his favor, but 
 having "freely received they freely give;" 
 having been bought with a precious price, 
 and loved with an endless love, they devote 
 themselves and theirs to their redeeming 
 God. Such was the spirit of Jacob. What 
 he should do for God in the heavenly rest to 
 which he looked forward after his pilgrimage, 
 he leaves for the arrival of that rest to de- 
 termine : what he should do in the present 
 time while his day lasted, like a wise man 
 he determines. "The Lord shall be my 
 God," is his resolution, " and this stone 
 which I have set up for a pillar shall be 
 God's house ; and of all that thou shalt give 
 me I will give the tenth part unto thee." 
 
 Our object confines us to noticing only the 
 latter part of Jacob's vow — namely, the de- 
 voting a tenth of all his future increase to 
 God. Having shown already, and particu- 
 larly in the case of Abram, that the giving 
 
54 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 a tenth of our goods to God was in conform- 
 ity with the divine command, we view Ja- 
 cob's conduct in the same light. We regard 
 liim not as performing what he esteemed a 
 mere vohmtary act, but as discharging a 
 sacred obhgation ; as making that return to 
 God for his bounty which he knew to be ex- 
 pected from him. If we have consented 
 to the reasoning in Abram's case we can 
 scarcely doubt tliat Jacob, his grandson, and 
 of course acquainted with his conduct, acted 
 on the same motives. He is a link connect- 
 ing together evangelical and legal times — 
 the days of Melchizedek and those of Moses ; 
 exhibithig the harmonious action of believers 
 in varying dispensations in obedience to an 
 unchanged commandment. Regarded thus, 
 it places our subject in, perhaps, a fuller and 
 plainer light, more divested of circumstances 
 not essentially connected with it, than any 
 other similar transaction ; and certainly sup- 
 plies some matters of moment, which we 
 could not with certainty have inferred from 
 Abram's oifering of a tenth. 
 
 And, first, Jacob's vow is a vow of all 
 future blessing, and, therefore, to be con- 
 tinued through liis lifetime. We might, per- 
 haps, have supposed that Abram's offering 
 this proportion was an isolated act on his 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 55 
 
 part, called forth on a particular occasion. 
 If such were our opinion, Jacob's vow cor- 
 rects it. This proportion was God's due at 
 all periods of the believer's earthly existence; 
 whether at times when God more plainly 
 and more remarkably opened his hand and 
 filled him with abundance, or when in the 
 ordinary course of his providence he " blessed 
 his basket and his store." It was to be called 
 forth, not merely on such occasions as the 
 victory of a few over many, which restored 
 to its owners what had seemed lost beyond 
 recovery; but was also to be the return for 
 those more unobtrusive but equally eloquent 
 proofs of the divine goodness, which nature 
 in her revolving course presents — that sun 
 which gives life to the creation, those dews 
 which refresh earth's parched surface, those 
 "rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, 
 which fill man's heart with food and glad- 
 ness." Such is one lesson we learn from Ja- 
 cob's vow — " Of all that thou shalt give me, 
 I will surely give the tenth unto thee." 
 
 Again, Jacob's vow is to be regarded as 
 of importance in this respect, that no part 
 of it was for the use of a priesthood. Mel- 
 chizedek had gone as he had come ; the 
 priesthood of Levi was not yet in being ; the 
 priest of Jacob's household was Jacob him- 
 
56 MEASUKE OF CHKISTIAN LIEEKALITY. 
 
 self. Yet now, as well as before or after, 
 was this proportion of a tenth paid to God. 
 Now, this fact is of value. It separates the 
 matter wholly from man's jurisdiction, and 
 places it in its simple original light, as an 
 act of pure, immixed homage to God. When 
 there was no ministry to support, it was yet 
 God's claim, and accorded to him. I do, 
 therefore, value tliis fact highly. Had the 
 tenth never been given save in connection 
 with a ministry, this might with some minds 
 have obscured its great primary object. But 
 here nothing stands between the offerer and 
 the Being to whom lie offers — no class or 
 caste may presume to say, "This is ours, it 
 was ordained for us ;" for here we see it to 
 be God's and God's only, ordained for his 
 sole glory. I^ow, I am not arguing against 
 the claim of God's ministry to a portion of 
 this tenth ; far from it. We will see, that in 
 its distribution, they are in Christian as in 
 Jewish times to be considered as entitled to 
 maintenance from it. I am simply laying 
 down this fact, drawn from Jacob's case, that 
 the institution of a tenth had this for its first, 
 and I may say its sole object, the glorifying 
 God in the offering to him a portion of that 
 which all came from him, and which all, in 
 fact, belonged to him. What God wills us 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBEKALITY. 57 
 
 to do with it, how to use it, and in what pro- 
 portion, is another question altogether. But 
 this we may be sure of, that it was for God 
 it was ordained, tliat he might be glorified in 
 that which was his. 
 
 The last consideration, that in Jacob's time 
 no portion of the tenth was for the use of a 
 priesthood, while it was yet paid to God, 
 helps to make certain what we have prev- 
 iously shown to be at any rate probable, that 
 this custom dates from the beginning ; that 
 when the Sabbath-day was hallowed, and 
 sacrifices ordained, then, too, a tenth was 
 fixed on by God as the portion which man 
 was to return to him. It might have been 
 supposed, from the instances of Melchizedek 
 and Levi, that this proportion was ordained 
 for a priesthood, and therefore had its origin 
 on the first formation of a separate ministry. 
 I^ow, we do not reckon the heads of families 
 to have been a separate order analogous to 
 the Jewish priesthood or the Christian min- 
 istry. Melchizedek seems to have been the 
 first to exercise by divine appointment a 
 ministerial care over those not connected 
 with him by the ties of family, and some 
 might thence imagine that in his time the 
 gift of a tenth was introduced. But the case 
 of Jacob overturns this idea. Required in 
 
58 MEASURE OF CHKISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 his time without any reference to a priest- 
 hood, there was the same reason at all pre- 
 vious times for its existence ; and therefore 
 we may infer, that it was the ordinance of 
 God, not merely when Melchizedek walked 
 upon the earth, or the sons of Aaron were 
 sustained by it, but also wlien Adam lived 
 by the sweat of his brow, and his children 
 pursued their occupations of shepherds and 
 husbandmen. I know not if this throws any 
 light upon the much-vexed question of Cain 
 and Abel's offering. It was on the part of 
 both an act of religious homage. Cain seems 
 to have expected as his right that his offer- 
 ing would have been accepted, which he 
 could scarcely have done if he had not 
 known it to have been commanded. Was 
 not this his tenth, which the reason even of 
 the natural man allows to be due to God, 
 and which therefore Cain offered, while he 
 disdained such an offering as spoke of atone- 
 ment? Abel in the firstlings of his flock 
 paid his tenth, and also confessed his faith 
 in a sinner's religion, which is the religion 
 of atonement. Cain in the fruit of the 
 ground paid his tenth too, but he would 
 make no confession of sin, acknowledge no 
 need of a Saviour — a type of those later 
 Pharisees, who would not so much as de- 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 59 
 
 fraud God of the tithe of their garden herbs, 
 while they disdained tlie atonement of Christ 
 and shed his innocent blood. To this the 
 language of God to Cain seems fully to agree: 
 "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accept- 
 ed ?" that is, "If thou art righteous, thou hast 
 indeed made me the only offering I could 
 require — an acknowledgment of my sover- 
 eignty and a return for my bounty;" but 
 "if thou doest not well," if thou be not right- 
 eous, "thy oflering is not sufficient, thy sin 
 still lies at thy door unremoved, and I can 
 be pleased with no w^ork of thine ;" or, if we 
 prefer Archbishop Magee's translation, who 
 for "sin" reads " sin-oifering," then God, in 
 plain language, tells him that for the removal 
 of his unrighteousness animal sacrifice was 
 required, typical of the efficacious sacrifice 
 of Christ. 
 
60 MEABUBE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 CHAPTEE YII. 
 
 " ALL THE TITHE OF THE LAND IS THE LORD'S." 
 
 Having considered the cases of Abram and 
 Jacob, we come next to consider that of 
 the Jewish tithe. Its institution by God is 
 not disputed ; the only inquiry here can be, 
 Was this his first institution of it ? If we 
 have consented to the preceding argument, 
 we shall have come to the conclusion that it 
 was not. But here I would premise, that I 
 do not rest the case solely upon the conces- 
 sion of this point. If it be allowed, then in- 
 deed my argument must be admitted, that a 
 tenth is that proportion which a Christian 
 should give to God. But if it be disallow- 
 ed, — if it be sujDposed that the first divine 
 appointment of a tenth dates no higher than 
 the time of Moses, even on this lower ground 
 I am of opinion that the matter may satis- 
 factorily be established. 
 
 I do not, however, view the matter in this 
 light at all. Agreeably to the whole tenor 
 of our past reflections, I regard the Mosaic 
 institution of a tenth as but the continuance 
 of God's ancient claim with a new applica- 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 61 
 
 tion of it for the purposes of the Mosaic 
 ritual. I regard it, not as a new ordinance, 
 but the republication and assertion of an old 
 one. For the proof of this I rely, of course, 
 on what has been advanced in the previous 
 chapters, and if the arguments there have 
 been sound, the matter is placed beyond 
 dispute. But I will, nevertheless, proceed 
 to show, that every fair inference drawn 
 from the mention of the subject in the law 
 of Moses is in full conformity with the con- 
 clusion that has been already come to. In 
 our inquiry I will not encumber the ques- 
 tion by a reference to any of the JcAvish 
 offerings or sacrifices except that tenth which 
 was claimed by God as his portion, and by 
 him appropriated to the maintenance of the 
 Levites and the service of the sanctuary. 
 
 And, first, I am glad to strengthen my 
 position by the authority of a great reasoner, 
 and one who has done good service in the 
 defence of the vital doctrines of the Chris- 
 tian faith, — I mean the late Archbishop 
 Magee. In his great work on the Atone- 
 ment, he uses an argument in support of the 
 divine origin of sacrifices which applies in 
 its full force, with merely a change of some 
 of the names, to the establishment of the 
 divine origin of a tenth : speaking of sacri- 
 
62 MEASURE OF CHKISTIAN LIBEEALITY. 
 
 fices lie says, " That tlie institution was of 
 divine ordinance may, in the first instance, 
 be reasonably inferred from the strong and 
 sensible attestation of the divine acceptance 
 in the case of Abel, again in that of Noah, 
 afterward withal of Abraham, and also by 
 the systematic establishment of them by the 
 same divine authority in the dispensation of 
 Moses." For the names here mentioned, if 
 we will use those of Abram and Jacob, 
 Magee's argument stands in its entire force 
 for our conclusion. That Abram's offering 
 of a tenth was accepted by God we know 
 from his having received the blessing of 
 Melchizedek. That Jacob's vow of a tenth 
 was equally so, we know from the abundant 
 blessing which God bestowed upon him ; to 
 use his own simple, expressive words in his 
 prayer to God before his meeting with 
 Esau, " With his staff he passed over Jor- 
 dan, and now he was become two bands." 
 AYhile the appointment of a tenth stands on 
 the same footing in the Mosaic law with 
 that of sacrifice, namely, a divine command ; 
 if the argument holds good for sacrifice, it 
 certainly holds good for tithes also. 
 
 Again ; it is much more consistent with 
 the Scriptural character of God to suppose 
 that in this ordinance he continued a rule 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 63 
 
 previously enjoined by himself, than that he 
 adopted a scale which had first recommend- 
 ed itself to the uninspired judgment of man. 
 The whole spirit of Scripture leads us to con- 
 clude that the true God borrows nothing 
 from man. He is the teacher, never the 
 taught. The very minutest ceremonies of 
 the law were dictated by him. The most 
 trivial portions of the Tabernacle were com- 
 manded to be made after his pattern. The 
 customs of the surrounding nations in their 
 religious worship, however innocent some of 
 these were in themselves, were forbidden to 
 his people. Much less may we suppose that 
 so important a part of the law as its tenth 
 was borrowed by him from man. Nor will 
 it answer here to say that those from whose 
 example this may be supposed to have been 
 taken were faithful men, unlike those idola- 
 trous nations whom Israel was forbid to 
 imitate. "What is the wisdom of Abram or 
 of Jacob in his sight " who chargeth his 
 angels with folly ?" It is, then, more rea- 
 sonable to conclude from the Scriptural char- 
 acter of God that his ordinance of a tenth in 
 the Mosaic law was a continued assertion of 
 his own commandment, than that it was 
 copied from the example either of Jacob or 
 of Abram. 
 
64 MEASURE OF CHKISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 Again; this is more consonant with the 
 nature of the law itself, which in all of it 
 that is of a moral nature, and in much that 
 is of a ceremonial, was but the republication 
 of an older commandment. Imprinted at 
 lii-st on the unfallen mind, the moral law was 
 never quite obliterated even from fallen na- 
 ture, as St. Paul declares in the second chap- 
 ter of Komans ; it was revealed, in parts at 
 least, fi'om time to time, until the more full 
 declaration of it by Moses, and has only had 
 its full spiritual meaning brought out, and 
 its deep obligation enforced, by the Christian 
 dispensation. I^ow we claim for the giving 
 of a tenth to God all the authority of moral 
 obligation. It is from its nature wholly shut 
 out from the domain of mere ceremonies and 
 traditions, which may be of force in one dis- 
 pensation and abrogated in another. The 
 gift of some portion to him none can deny to 
 have this force, always, in all places, at all 
 times ; and it only remains for God to name 
 his proportion in order to give to that pecul- 
 iar portion the force of a moral precept. 
 We will again use the analogous instance of 
 the Sabbath-day to illustrate our argument. 
 To devote a portion of our time to the special 
 service of him to whom all our days are due 
 is a moral obligation ; but God having speci- 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 65 
 
 fied a seventh as the particular portion he 
 claims, makes our observance of a seventh, 
 rather than of any other portion, to be the 
 point in which our obligation lies. The gift 
 of a tenth, then, being morally obligatory, 
 forming an important part of the moral law 
 binding on the Jewish conscience, being no 
 mean part of that worship due by them to 
 Jehovah, and partaking in no degree of the 
 nature of that code of ritual from which 
 Christ has set us free, it is only agreeable 
 with all we are told of the moral law to sup- 
 pose that this, as every other part of it, came 
 not first into force when it fell from the lips 
 of Moses, but had its previous sanction of the 
 divine commandment, and its previous claim 
 to man's obedience. 
 
 Again; we have reason to conclude, that 
 in the extent of moral obedience the Israel- 
 ites were not subjected to a stricter law than 
 the Church of Grod in preceding times. In 
 one point we know that, from the hardness 
 of their hearts, their departure from the 
 purer and stricter law of earlier days was, 
 we do not say approved of, but suffered to 
 take place; we allude to the subject of 
 divorce. We may, then, reasonably con- 
 clude that in other respects no stricter law 
 of morals was imposed upon them, which 
 
66 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 would be the case ii' the Jewish proportion 
 were a tenth, while believers of previous 
 times could discharge their obligation by 
 the gift of what portion they pleased — a 
 twentieth it might be, or less. 
 
 Once more ; we rely on the manner in 
 which tithes are spoken of in the law of 
 Moses as establishing the fact that they were 
 not then for the first time made the peculiar 
 property of God. Particular attention is due 
 to this. The twenty-seventh chapter of Levit- 
 icus and thirtieth verse is the first place in 
 the law where a tenth is spoken of. Let us 
 mark the way in wliicli it is spoken of: "All 
 the titlie of the land, whether of the seed of 
 the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the 
 Lord''s : it is holy unto the Loy^dP The use 
 of the present tense forbids us to suppose that 
 now first was a tenth made the property of 
 God ; it obliges us to allow that it was already 
 his. Even if he had said of it, as in fact he 
 does in verse thirty-two, ''It shall he holy to 
 the Lord," this would not prove it to be then 
 first ordained, for it might properly signify 
 the continued appointment of a previous law, 
 as we know to be the case with the ten com- 
 mandments, which run in the future tense; 
 but where he says of it, ''It is hohf^ to him, 
 this cannot signify any otlier tiling than that 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 67 
 
 wliat was spoken of was already established 
 when the Avords were uttered. We need not 
 fear relying on the plain grammatical sense of 
 Scripture. It was written under the inspira- 
 tion of that Spirit who would not allow error 
 to be conveyed by its language. But if we 
 turn our attention to the same expression in 
 the case of other ordinances, we will be con- 
 firmed in our view of the sense w^e have 
 taken of it when applied to a tenth. Another 
 such expression precisely occurs in this chap- 
 ter about the firstlings of beasts ; and it is to 
 be remarked that, with the exception of this 
 and that of the tenth, every other ordinance 
 in the chapter is in the future tense. The 
 twenty-sixth verse reads thus : '' Only the 
 firstling of the beasts, which should be the 
 Lord's firstling, no man shall sanctify it: 
 whether it be ox or sheep : it is the LorWsP 
 Moses here speaks of a law already estab- 
 lished on the departure of Israel from Egypt, 
 and with this agrees the expression, '-^It is 
 the Lord^sP Poole's comment on this verse 
 is short and striking. He says, that the Is- 
 raelite " is forbid to vow his firstling because 
 it is not his own, but the Lord's already, and 
 therefore to vow such a thing to God is a 
 tacit derogation from, and a usurpation of 
 the Lord's right, and a mocking of God by 
 
68 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 pretending to give him what we cannot with- 
 hold from him." We should have expected 
 to find him in his comment on verse thirty 
 saying of the tenth what he has, when ex- 
 plaining verse twenty-six, said so well of the 
 firstling ; but we have no hesitation in assert- 
 ing that the same expression is adopted in 
 verse thirty of the tithe, because it was then 
 no new ordinance, but God's old and long- 
 established claim. Let us take another simi- 
 lar example in the case of the Sabbath-day, 
 ordained to be observed at the creation. The 
 first mention of the Sabbath in the law is in 
 Exodus xvi, 23: "And he said unto them. 
 This is that which the Lord hath said, To- 
 morrow is the rest of the holy Sahhath unto 
 the Lord." "Whatever Moses may refer to 
 in his expression, "The Lord hath said," 
 whether to his ordinance of the Sabbath in 
 the second chapter of Genesis, or to a subse- 
 quent ordinance of that day, there is no 
 doubt that the expression, "To-morrow is 
 the rest of the Sabbath," means that it was 
 an ordinance already established, not one 
 now first introduced. Thus confirmed in 
 the view taken of Leviticus xxvii, 30, we 
 need not hesitate in concluding that it sup- 
 ports all the preceding arguments on the 
 subject of the tenth, establishing the fact, 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN 1.IBERALITY. 69 
 
 that it was not first introduced as a divine 
 appointment in the Mosaic dispensation, but 
 was continued in that dispensation from a 
 preceding age. 
 
 We have thus far then proceeded in our 
 argument, and will not, I apprehend, find 
 much difiiculty in the application of it to the 
 Christian's obligations. We have seen that 
 the ordinance of a tenth was originally the 
 command of God to the world at large, and 
 as such its traces have been met with in re- 
 mote and unconnected lands. As in the late 
 anxious searches for the gallant band lost 
 amid Arctic snows, the discovery of some- 
 what that had belonged to them, or some 
 other memorial, led the searchers to con- 
 clude, "Here Franklin passed, or here he 
 spent the weary polar winter ;" so the traces 
 of a tenth amid the superstitions and idola- 
 tries of many lands led us to acknowledge 
 the existence of a divine law which traversed 
 the world, and, piloted by heavenly skill, 
 never wholly suffered shipwreck. We have 
 seen even ungodly Cain recognizing God's 
 claim to a portion of his substance, though 
 his gift was not accepted, being offered 
 not in faith, but in a self-righteous spirit; 
 as in later times God disdained the offer- 
 ings of those who rejected his only Son. 
 
70 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 We have seen Abram, the friend of God, 
 paying to God's priest as his right the tenth 
 of all his spoils, and Jacob vowing to the 
 bountiful Giver of blessing the same portion 
 of all his substance. And, finally, we liave 
 seen God himself, in the Mosaic dispensa- 
 tion, by his ordinance of a tenth marking by 
 unmistakable sign this law as having come 
 from himself; acknowledging it there, not 
 as the mere chance product of human grati- 
 tude seeking thus to express its deep obliga- 
 tions, but as his own command first issued 
 to the world at large, to keep alive and per- 
 petuate in the minds of those who would 
 fain be independent, his claim to universal 
 sovereignty. 
 
 Before leaving this chapter, there is one 
 inference that I w^ish to draw. We saw, in 
 the instance in Abram's life, that God's tenth 
 was all of it given to Melchizedek ; in Ja- 
 cob's case we concluded, that none of it was 
 devoted to the maintenance of a priesthood ; 
 while, in the present chapter, we see that its 
 principal object was for the support of the 
 ministry of Levi, including the Jewish priest- 
 liood. What I would infer, then, is this, 
 that while the tenth is at all times due, and 
 to be paid to God, the way in which he 
 wishes it to be used is not always the same, 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. Yl 
 
 but varies according to the dispensation and 
 his appointment. It may all of it go to sup- 
 port a ministry, or none of it may be spent 
 tliat way, or a portion of it may suffice. All 
 depends on the expression of his will to whom 
 it belongs. 
 
 We have hitherto strictly confined our at- 
 tention to the subject of the tenth, and have 
 prepared the way for the consideration of it 
 as it affects us of the Christian dispensation. 
 We cannot, however, come immediately to 
 this point. Our Scriptural inquiries will, I 
 think, lead us to the conclusion, that while 
 a tenth is God's general claim on man, on 
 some he makes a further claim. From most 
 it may be a tenth is all that he expects, but 
 there would appear to be others from whom 
 he looks for a far more bountiful gift. We 
 propose, then, in reference to these latter to 
 consider the subject of the Jewish free-will 
 offerings. 
 
72 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITT. 
 
 CHAPTEE ym. 
 
 "I HAVE SEEN WITH J"OY THY PEOPLE TO 
 OFFER WILLINGLY UNTO THEE." 
 
 A TITHE was the general law for Israel ; but 
 Jewish liberality was by no means confined 
 within that limit. It was neither intended 
 to be so by Him, who being himself all 
 bountiful, loveth also a cheerful giver ; nor 
 was it so accepted by those to whom was 
 given along with abundance the free spirit 
 which loves to communicate. In God's 
 ancient Church were those who disdained 
 to set a limit to their bounty where the 
 cause of Jehovah was concerned ; but only 
 thought themselves too highly honored in 
 bestowing their wealth on him. How de- 
 lightful to look back upon those glorious 
 pages of Jewish history, when this free 
 spirit animated the nation as one man; 
 when all, both high and low, from the 
 prince and noble to the humblest Israelite, 
 vied in pouring their gifts into the treasury 
 of God. The precious metals dug from the 
 bowels of the earth, the costly stones gath- 
 ered from the ocean and the mine, rich furs, 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 73 
 
 fine linen, costly woods, and spices, all were 
 offered willingly in the sacred cause. Those 
 who had none of these, but to whom God 
 had given wisdom to devise or hands to exe- 
 cute, devoted freely the inventions of genius, 
 the skill of art, and the strength of labor, in 
 executing the work of God. 'No selfish 
 thought seems to have come across their 
 minds, no covetous reflections to have check- 
 ed the free current of their bounty. They 
 only reflected that it was for God they did 
 it, and with that view no gift appeared too 
 valuable or great. How sad the contrast 
 with other periods when covetousness and 
 selfishness took the place of bounty and of 
 gratitude ; when not merely free-will offer- 
 ings were grudged, but the appointed tenth 
 was withdrawn. 'Not more striking was the 
 contrast between the condition of Israel at 
 these differing times. In the one the win- 
 dows of heaven were opened, and plenty 
 poured out from her free horn, while glad- 
 ness dwelt within the heart, and joy beamed 
 on the countenances, of a happy people ; in 
 the other God in displeasure dried up the 
 fountain whence the streams of refreshing 
 had flowed in their various channels, and 
 gloom overshadowed the face, and repining 
 saddened the spirits, of the selfish nation ; 
 
Y4 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 for it was true which Solomon said, " There 
 is that scattereth and yet increaseth ; and 
 there is that withholdeth more than k meet, 
 and it tendeth to poverty." 
 
 The free-will offering differed from the 
 tenth, not only in that it was not required 
 from all the people, but that even where it 
 was expected, discretion seems to have been 
 allowed as to how much or how little should 
 be given. To give a tenth was the bounden 
 duty of every Israelite, but the free-will 
 offering depended on the ability and will- 
 ingness of the offerer. The one was re- 
 quired of all the people ; the reluctant and 
 the grudging were scarcely invited to join 
 in the other. " Speak unto the children of 
 Israel," said God in one place to Moses, 
 " that they bring me an offering : of every 
 man that giveth it willingly witli his heart, 
 ye shall take my offering.'''' Thus we see the 
 discretion that was allowed in these offer- 
 ings. That which man felt willing to give, 
 God invited him to bestow ; but where the 
 w^illing spirit ceased, the offering was not 
 pressed. It is still called, and really was as 
 much, God's as was the tenth, and so we 
 will see it a little further on allowed to be 
 by his servants ; but yet it was ordinarily left 
 optional with the Israelite. To him was 
 
ilKASlJRE OF CIIEISTIAN LIBEKALITY. Y5 
 
 said, as to liis successor in this Christian dis- 
 pensation, Let every man do as he is disposed 
 in liis heart, not grudgingl}^ or of necessity. 
 With this discretionary power were, how- 
 ever, added the restrictions, that whatever 
 was offered should be perfect in its kind and 
 witliout blemish, and that what was once of- 
 fered could not be withdrawn. 
 
 The Jewish free-will offering was, in some 
 instances at least, of a permanent nature. 
 Ordinarily a gift, greater or less as occasion- 
 al circumstances required, it was sometimes 
 regular in its payment and obligatory in its 
 nature, because, though at first voluntarily 
 undertaken, yet when undertaken it could 
 not be withdrawn, in conformity with tlie 
 precept of Dent, xxiii, 23. Of this kind was 
 that annual tribute which the Jews on their 
 return from Babylon bound themselves to 
 pay to God for the service of his house. In 
 the course of time it amounted to an im- 
 mense treasure, contributed not only by 
 those Jews inhabiting Palestine, but also by 
 those scattered throughout Gentile cities, 
 and exciting by its vastness the cupidity and 
 rapacity of Mithridates, of Pompey, and of 
 Crassus. (Hooker's Eccl. Pol., 1. xiv, c. 7.) 
 " Let no one wonder," says Josephus, (Ant., 
 1. xiv, c. Yj) " that there was so much wealth 
 
76 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 in our temple, since all the Jews throughout 
 the habitable earth, and those that worship- 
 ed God, (that is, proselytes,) nay, even those 
 of Europe and Asia, sent their contributions 
 to it, and this from very ancient times. 
 
 But, generally speaking, their free-will 
 offerings were made on extraordinary occa- 
 sions. The principal ones of these that we 
 read of in Scripture were three in number, 
 and all of them foi* the purpose of raising a 
 house to God. The first of these was the 
 erection of the Tabernacle in the wilderness ; 
 the second, the preparation for the building 
 of the Temple in the reign of David, and its 
 actual building by Solomon ; the third was 
 on the return of the captive tribes from 
 Babylon, when they proceeded to reerect 
 on its former site the holy house, which had 
 been laid waste for their sins. On each of 
 these occasions the enthusiasm of the people 
 in offering was very great ; and vast as was 
 the amount of costly and valuable things re • 
 quired, all was supplied, and more than 
 supplied, by the zealous liberality of the 
 offerers. When the Tabernacle was being 
 made and furnished we are told that the 
 people required, not to be urged to give, but 
 to be restrained from giving. How extra- 
 ordinary does it sound in these covetous 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 77 
 
 times the complaint of the overseers of the 
 building, " The people bring much more 
 than enough for the service of the work, 
 which the Lord commanded to make !" 
 How strangely does it read, in these days of 
 calculating selfishness, the command which 
 Moses caused thereon to be proclaimed 
 throughout the camp of Israel, " Let neither 
 man nor woman make any more work for 
 the offering of the sanctuary!" Li the 
 wealthy reigns of David and Solomon, the 
 amount contributed almost exceeds calcula- 
 tion. While on the return of the captives, 
 in poverty no doubt, from Babylon, the lan- 
 guage of the inspired historian is brief but 
 very significant, " They offered freely for the 
 house of God," "They gave after their 
 ability." 
 
 Such were the Jewish free-will offerings 
 when extraordinary occasions called for their 
 liberality. In the times of their piety to 
 God his appeal was not made in vain. The 
 treasures of the nation were expended in his 
 cause with a zeal and a self-denial becoming 
 the chosen people. O, had they been always 
 thus, and in other respects as in this, then 
 would Jerusalem have been, what she will 
 one day be, " a praise upon earth." Per- 
 haps some are ready to say, " These were 
 
Y8 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 sad times in Judali when the people thus 
 ahenated from themselves and their families 
 their most valuable substance." So might 
 covetousness say, but so saith not the bounti- 
 ful heart. To such the joy of giving is 
 greater, deeper, purer, and more lasting, 
 than the joy of receiving. Let us turn to 
 one of those occasions before referred to, 
 when David assembles the congregation of 
 Israel, and declares what he has offered, 
 and receives from them their offerings for 
 the Temple which Solomon was to build. 
 Among the many days of holy joy which 
 rose upon the chosen people throughout 
 tlieir wonderful career, this was one of the 
 brightest. It takes its place side by side 
 with that glorious morning, when Israel, 
 saved from the hands of the Egyptians, saw 
 their enemies dead on the searshore ; when 
 Moses and the people sang their song of 
 thanksgiving ; when Miriam took the tim- 
 brel in her hand, and all the women went out 
 after her with timbrels and with dances, and 
 their glad liymn was, " Sing ye to the Lord, 
 for he hath triumphed gloriously : the horse 
 and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." 
 It deserves to be remembered for its joy 
 with that great Passover kept in the reign 
 of Hezekiah, after a long interval of neglect 
 
MEASURE OF ClIKISTIAN LIBERALITY. 79 
 
 of that holy ordinance, when the pious king 
 recalled to Israel's mind their ingratitude, 
 and moved them to repentance ; when, in 
 their new-born zeal, they kept not only the 
 seven days of the feast appointed by the law, 
 but other seven also, " with exceeding glad- 
 ness;" when there was great joy in Jerusa- 
 lem, because since the days of Solomon there 
 had been no such Passover ; when the priests, 
 the Levites, arose and blessed the people, 
 and their voice was heard, and their prayer 
 came up into his holy dwelling-place, even 
 into heaven. It ranks with that day of re- 
 joicing when the liberated captive took 
 down the harp which he had hung upon the 
 willows by the watei^ of Babylon — when, if 
 he wept at the remembrance of Zion, it was 
 with tears of joy at the prospect of soon 
 again beholding her battlements and towers 
 — when each said to the other, " Sing aloud 
 unto God our strength : make a joyful noise 
 unto the God of Jacob ;" and there was 
 heard again in Judah " the voice of harpers 
 harping with their harps." Even such a day 
 was that when David and the people offered, 
 with joyful willingness, the best of their sub- 
 stance for the Temple of their Lord. 
 
 Kor did they think in doing so that they 
 were doing any such work of supererogation 
 
80 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 as made God their debtor. It remained for 
 later times to set up this false and blasphe- 
 mous claim of human merit. It remained 
 for those, who assert for themselves exclu- 
 sively the possession of the faith, but whom 
 the word of truth describes as apostate from 
 the faith, to put forward this arrogant pre- 
 tension. In the seasons of deepest devotion 
 to God, when all they had and all they were 
 were laid at his feet, the feelings of the 
 faithful Israelite, and his language, were 
 ever the humblest. Then were their short- 
 comings most keenly remembered, while 
 their performances of duty were felt to be 
 God's due, and at the best imperfect. The 
 praise which was continually in their 
 mouths was the praise of God ; and when 
 this praise was at its highest note, the deep 
 bass which accompanied it, and gave it 
 volume, was that of humiliation and self- 
 abasement. As David prayed that the 
 " free-will offerings of his mouth might be 
 accepted of the Lord," thereby confessing 
 them unworthy of him whom they would 
 celebrate, so he felt when offering his own 
 and his people's offerings. He knew, after 
 all, that the offerer was sinful, and his gift 
 the property of God. " Who am I," said he, 
 " and what is my people, that we shall be 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBEKALITY. 81 
 
 able to offer so willingly after this sort ; for 
 all things come of thee, and of thine own 
 have we given thee?" 
 
 We reserve for a future chapter the dis- 
 cussion on the propriety on the part of some 
 of free-will offerings over and above their 
 tenth. With one single observation we will 
 dismiss this present chapter. That which 
 Solomon expended on the house of God 
 brought a more pure and real joy to his 
 heart, and more lasting honor to his name, 
 than his subsequent vast expenditure on the 
 splendor of his court and the magnificence 
 of his harem. 
 
 6 
 
82 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.. 
 
 CHAPTEK IX. 
 
 "HONOR THE LORD WITH THY SUBSTANCE." 
 
 We have now brought down our subject to 
 that point when we are to apply it to our- 
 selves. This is our serious inquiry, Have 
 the foregoing arguments any reference to us 
 or not? Are Christians under the same ob- 
 ligations to God in the expenditure of their 
 substance, that we have seen his people to be 
 under in the Jewish and preceding dispensa- 
 tions; or has Christianity, in relieving them 
 from the burden of Jewish ceremonial, also 
 left them at liberty to expend in the cause 
 of God whatever portion of their substance 
 they think lit themselves? Our position 
 here is, that it has not; that God still ex- 
 pects from us the same proportion of our 
 goods to be used in his glory which he re- 
 ceived from his Church in former ages. 
 This is what we shall endeavor to establish 
 in the present chapter. It is evident that 
 whatever reason there was for supposing 
 that God would define plainly what portion 
 of his substance he expected from man exists 
 as much for Christians as for those of pre- 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 83 
 
 vious dispensations. The same covetousness, 
 alas ! that has ever reigned in the natural 
 heart, and exerted its influence even in the 
 heart renewed by grace, is equally powerful 
 now, as it has been. The same selfishness 
 which led those of former times to grudge 
 God his portion of their substance, and to 
 expend their all on their own aggrandize- 
 ment, or the advancement of their families, 
 would also lead the Christian to contract his 
 acknowledgments to God within the narrow- 
 est compass, and part even his miserable 
 mite with reluctance. Kay, it is of our dis- 
 pensation in its latter periods that prophecy 
 lias given among its leading features, '' Men 
 shall be lovers of their own selves, covet- 
 ous." If, then, we saw any probability that 
 God would at any time define his claim, that 
 probability still exists. 
 
 If a former part of our argument has been 
 admitted, — namely, that the obligation of a 
 tenth dates from times long anterior to Ju- 
 daism, and was only continued, not com- 
 menced, in that system, — our conclusion that 
 its obligation exists with Christians would 
 very speedily be established. The argu- 
 ment was, that God imposed this obligation 
 as a common and perpetual ordinance upon 
 mankind. If, in the days of Koah, or, as is 
 
84 MEASUKE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 much more probable, in those of Adam, the 
 Almighty required from these heads of man- 
 kind that they should honor him, the Owner 
 and Bestower of all, with a tenth of their 
 substance ; and if in consequence among 
 various nations, and especially among those 
 who in the earliest days woi-shiped God with 
 acceptable worship, not self-devised but re- 
 ceived from him, the distinct traces of this 
 original command have been seen, it cannot 
 be doubted in that case that the obligation 
 to keep this precept still exists in all its force 
 for us. Tlie reason is a plain one. The com- 
 mands of God to men continue in force until 
 they have been repealed by him. Now, this 
 particular precept was never repealed by 
 him. On the contrary, when a new dispen- 
 sation (the Jewish), to answer peculiar cir- 
 cumstances, was instituted by him, he made 
 this original command a part and parcel of 
 its constitution ; he gave it a leading position 
 in it ; down to the latest prophet he insisted 
 on it as most obligatory on his people, while 
 not one of the prophets ever spoke of it as 
 a temporary institution ; by the mouth of 
 his Son he continued still to assert his full 
 claim to the observance of it; and thus 
 handed it over in all its force and all its 
 freshness to the Christian dispensation. Not 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 85 
 
 one link is wanting in the chain of evidence 
 which brings this precept from the days of 
 its primitive appointment down to our own. 
 l^ot a shadow of pretense exists for assert- 
 ing, that if it had once been imposed by 
 God, he had withdrawn its obligation, or 
 suffered it to become obsolete from want of 
 observance. In those days, when by Moses 
 he published the original moral law of man- 
 kind, — wrote on tables of stone what had 
 become defaced from the fleshly tables of the 
 lieart, — and in the permanent record of the 
 Scriptures preserved it from being lost amid 
 the ever-varying traditions of men, the obli- 
 gation of the Israelite to pay a tenth to him 
 was insisted on as plainly as any other obli- 
 gation ; while, being brought into the law 
 from preceding ages, there could be no pre- 
 tense for saying, that with the passing away 
 of the peculiarities of Judaism this, too, had 
 ceased to be of obligation. If, therefore, we 
 admit that God ordained this practice before 
 the days of Tyloses, and that in obedience to 
 this ordinance Jacob vowed his tenth to God, 
 and Abram paid his tithe to Melchizedek, we 
 cannot deny that the same obligation con- 
 tinues with us, preserved unbroken through 
 Jewish to Christian times. 
 
 In my own mind I am satisfied with the 
 
86 MEASURE OF CHKISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 perfect validity of this argument, and would 
 be content to close the matter here. But I 
 am also persuaded, that even if the grounds 
 of it should be disputed, our conclusion may 
 yet be proved in another way. Should any 
 one think, notwithstanding what has been 
 advanced, that the divine origin of a tenth 
 cannot be established as of an elder date 
 than the Mosaic law, even on this lower 
 ground I am prepared to argue for its con- 
 tinued obligation in the Christian Church. 
 Let it, then, for the sake of argument, be 
 allowed that in the Jewish dispensation we 
 find its fii'st distinct appointment by God. 
 On this ground we will proceed in the re- 
 mainder of the chapter to show its contin- 
 ued obligation upon us. 
 
 The Christian's estimation of the Old Tes- 
 tament Scriptures is not unfrequently very 
 different from what it ought to be. It is too 
 often supposed that they were only, or at 
 least chiefly, intended for the Jewish dispen- 
 sation, and that, when the Christian was 
 introduced, they were, in great measure, to 
 be laid aside, and the Ts^ew Testament Scrip- 
 tures were to take their place. They are 
 imagined by some to be peculiar to the Jew, 
 somewhat as the Koran is to the Moharh- 
 medans, and that the Christian finds his law 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 87 
 
 of life in the writings of the evangelists and 
 apostles. ]^ow such an idea is wholly erro- 
 neous. The faith of the Old Testament and 
 the ]N"ew is essentially one. The moral duties 
 inculcated by both are essentially the same. 
 The j^ew Testament is but the fulfilment and 
 comment on the Old, as the prophets en- 
 force, illustrate, and expand the spiritual 
 meaning of Moses's law. The difference 
 between the two is but in development, not 
 in sense. Kow, this Old Testament is com- 
 pletely the book of the Jewish Church. 
 Take away a portion of Genesis, and all the 
 rest relates to Israel. Its call in Abraham, 
 its bondage, its law, its Oanaan, its sins, its 
 j)unishment, its privileges, its promises,— 
 these are the contents of the Old Testament 
 Scriptures. And yet these latter, rightly 
 understood, were a complete law of life 
 and salvation to the faithful Israelite before 
 Christ came,— to the faithful Christian after 
 his coming. The pretense of Rome, that 
 the Christian Church was for a considerable 
 time left to oral tradition and teaching, is 
 utterly false : she had in the Old Testament 
 her perfect law. It was these that Christ 
 commanded to be searched, as testifying of 
 him. These were Stephen's " lively oracles," 
 handed down from Moses as a precious tra- 
 
88 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 dition to the Christian. It was after " the 
 way " taught in them that Paul " worshiped 
 the God of his fathers, believing all things 
 that were written in the law and in the pro- 
 phets." These were the " Holy Scriptures," 
 which Timothy had known " from a child ;" 
 which were " able to make wise unto salva- 
 tion ;" which were " profitable for doctrine, 
 for reproof, for correction, for instruction in 
 righteousness;" which could make the "man 
 of God perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all 
 good works." As the Scriptures of the Old 
 and New Testament, then, are essentially 
 the same, so the Churches ruled by both 
 are essentially one. "They are not two 
 Churches," says C. Leslie, "but two states 
 of the same Church ; for it is the same Chris- 
 tian Church from the first promise of Christ 
 (Gen. iii, 15) to the end of the world ; and 
 therefore it is said (Heb. iv, 2) that the gos- 
 pel was preached unto them as well as unto 
 us." And so Isaiah declares, that the change 
 from Jewish to Christian times would be but 
 God's " calling his servants by another name." 
 Our Lord declares, that it was not the set- 
 ting up of another fold, but the calling of 
 the wandering nations into the existing fold : 
 while Paul teaches the same important 
 truth, when he declares that the baptism of 
 
MEASUKE OF CHRISTIiSJN LIBERALITY. 89 
 
 the Gentiles into the faith of Christ was but 
 their grafting upon the ancient stock of 
 Israel. 
 
 I^ow, our conclusion from these undoubt- 
 ed facts is this, that the precepts of the Old 
 Testament are still as binding as ever, except 
 in such particulars as, having been fulfilled 
 by Christ and performed their temporary 
 office, have been done away, according to 
 the declaration of our Lord, that "not one 
 jot or tittle should pass from the law till all 
 were fulfilled." We do not say that all that 
 is in the Old Testament is binding still ; we 
 know that it had its peculiarities, and that 
 these are abrogated : but we assert, that with 
 the exception of these, — exceptions on which 
 we can lay our hands and tell which they 
 are, — those ancient Scriptures are as much 
 our law as are the writings of the apostles 
 of Christ. E"ow it is quite evident that if 
 they are, as no doubt they are, our law, we 
 must be able to separate between what is 
 binding and what is not binding in them. 
 K on this point we are doubtful, if we know 
 not which is obligatory, and which is not, 
 their force as a law would be gone, for the 
 "trumpet would give an uncertain sound." 
 What is done away with we can only learn, 
 either from those Scriptures themselves, or 
 
90 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 from those of the ISTew Testament, or from 
 both. Whatever cannot be proved from 
 these som'ces to be abrogated must be con- 
 sidered still in force. We will show, then, 
 not only that no such abrogation exists in 
 the matter of the tenth, but that, on the con- 
 trary, we have every fair and sufficient rea- 
 son for concluding that its obligation is con- 
 tinued in the Christian dis]3ensation ; and if 
 we do this, and at the same time remove 
 certain objections that might seem at first 
 sight opposed to our conclusion, we consider 
 that we will have gained our point. 
 
 When the preachers of the gospel ad- 
 dressed themselves to the Jewish mind, they 
 never insisted on their reception of any truth, 
 or their laying aside any practice, which 
 they could not establish to them out of their 
 own Scriptures. In their " witness, both to 
 small and great, they said none other things 
 than what Moses and the prophets did say 
 should come." The coming and circum- 
 stances of the Messiah, — the casting away 
 of the Jews and calHng in of the Gentiles, — 
 the change of the priesthood, — the abroga- 
 tion of sacrifices and of the ceremonial law 
 in general, — all were reasoned with them 
 out of the Old Testament ; and it was only 
 because they rejected Moses and the proph- 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 91 
 
 ets that they rejected Christ. To mention 
 particular parts of the ISTew Testament where 
 this can be seen may appear superfluous, 
 when traces of it are to be found through- 
 out ; but we may, before passing on, instance 
 the third, fourth, ninth, tenth, and eleventli 
 chapters of Eomans, the third, fourth, and 
 fifth chapters of Galatians, and from the 
 fifth to the tenth chapter inclusive of He- 
 brews, as remarkable examples. Now, nei- 
 ther in the I^ew Testament — where, in all 
 probability, every departure from Jewish 
 practice has been noticed — nor in any part 
 of the writings of the Old, has it ever been 
 hinted, that in Christian times men were to 
 cease to honor God with their substance as 
 his servants of previous times had done. If 
 such an intimation can be pointed out, we 
 will at once confess ourselves mistaken ; but 
 since none such can be shown, it plainly fol- 
 lows that the obligation of Christians in this 
 respect is continued in all its force. 
 
 Again, it is allowed that, while the civil 
 and the ceremonial laws of Judaism do not 
 bind Christians, its moral law is still as bind- 
 ing as ever. l!Tow the giving of a tenth was 
 certainly a part of the Jewish moral law, 
 and therefore it is of force with Christians. 
 That the giving of a tenth was a moral duty 
 
92 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 to the Jews, is of easy proof. It had noth- 
 ing typical or ceremonial about it. In all 
 times, both previous and subsequent to Ju- 
 daism, the giving of some portion of man's 
 substance to God was esteemed a moral 
 duty ; and when God, in the Jewish dispen- 
 sation, if not before, named a tenth as his 
 expected portion, then the gift of a tenth to 
 him became of moral obligation. Thence- 
 forward it could not be altered, except by 
 the same authority that imposed it. A par- 
 allel instance readily occurs to us in the ob- 
 servance of the Sabbath, or seventh day. 
 In Eden God ordained that the seventh por- 
 tion of man's time should be dedicated to 
 himself. If this specific portion had not 
 been mentioned, its observance would have 
 no stronger obligation than any other sup- 
 posed proportion of our time. But no soon- 
 er had God fixed upon this proportion, than 
 the observance of that, rather than of any 
 other, became our moral duty, which no 
 man might dare to alter — which no mere 
 change of dispensation coukl set aside. The 
 keeping of a seventh day has been a per- 
 petual ordinance before the flood, in the 
 patriarchal and Jewish age, and in the 
 Christian Church. And so the gift of a 
 tenth, made a moral duty to the Jew, con- 
 
MEABUEE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 93 
 
 tinues a moral duty to his Christian success- 
 or, who has come in his place, and taken 
 upon him his predecessor's privileges and 
 obligations. 
 
 Every reason exists now, and exists even 
 in greater force, for the giving of a tenth, 
 which existed in Jewish times. God is still 
 the sovereign Lord of all, and therefore to 
 be honored by his creatures in those gifts he 
 has bestowed upon them. Man is still the 
 recipient of blessings, and bound to show in 
 some sensible manner his gratitude and love. 
 The interests of religion are to be upheld in 
 a world, which would quickly, if left to 
 itself, turn aside from, and forget and op- 
 pose the truth. The widow, the orphan, 
 and the destitute, are still among us, — rec- 
 ommended to us by that same God who 
 gave them in charge to his ancient people. 
 In one most important respect the need of a 
 tenth is more felt in the Christian than the 
 Jewish Church. The latter was not mis- 
 sionary in its character, — its calling was 
 merely to uphold the faith among the chosen 
 people ; while that of the Christian is to 
 bear the name of Christ to every dark land 
 of heathenism, and never to stay its labors 
 till every child of the great common Father 
 has been brought home " to the Shepherd 
 
94: MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 and Bishop of his soul." It, surely, is not 
 to be thought of for a moment, that the time 
 of God's displaying most fully his love to 
 man is to be seized on by the latter as the 
 time for diminishing the expression of his 
 gratitude ; or that the acknowledgments of 
 God's sovereignty are to be less manifest 
 when he has made us and ours doubly his 
 own. If in that elder and less-privileged 
 system men honored God with the tenth of 
 their substance, can it be imagined that we, 
 so much more favored, are to be behind 
 them in our gratitude ? For what the dim, 
 cold light of breaking day, struggling with 
 the mists of night, is to the glorious sun of 
 noon, such is Judaism to Christianity. Bon- 
 dage was the spirit of the former, adoption 
 that of the latter dispensation. For in the 
 one Christ was foreshadowed, in the other 
 Christ was manifested; in the one men 
 sought, in the other they found him. 
 
 As the grand reason — namely, the honor- 
 ing God — still exists in all its force for the 
 gift of a tenth, as well as the uses to Avhich 
 he would have it applied, so the 'New Testa- 
 ment everywhere requires of the believer a 
 j^ortion of his substance. This portion was 
 to be greater or less, according as God had 
 prospered each individual. True, a tenth is 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 95 
 
 not named in the Kew Testament ; but that 
 was not required, because that proportion 
 was ah-eadj fixed in the Old. Tliis is quite 
 a sufficient reason, as has been shown in the 
 opening of this chapter. Already laid down, 
 there was no occasion for its repetition. 
 From what we know of the liberality of the 
 early Christians, — in some instances giving 
 away their all, in others, "out of a deep 
 poverty abounding in liberality, to their 
 power, yea, and beyond their power, being 
 willing of themselves,"^we should not ex- 
 pect that the proportion of a tenth would be 
 urged upon them as a duty, when, in all 
 probability, few of them were satisfied with • 
 that portion, but gave much more. This 
 same silence has been observed in the 'New 
 Testament on another most important point. 
 In the institution of the sacrament of bap- 
 tism, it would be hard to show from its 
 pages that infants were to be partakers of it. 
 Its ordinance by Christ has been quoted by 
 the opponents of infant-baptism just as 
 freely as it has been advanced by its defend- 
 ers, and not without some show of reason. 
 While the cases which occur in the history 
 of the New Testament Church — in the Acts 
 of the Apostles and elsewhere — of whole 
 families being baptized, are not conclusive 
 
96 MEASURE OF CHRISTlAjq^ LIBERALITY. 
 
 on the subject, since it cannot be shown 
 from any one of them that infants were 
 among their number. The simple but satis- 
 factory proof is to be found in the Old Test- 
 ament. There God entered into covenant 
 with the infant children of his people ; and 
 when he was establishing his new and better 
 covenant with the Christian Church, he did 
 not mention children, because he had al- 
 ready declared his will that such should 
 be brought into covenant with him. He 
 changed the matter and the form of the ac- 
 comi^anying rite, and, therefore, he plainly 
 said, "Go, baptize in the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;" 
 but, intending no change in the subjects of 
 the covenant, he speaks not particularly of 
 them. Jewish fathers, the apostles and mis- 
 sionaries of the first Christian Churches, 
 would have no hesitation on this point. 
 They liad circumcised, they would hence- 
 forth baptize, their children. 
 
 We will notice another instance which 
 seems to establish the principle here laid 
 down, that every portion of the Old Testa- 
 ment is binding, except that comparatively 
 small portion which has been specially no- 
 ticed as done away. By what do we Chris- 
 tians regulate the degrees within which mar- 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 97 
 
 riage is permitted? By the law of Moses 
 contained in Leviticus ? On all hands these 
 are allowed to be in force. St. Paul, in one 
 instance, refers plainly to their continued 
 obligation, when with horror he mentions 
 the sin committed by a member of the Cor- 
 inthian Church in marrying his father's w4fe. 
 ]S'ow this case, we contend, is far more diffi- 
 cult of proof than the obligation of the 
 tenth. The prohibitions of marriages with- 
 in, certain degrees are found in the Levitical 
 law, and in that alone. They partake more 
 the character of a law enacted from motives 
 of expediency than of a moral command- 
 ment. They certainly were not in force 
 from the beginning, when marriages within 
 the nearest degrees were permitted, and 
 which seem to have been permitted down to 
 times approaching the giving of the law, for 
 we read of Abraham's marrying his sister 
 by the father's side. They oblige for one 
 reason, and one only, but that is quite suffi- 
 cient, — they are found in the law of Moses, 
 and have not since been repealed. We need 
 not say that the gift of a portion of our sub- 
 stance to God stands on a higher footing, for, 
 Avhether it were a tenth or not, it has been 
 in force from the beginning. Can it, then, 
 be supposed, that the giving of our tenth to 
 
98 MEASURE OF CIIKISTIAJ^ LIBEKALITT. 
 
 the Lord, which in its essence, if not in the 
 mere circumstance of the exact proportion, 
 was always a moral duty, — which has been 
 commanded in the law, a command repeat- 
 ed throughout the whole series of the writers 
 of the Old Testament to its latest prophet, 
 without one hint of its being but of a tempo- 
 rary nature, should in the Christian Church 
 liave ceased to be obligatory ? Let us se- 
 lect, for example, that proverb of Solomon, 
 "Honor the Lord witli thy substance, and 
 with the first-fruits of all thine increase." 
 Surely this is obligatory on us. If it be not, 
 it would be hard to show what part of Pro- 
 verbs, or, for that matter, what part of the 
 Old Testament, is obligatory. But if it does 
 oblige us, in order to understand it correctly, 
 we must read it in the light of the Jewish 
 law. What it meant in Solomon's days it 
 means substantially in ours. The inspiring 
 Spirit had not, surely, two meanings for one 
 set of words, l^ow, these words bring us 
 of necessity to the Jewish tithe. They were 
 spoken of that, and of nothing else. They 
 had this definite meaning to the Jew ; they 
 have the same definite meaning to us. The 
 " first-fruits," of which the wise man speaks, 
 were not only the first, but also "the best 
 of the wine, and the oil, and the wheat," 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 99 
 
 and of the various products of the land, 
 which the Israelite offered to God, and were 
 identical with that tenth which was God's 
 proportion of his people's substance. What 
 was then their duty, is ours also. We will 
 not stop to notice such poor objections as 
 that this precept cannot apply to us, since 
 we cannot give tlie same natural productions 
 as were supplied by the land of Canaan, or 
 cannot pay in kind, having many of us no 
 connection with land, &c. The essence of 
 the precept is all we contend for. The Jew 
 in foreign lands was in the same condition 
 with us, and, if too distant from Jerusalem, 
 could convert his offering into money. 
 
 But we have, besides, in the ^N'ew Testa- 
 ment, express authority for concluding that 
 this part of the ancient law, as well as that 
 law in general, has still a binding power 
 upon the Christian's conscience. If it be 
 the case, that " whatever was written afore- 
 time was written for our learning," and if it 
 was written as a standing law for Israel that 
 they were to give to God a tenth of their 
 substance, it is, we think, hard indeed for us 
 to draw any other lesson from this precept 
 than, that we are to honor him in like man- 
 ner. But the apostle Paul leaves us in no 
 doubt that this particular part of the law is 
 
10' J measukp: of christian liberality. 
 
 in force for Christians. In the ninth chapter 
 of his Fii-st Epistle to the Corinthians he ap- 
 peals to it as a living and authoritative law, 
 — as binding in its spirit upon the Corinthi- 
 ans as it ever was upon the Church of Israel. 
 He applies the offerings of the Jews and 
 their apj^lication of them to enforce similar 
 duties among Christians. He does not, in- 
 deed, advert to the very point of the example 
 on which we are now insisting, for that was 
 not his object. He takes the part that suited 
 his own case. He wanted to establish the 
 right of the Christian ministry to a main- 
 tenance by their people, and his proof was 
 the case of the Jewish priesthood ;( " they 
 which wait at the altar are partakers with 
 the altar. '^ But that the whole system under 
 the law was meant to impart its lesson under 
 the gospel he intimates from his general 
 assertion in the eighth verse, " Saith not the 
 law so also ?" It was as much the teaching 
 of the law that the people should offer to 
 God a tenth, as that the priests should ob- 
 tain a j)ortion of their offerings. It is, there- 
 fore, as incumbent on Christians to give a 
 tenth to God as to support their ministers. 
 The same law which teaches the one, teaches 
 the other also. 
 
 And here it may be as well to apply our- 
 
MEASUEli: OF CHRISTIAN LEBEEALITY. 101 
 
 selves for a moment to the consideration of 
 a point which the argument of the chapter 
 has doubtless suggested ere this to the read- 
 er. If we argue from the institution of a 
 tenth in the Mosaic law to the Christian's 
 obligation to give the same proportion, must 
 we not also insist that the Christian ministry 
 has a divine right to this tenth, since that of 
 Levi had ? To some, this would be a con- 
 sideration much in favor of our argument ; 
 to others, it would be a source of strong op- 
 position to it. For ourselves, while we are 
 clearly of opinion that its application by 
 God to the support of the Levitical ministry 
 establishes the full right of the Christian 
 ministry to a maintenance in comfort and 
 independence by their people out of their 
 offerings to God, we do not see that it teaches 
 the right of the latter to the tenth. Our rea- 
 son is this. The Levites formed a twelfth 
 part of the tribes of Israel ; the Christian 
 ministry has never amounted to anything 
 like that proportion of their people. As the 
 Jewish ■priesthood seem to have obtained but 
 the tenth part of the tithe ; so all that seems 
 taught us in regard of the gospel ministry is 
 that they should obtain an adequate provision 
 for the maintenance in comfort and respecta- 
 bility of themselves and of their families. 
 
102 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBEEAI.ITY. 
 
 We think that we have by this time estab- 
 lished our object, which was to prove that 
 God expects from us what he required from 
 his people in other days, — a definite propor- 
 tion of that increase with which he blesses 
 them. But, before proceeding further, it 
 will be proper to notice one or two objec- 
 tions to the argument of this chapter, whicli 
 might seem at first possessed of some force. 
 The first of these is, that since the priesthood 
 of Levi has been done away, that tithe which 
 was used for their support has also been done 
 away. I^ow to this there are two distinct 
 and sufficient answers. The first is, that the 
 great object in the Jewish tithe was the 
 honoring of God, and the great sin in refus- 
 ing it was that in so doing God was defraud- 
 ed. The ministry of Levi has, indeed, 
 passed away ; but that God, whose service 
 Levi waited on, still requires the same 
 acknowledgment from his creatures in their 
 substance. The second answer is, that while 
 the Jewish ministry and the temple-worship 
 have departed, their place has been taken in 
 our dispensation by the Christian ministry 
 and worship, requiring to be upheld in Chris- 
 tian lands and to be propagated throughout 
 the heathen world. Another obj ection might, 
 perhaps, be made, from a hastily-considered 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 103 
 
 view of certain passages in the New Testa- 
 ment, wliicli may seem to speak as if the 
 Christian's offerings to God were left wholly 
 to his own discretion. It may be said that 
 such passages as this, " Every man, as he 
 pnrposeth in his heart, so let him give, not 
 grudgingly or of necessity," plainly signify 
 a liberty permitted to the Christian in this 
 respect, which is not consistent with the idea 
 that a certain lixed portion of his means are 
 expected from him by God. Now, if we 
 have proved our point by other and sufficient 
 reasons, such passages cannot have the least 
 power to overthrow it. They are, in that 
 case, in the JSTew Testament, precisely paral- 
 lel passages to others in the Old, which we 
 have seen to appeal to the individual gener- 
 osity of the Israelites, without their interfer- 
 ing in any measure with their obligation in 
 the matter of the tenth. The passage above 
 quoted can no more set aside the Christian's 
 duty to give his tenth to God, than the fol- 
 lowing passage set aside the Jew's obligation 
 to do so : " Speak unto the children of Israel 
 that they bring me an offering; of every 
 man that giveth it willingly with his heart 
 ye shall take my offering." Both passages 
 are, in fact, appeals to the free spirit of those 
 who, having the means of being liberal 
 
104 MEASUKE OF ClIKISTlAN LlBEKALITr. 
 
 above that measure of a tenth laid down for 
 common observance, think they can expend 
 their abundance no way so well as in the 
 cause of God. Such texts as that from 
 2 Cor. ix, 7, are, in fact, passages that will 
 come under our consideration in the next 
 chapter, when we treat of the Christian's 
 free-will offerings. 
 
 We have now concluded our arguments 
 on this important subject, and have, as we 
 think, fully established that we are under 
 the same obhgations to God in the disposal 
 of our means that his servants of old lay un- 
 der. There must have been, we suppose, a 
 peculiar propriety in the proportion of a 
 tenth. Even if Abraham and Jacob gave it 
 not in accordance with the divine command, 
 which however we are quite satisfied they 
 did, yet God in selecting their measure of 
 liberality as that which was to regulate the 
 liberality of Israel, stamped it with the im- 
 press of his approval as that which was from 
 man a suitable acknowdedgment of his sove- 
 reignty, a becoming expression of man's 
 gratitude, and a somewhat adequate means 
 of maintaining his worship in the world. 
 Had we no other reason than that arising 
 from this consideration, it would surely ill 
 become fallible and erring man to attempt 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 105 
 
 to set up any other standard for his liberality 
 than that which Infinite Wisdom had set be- 
 fore him, doubtless for his imitation. It had 
 been our part to follow in a humble spirit 
 the guidance of the Most High, satisfied that 
 it was the best. 
 
 In taking leave of this part of our subject 
 we do not feel ourselves bound, nor indeed 
 would our space permit us, to enter upon the 
 question as to whether there are not excep- 
 tions, and what they are, to this general ob- 
 ligation. That there may be such we do not 
 deny, but neither do we suppose them to be 
 more than may be supposed to have existed 
 in the Jewish dispensation. The poor of the 
 land doubtless w^ere exempt : sudden and 
 unexpected losses making it difiicult, per- 
 haps impossible, to meet our lawful engage- 
 ments, in all probability excuse. But on 
 this point we will not now enter any further. 
 Man's excuses, let him ever remember, must 
 be submitted to the scrutiny of Him whom 
 they deprived of his required homage. 
 
J 
 
 106 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 "HE WHICH SOWETH BOUNTIFULLY SHALL REAP 
 ALSO BOUNTIFULLY." 
 
 In the Jewish dispensation we have seen 
 that there were those of whom God expected 
 more than the general tenth, and wlio gladly 
 responded to his call. We believe both that 
 the same claim is made now, and that the 
 Christian Church has afforded as bright ex- 
 amples of devotion to God as can be met 
 with in former times. It would be strange, 
 indeed, if it w^ere otherwise : strange if in the 
 darker day and the less favored Church a 
 greater return was either expected or made. 
 It is not thus that God deals with man. The 
 day of increased privilege is ever that of in- 
 creased responsibility, and the season of 
 bounty is also that of gratitude. As the 
 rain and the sunshine are met by the earth's 
 putting forth a fresher green, and arraying 
 herself in fairer colors, so the dew of heav- 
 enly grace falls upon the believer's heart, 
 and the quickening influence of the Spirit is 
 imparted to him, that he may bring forth in 
 his life the fruits of righteousness, and ex- 
 
[Measure of christian liberality. 107 
 
 hibit in liis conversation the beauty of lioli- 
 aess. "Unto whomsoever much is given, 
 of him shall be much required ; and to 
 whom men have committed much, of him 
 they will ask the more." 
 
 In considering the free-will offerings of 
 Israel, we saw that in some cases they be- 
 came of a permanent nature, while the 
 more remarkable and important of them 
 were called forth on the occasions of build- 
 ing and furnishing the house of God. It 
 was well said by the pious IN^ehemiah, when 
 asked to leave his work on the second tem- 
 ple, that he " could not come down, for he 
 was doing a great work." No doubt he was 
 doing a great work in rebuilding, in the 
 troubled times on which he fell, the house 
 which Solomon had raised amid the quiet of 
 a peaceful reign, and whose glory was to be 
 greater than that of the former house when 
 sanctified by the footsteps of its Lord. But 
 incomparably more majestic and dearer to 
 God is that temple which is rearing now, 
 and on which Christians are called upon to 
 expend their free-will offerings. The Jewish 
 historian mentions with his nation's pride the 
 vast stones which constituted the beauty and 
 strength of the temple on Mount Sion ; but 
 each stone in the spiritual temple is an im- 
 
108 MEASURE OF CHKI8TIAN LIBER ALITY*. 
 
 mortal soul, which naught but the blood of 
 Christ could purchase, which is in itself a 
 temple for the Holy Ghost. Joseph us de- 
 scribes the Jewish building as covered with 
 plates of gold, reflecting back at break of 
 day the fiery splendor of the sun, or appear- 
 ing: at a distance like a mountain covered 
 with snow. To human eyes, indeed, in the 
 spiritual temple there is no such glory, but to 
 the eye of God it is beautiful and glorious, 
 '• having neither spot, nor wrinkle, nor blem- 
 ish ;" but reflecting back the splendor of the 
 incarnate Son, and clothed in the righteous- 
 ness of Christ. The materials and workmen 
 of Jerusalem's temple were brought togeth- 
 er from various and distant places : the 
 mountains of Judea afforded their quarries, 
 Ophir its gold, Lebanon its cedars, Babylon 
 its curtain vailing the holy place, Tyre its 
 cunning w^orker in brass ; but the materials 
 and laborers of the Christian temple are col- 
 lected from every clime. They come from 
 lands bound by eternal frosts, or parched by 
 a burning sun ; the broad prairie, the deep 
 valley amid Alpine mountains, the lonely 
 isles of the Pacific, send their contributions ; 
 the huge cities of Europe, — its dark mines 
 unblessed by the light of day, its crowded 
 factories and panting furnaces, supply their 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 109 
 
 portion of the building ; the rich plains of 
 India, even unchanging China and suspicions 
 Japan, are represented there. The Jew es- 
 timated the greatness of his temple by the 
 length of time it took to perfect it ; but ours 
 has been in progress of building since God 
 laid its foundation-stone in the promise of 
 Christ to our fallen parents. It is still un- 
 finished after six thousand years ; stone is 
 being laid on stone, but the last is not yet 
 placed. In the temple at Jerusalem David 
 contemplated a house " exceeding magnifi- 
 cal, of fame and glory throughout all coini- 
 tries ;" and such a house was built whose 
 fame attracted the attention, and, when they 
 saw it, the wonder of those who had seen 
 ]N^ineveh and Babylon, Athens, and Alex- 
 andria, and Rome in their glory. But what 
 was its fame compared with that of the tem- 
 ple of which we speak ? When its first 
 stone was laid, Satan saw it with dismay, 
 and spoke of it in the councils of the fiends, 
 while angels took up the song of praise. It 
 has advanced amid the strife of tongues and 
 the din of contention, the mean man and the 
 great taking part either for or against, but 
 none neutral here. To overthrow its walls 
 and dig up its foundations, fiendish malice 
 has plotted, and the brutal violence of man 
 
110 MEASUKE OF CHKISTIAN LESEEALITY. 
 
 has toiled ; while, to raise still higher those 
 walls, and to crown them with battlements 
 and turrets, zealous men have labored, and 
 enduring men have suffered, and angels 
 have speeded on their errands : it is a "spec- 
 tacle to the world, and to angels, and to 
 men ;" it is spoken of beyond the confines 
 of earth, wherever spirits go ; its fame has 
 spread even to the furthest stars. Such is 
 the glorious spiritual temple which is ever 
 in progress now ; which calls on those who 
 would be fellow-helpers to the truth for their 
 free-will offerings with far more powerful 
 voice than did the Jewish house : for even a 
 heathen could say of God, "His pleasure 
 lies not in the magnificence of temples made 
 with hands, but in the piety and devotion 
 of consecrated hearts." 
 
 If in the Christian dispensation there ex- 
 ists this great cause for the liberality of tlie 
 afiluent, do we not hear sounding in the 
 believer's ear now the same divine voice 
 which came to Israel in the wilderness? 
 " Bring me an offering ; of every man that 
 giveth it willingly w^ith his heart ye shall 
 take my offering." Yes, we are persuaded 
 that it is thus that we are to take those pas- 
 sao:es of the New Testament Avhich leave to 
 the discretion and liberality of each believer 
 
MEASUKE OF CIIKISTIAN LIBERALITY. Ill 
 
 the amount of liis gifts to God. They clash 
 not with that claim which God makes on iis 
 all alike for a definite portion of onr sub- 
 stance, for surely in the New Testament it is 
 not permitted to the believer, if he were so 
 disposed, to close his purse against tlie 
 claims of God's cause upon it, and to say, 
 " My liberaUty is left absolutely to my own 
 discretion ; I will not surrender my liberty ; 
 
 1 will give little, or nothing, if so I please." 
 Against such ideas our text is decisive : " If 
 any man provide not for his own, and 
 specially for those of his own house, he hath 
 denied the faith, and is w^orse than an infi- 
 del." AYe must then take such passages as 
 
 2 Cor. ix, T, according to the analogy of 
 Scripture ; we must rej^udiate as wholly 
 alien from their meaning that sense which 
 selfishness and covetousness would put upon 
 them, that the believer may, if he pleases, 
 wliolly refuse the aid of his means to further 
 the cause of God, or may reduce his propor- 
 tion to any amount, however small, that 
 suits his narrow spirit. Such is altogether 
 opposed to the spirit of the Christian dispen- 
 sation, whose motto is, " Freely ye have re- 
 ceived, freely give." Such passages are 
 appeals, not to the meanness of the covetous 
 mind, but to the liberality of hearts which 
 
112 MEASURE OF CHKISTIAN LIBEKALITY. 
 
 God hath touched with a sense of his own 
 exceeding goodness and bounty, not merely 
 in his gifts of temporal blessing, but more, 
 infinitely more, in his spiritual blessings, the 
 gift of eternal life in his dear Son our Lord, 
 and the gift of the Holy Ghost to fit and 
 prepare the Christian for his heavenly in- 
 heritance. It is to such that the exhorta- 
 tions of the JSTew Testament are addressed, 
 and they would never dream of taking ad- 
 vantage of the discretion left them, to nar- 
 row and curtail their bounty — to contract it 
 within closer bounds than the minimum of 
 Jewish acknowledgment, till it dwindled 
 down to some mere trifle unworthy of them 
 to offer or of God to accept. When salva- 
 tion visited the house of Zaccheus, and this 
 lost son of Abraham was found by, and had 
 found Christ, straightway it was, " Behold, 
 Lord, the half of my goods I give to the 
 poor." When the "free Spirit" descended 
 into the liearts, as well as dwelt upon the 
 tongues, of the Christians at Jerusalem, in 
 their love and joy ''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." 
 It required but the announcement that fam- 
 ine was about to try those self-denying men, 
 
MEASURE OF CHKISTIAN LIBERALITY. 113 
 
 to determine the distant Christians of Anti- 
 och to send them relief, " each man accord- 
 ing to his ability." And when the same 
 claim was laid before the Churches of Mace- 
 donia, he, who had himself given up all for 
 Christ, bore them the record, that " to their 
 power, yea, and beyond their power, they 
 were willing of themselves," not requiring 
 the golden tongue of eloquence to draw from 
 them some half-gi-udged and insufficient 
 tribute, but themselves supplicating the 
 apostle ^' with much entreaty that he would 
 receive the gift." It was to such men that 
 discretionary appeals were made, " Let each 
 give as he is disposed in his heart," and it is 
 in the light of their abounding liberality that 
 we must interpret such appeals. They are, 
 in fact, the invitations of the 'New Testa- 
 ment to the Christian for his free-will offer- 
 ings, even as we saw the same addressed in 
 the Old Testament to those who in the wil- 
 derness gave with glad spirit their best and 
 richest possessions, or, settled in Canaan, re- 
 joiced to imitate the bounty of the princely 
 hearts of David and Solomon. 
 
 Is any one, then, still disposed to rely on 
 
 such texts as authorizing him to give as little 
 
 as he pleases in the cause of God ? to him 
 
 we would say, "It is not for you to interpret 
 
 8 
 
114 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 them differently from those to whom they 
 were first addressed. Understand them as 
 they did, and you will understand them 
 aright ; but in that case most assuredly you 
 will take from them no encouragement for a 
 niggardly offering, or a covetous refusal. 
 Or, if you will insist on the letter of the 
 text, while you deny its spirit, we must then 
 only refer you to the apostle who wrote for 
 you ; he will tell you of w^hat kind your 
 faith is; he will describe it by one fearful 
 word ; he will tell you it is ' dead.' " 
 
 While the great majority of mankind 
 hardly earn their " bread in the sweat of the 
 brow ;" while a smaller number are happily 
 placed in that mean which the wise man 
 describes as life's most desirable and safest 
 condition, there are others, and they in every 
 wealthy country no inconsiderable number, 
 who abound in the possessions of this world. 
 They are those whom Scripture describes as 
 '' the rich ;" whose besetting sins in some 
 places it boldly denounces ; whose deep re- 
 sponsibility it insists on in others ; whose 
 snares and temptations it delineates with the 
 faithful and anxious tongue of love ; whose 
 great reward it delights to portray if they 
 take heed to their trust. Such persons are 
 in double danger, and Scripture does not 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERAXITY. 115 
 
 disguise their danger. They do not often 
 hear the truth from those who surround 
 them. While their wealth places every 
 gratification , sinful as well as innocent, with- 
 in their power, and the craving of a corrupt 
 heart urges them to gratify every wish, they 
 seldom meet with those who have sufficient 
 love and boldness and purity of intention to 
 warn, exhort, and entreat them. Indiffer- 
 ence carelessly sees them hastening to eter- 
 nal ruin ; or in snaring fear ties the tongue 
 that might otherwise have uttered the sea- 
 sonable saving word, — or self-interest silences 
 him who fears to make an enemy or alienate 
 a patron by speaking the truth. O, that 
 such would turn in their danger to that guide 
 which neither fears, nor flatters, nor betrays, 
 — to that word of life written by the hands 
 of men, but bearing in its every word the' 
 impress of God's wisdom and love. There 
 they would see their peril, and there the way 
 of safety. 
 
 It is to such that special appeals are made 
 in Scripture for special liberality, as one of 
 the obligations consequent on riches, and 
 one great means of escaping their dangers. 
 What is enough from others, is not enough 
 from them. When comfort, elegance, even 
 grandeur, have been secured, there is yet an 
 
116 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 overplus, with many a large one. Now after 
 a certain sum little can be spent lavjfully on 
 ourselves. It is related of the late Louis 
 Philippe of France, the richest man in Eu- 
 rope, that of all his vast private income, he 
 expended on himself not more than four 
 hundred pounds a-year ; the remainder was 
 spent on other things, — ^the encouragement 
 of the fine arts, the advancement of science, 
 the promotion of industry, the improvement 
 of agriculture and commerce. Now there 
 are with us numbers of individuals, not pos- 
 sessed, it is true, of equal wealth, but yet 
 possessed of wealth over and beyond their 
 own personal wants. On what is this over- 
 plus to be expended ? We speak not of un- 
 lawful gratifications ; on them the Christian 
 may not expend, at the peril of his salvation, 
 any the smallest portion of what belongs all 
 of it to God. The lusts of the body, the 
 covetous desires of the mind, cannot justify 
 the expenditure of the least of God's goods ; 
 and fearful will be the account which he 
 must render to his Judge, who shall be com- 
 pelled to own that in his stewardship he 
 expended his Master's money in oppressing 
 the poor, or defrauding his creditor of his 
 right, in gluttony or drunkenness, at the 
 gaming-table, or in the degrading pursuits 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LEBEEALITY. IIY 
 
 of impurity and lewdness. We speak not at 
 all of such a use of riches, nor do we pre- 
 tend to condemn the application of them to 
 the useful or the elegant arts and industries 
 of life. We do not see why, according to 
 his taste, the wealthy man may not have his 
 gallery of paintings and sculpture, or his 
 splendid conservatory, or his noble mansion, 
 or his tasteful pleasure-grounds. These are 
 all lawful in their way, and the expenditure 
 upon them supports the industrious classes 
 of the community. But what we do insist 
 upon is this, that amid the plans and specu- 
 ]ations of the wealthy, tlie honor and cause 
 of Him who bestowed all this wealth should 
 not be forgotten, or rather should surely 
 occupy a prominent place. To what can 
 wealth be so worthily devoted as to the 
 glory of its great Owner ? Nor can we see 
 how in any other way the heart of the rich 
 man can be preserved from the insnaring 
 power of Mammon than by spending it 
 freely in the service of God. So thought 
 one, who had wealth in his power, but gave 
 it up for Christ : " Charge them who are rich 
 in this world," he wrote to Timothy, as an 
 essential part of his duty, " that they be not 
 high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, 
 but in tlie living God ; that they do good, 
 
118 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 that they be rich in good works^ ready to 
 distribute, willing to communicate." Here 
 was the apostle's safeguard against the snares 
 of wealth, — a recollection of its uncertainty, 
 and of God's eternal life, together with a 
 fiee expenditure of it in every way that the 
 cause of God requires. How many those 
 ways are we will see in a succeeding chapter. 
 In the expenditure of the wealthy we claim 
 a place — the leading place ^ for God. Amid 
 the expense of equipage, and servants, and 
 horses, — amid the decoration of houses, and 
 the arrangement of landscape and garden, — 
 amid the encouragement of those arts which 
 embellish life, or expand a nation's industry 
 and wealth, — O, let that greatest of all causes 
 be first in your mind — the cause of God and 
 of eternal life. To relieve even the temporal 
 wants of struggling industry; to cheer the 
 home of the widow and the oi*phan ; to re- 
 move the spiritual darkness of a benighted 
 district ; to be the humble but most honored 
 means of adding even one living stone to the 
 glorious temple of the living God — these 
 are more useful, greater, and more endur- 
 ing works than to erect a Crystal Palace for 
 the admiration of the world, to cast across 
 an arm of the sea a great highway of com- 
 munication, or to send beneath the broad 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 119 
 
 ocean with tlie swiftness of thought the in- 
 terchange of the messages of the nations. 
 These works, no doubt, are wonderful, — sug- 
 gestive of the greatness of man, who con- 
 ceived and executed them, — suggestive of 
 the infinite greatness of Him whose creature 
 man is. But they may disappoint the hopes 
 which attended their formation, and are, 
 after all, to perish ; some, perhaps, like the 
 dream of the night; all, however lasting, 
 when "the earth and the works that are 
 therein shall be burned up." The telegraph 
 may oftener communicate the tidings of 
 wrong and of disaster than of right and 
 prosperity; may oftener convey the tones 
 of anger or the message of defiance than 
 those of peace and of good-will among men ; 
 and the glittering fabric, which in the bright 
 anticipations of many was to usher in the 
 brotherhood of nations, may only have been 
 the harbinger of war and desolation. But 
 the least work done for the love of Christ, 
 and in the mind of a disciple, is never lost — 
 it survives the wreck of nations and the ruin 
 of the world : it follows the believer to his 
 place of glory — it is never forgotten by Him 
 who treasures up the actions of his saints. 
 
 And He does so precisely in the degree 
 that they feel themselves undeserving of his 
 
120 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERAXTrY. 
 
 goodness. With the bountiful Christian 
 there is as little notion of merit in his works 
 as we saw to exist in the mind of the bounti- 
 ful Israelite. There is, in fact, no such word 
 in his lips. He gladly turns from his merits, 
 since God does not mention them ; for what 
 are they? 'Not the merit of eternal life — 
 that he knows to be the gift of God in 
 Christ ; his merits are, separation from God, 
 exclusion from heaven, the society of the 
 lost. He knows of no other that belongs 
 to him. 
 
MEASUKE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 121 
 
 CHAPTEK XI. 
 
 "THE FIELD IS THE WORLD.'' 
 
 W^E have thus considered the main subject 
 of our essay, What is the proportion of his 
 means which the Christian should give to 
 God ? "We will not, however, take our leave 
 of it without some further reflections. The 
 inquiry soon suggests itself to the mind in 
 immediate connection with our conclusion, 
 If we are thus to give to God of our sub- 
 stance, in what manner does he expect us 
 to bestow it? The answer opens a wide 
 field, indeed, for reflection ; but one over 
 which we must now pass very swiftly. The 
 briefest consideration of it will show us how 
 many are the objects which call on us with 
 'oud voice for assistance, and attention to 
 which redounds not only to the glory of God, 
 but also to the best interests of man, even in 
 this present life. In what manner the oflPer- 
 ings of the ante-Mosaic times were expend- 
 ed we cannot certainly know, further than 
 that a portion of them at least were used in 
 sacrifices to God, in hospitality to the stran- 
 ger, and relief of the poor. Their use in 
 
122 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 Jewish times is pointed out by God himself 
 in the law ; while the 'New Testament, also, 
 is explicit in informing us of the manner in 
 which he requires his portion of the Chris- 
 tian's substance to be used. Various, in- 
 deed, are the objects which he lays before 
 his people, and intrusts to their care and lib- 
 erality. The Christian dispensation is intend- 
 ed for the world at large ; the field of the 
 Christian's sjmipathy and aid is coextensive. 
 One brief reflection will not be out of 
 place before we consider the subject of the 
 present chapter. If we will but remember 
 what is literally the fact, that, in bestowing 
 his assistance on its various objects, the 
 Christian is only giving what belongs, not to 
 himself, but to God, it will be apparent with 
 how much greater authority he may be ap- 
 pealed to, and what far greater power such 
 appeals will be likely to have. It is too fre- 
 quently the case that in the bestowal of his 
 means in the service of God, the notion of 
 duty or obligation is often as little felt as it 
 is in mere secular matters ; and so it hap- 
 pens that what may be given to a cause elo- 
 quently pleaded is denied to the same cause 
 when feebly put before us. Let the believer 
 but reflect that in reality he has no right tc 
 withhold his assistance, that he is only al- 
 
MEASURE OF CHKISTIAN LIBEEALITT. 123 
 
 lowed the discretion of selecting siicli objects 
 as appear to liim most to require aid, but 
 that what he is asked for is not really his but 
 God's, and lie will see the propriety of alter- 
 ing his conduct, and to look less to the man- 
 ner of advocacy, and more to the cause 
 which is advocated. 
 
 In the expenditure of the Christian's oifer- 
 ings, the support of the gospel ministry 
 among ourselves occupies the leading place. 
 They wlio are God's embassadors to convey 
 his message to man are his first objects in 
 the distribution of the portion which he 
 claims for liimself. It is their right, which 
 cannot be withheld from them without guilt. 
 " They who preach the gospel should live of 
 the gospel," by the same divine ordinance 
 that gave to the Jewish priesthood a share 
 of the altar sacrifices. They who have sep- 
 arated themselves from secular business to 
 devote themselves to the service of their 
 Redeemer, and the salvation of his wander- 
 ing sheep, should not have their thoughts 
 distracted from their calling by poverty and 
 w^ant at home. "Let it not be thouo-ht," 
 says Mr. James, speaking on this subject, 
 " that what is given to a minister is a char- 
 itable donation; it is the payment of a just 
 debt. It is what Christ claims for his faith- 
 
1 24 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAl^ LIBERALITY. 
 
 ful servants, and which, cannot be withheld 
 without robbery. I spurn for myself and 
 my brethren the degrading apprehension 
 that we are supported by charity. We are 
 not clerical pensioners upon mere bounty. 
 Our appeal is to justice, and if our claims 
 are denied upon this ground, we refuse to 
 plead before any other tribunal, and refer 
 the matter to the great assize." We know 
 of no money so well spent as this, in what- 
 ever view regarded. It is the most direct 
 homage to God, being given to his servants. 
 It maintains the preaching of those grand 
 truths which are for the salvation of immor- 
 tal souls. Even on the grounds of worldly 
 expediency, it is more for the temporal in- 
 terests of nations than any other expenditure. 
 " Ye are the salt of the earth," said Christ to 
 his apostles ; and well and truly has Hooker 
 called every embassador of his " a pillar of 
 that commonwealth wherein he faithfully 
 serveth God." Take away from a nation its 
 gospel ministrations ; silence the message of 
 peace, and the word of exhortation, rebuke, 
 and warning, and you will quickly reduce it 
 to that utter degeneracy of mind and morals 
 which is the certain precursor of decay and 
 ruin. It is righteousness which is the great 
 exalter of one nation above another; and 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALIl^Y. 125 
 
 true religion more, far more than any other 
 thing, produces those principles of morality, 
 of activity, of prudence and industiy, of 
 temperance and endurance, which make a 
 people great at home, and respected and 
 powerful abroad. What has preserved 
 wealthy England from falling into that 
 effeminacy of manners, that luxury and vic- 
 ious indulgence, which extinguished the 
 'Spirit of Greece and Rome, and paved the 
 way for their downfall ? Without hesitation 
 we say it is her possession, — too partial, alas ! 
 • — of true religion. What the Latin poet 
 said to imperial Rome may with much 
 greater truth be said of Britain : " Thou 
 bearest rule, because thou submittest thy 
 will to heaven." To the possession of the 
 truth and to its influence we refer, under 
 God, the greatness of our country, and while 
 she retains them we will not fear her over- 
 throw. 
 
 The education of the young of our land, 
 not merely in secular learning, but far more 
 in instruction taken from God's holy word, 
 is another leading object which God has 
 placed before us. No wise man will esteem 
 as of little importance the education of youth 
 for their calling in this present world ; but 
 most assuredly, too, there is no man of real 
 
126 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 wisdom who will not hold it of infinitely 
 greater moment to train the soul for heaven. 
 If it be the mark of a contracted and mis- 
 taken mind to despise and neglect man's 
 education for his position in this life, it is the 
 mark of a mind immeasurably more nar- 
 row and mistaken to neglect the moral 
 training and the religious knowledge with- 
 out which man cannot be fitted for his heav- 
 enly inheritance. And therefore it is that 
 the infallible guide-book of the Christian is 
 so explicit and so earnest, "Thou shalt teach 
 them diligently unto thy children." The 
 Scriptural school, then, in which the poor 
 of our land and of our people may learn of 
 their Saviour, and be taught to aspire from 
 the midst of their poverty and lowliness to a 
 place in his kingdom, is a fit object of our 
 sympathy and assistance. 
 
 The propagation of the religion of the 
 Saviour throughout the world, by the circu- 
 lation of Holy Scripture, a sound religious 
 literature, and missionary exertion, is an- 
 other grand object, which God has com- 
 mended to our care. "Preach the gospel to 
 every creature" is the divine command: 
 "be fellow-helpers" to those who "go forth 
 for Christ's sake" is the duty of all Chris- 
 tians, according to St. John. This subject 
 
MEASUPwE OF CHRISTIAN LIBEKAI.ITY. 127 
 
 naturally divides itself into efforts to evan- 
 gelize the heathen, to turn the heart of 
 Israel to that Lord and Messiah whom they 
 have denied, and to reclaim from the super- 
 stitions and idolatries into which it has 
 fallen a large portion of the professing Chris- 
 tian Church. We need not dwell on our 
 duty of evangelizing heathen lands, l^o 
 Christian can for a moment doubt his duty 
 on this head, or its urgent need to those 
 who, " being without God, are also without 
 hope in the w^orld." Over how large a por- 
 tion of mankind the shadow of heathen 
 darkness still rests, it is fearful to contem- 
 plate. As little doubt can there be of our 
 duty to proclaim in the Jewish ear the gos- 
 pel of our Saviour. It is true they have, 
 and hold with wonderful tenacity, their 
 ancient law^, and that in that law the gospel 
 is preached. But, alas ! the vail is on their 
 hearts when they read the law, and they do 
 not see that Christ crucified, as w^elL as glo- 
 rious, is its hope and its fulfilment. They 
 come, then, under the class of those who 
 having not the gospel require its proclama- 
 tion ; and sure we are that right dear in the 
 sicfht of the Lord is their work who seek to 
 bring to Jesus the people that once were, 
 and will again be, "the apple of his eye." 
 
128 MEASURE OF CHKISTIAJST LIBERALITY. 
 
 N^or can it be doubted that it is the be- 
 liever's duty to reclaim from error fallen 
 Churches. Prominent among these is that 
 gigantic Church of Papal Kome, which has 
 extended her sway, and spread her corrup- 
 tion, over the earth. To her as their proper 
 object point all those various marks which 
 inspiration has given us, that we may know, 
 guard against, and shun the grand apostasy 
 from the faith. And though some sound 
 and earnest upholders of the truth may 
 doubt if Rome be indeed the predicted apos- 
 tasy, none of them doubt that she has in 
 many most vital points departed from the 
 faith, and is " a blind leader of the blind." 
 Now departure from vital truth, and choice 
 of falsehood instead, is laid down in the 
 Scriptures as fatal to salvation. Heresies 
 are classed with the other works of the flesh, 
 as, when persevered in, excluding from eter- 
 nal life. The warnings of Christ's faithful 
 apostles, and of the great Shepherd himself, 
 against unfaithful teachers within the fold, 
 are more solemn, and their denunciations of 
 the terrible guilt of such persons are even 
 more severe, than against the infidelity of 
 the avowed unbeliever. Nor is there in the 
 whole Scripture a more encouraging prom- 
 ise held out than to those who are the 
 
MEASUKE OF CIIKISTIAN LIBERayLITY. ll'9 
 
 honored instruments of restoring such : 
 " Brethren, if any of you err from the truth, 
 and one convert him, let him know that he 
 which converteth the sinner from the error 
 of his ways shall save a soul from death, and 
 shall hide a multitude of sins." 
 
 Hundreds, and even millions, are to be 
 reached by evangelical truth, by whom the 
 voice of instruction will not be heard. To 
 these the pious tract or beautiful spirit- 
 stiri'ing volume must be sent. What charity 
 is nobler than that which bears to the desti- 
 tute, the suffering, and the lost, in a style 
 at once simple and attractive, the instruction 
 to enlighten the mind, the appeals to alarm 
 and arouse the slumbering conscience, and 
 the encouragement which presses the aching 
 heart affectionately to the warm and sym- 
 pathizing bosom of the Kedeemer ? 
 
 The suffering poor of every communion 
 and opinion, and more especially those " of 
 the household of faith," are another object, 
 which we cannot neglect to consider in our 
 distribution of what is God's. We do not 
 speak in support of an indiscriminate system 
 of almsgiving to every miserable-looking 
 object that claims it, which is as much op- 
 posed to the teaching of Scripture as to the 
 maxims of a sound political economy. 
 9 
 
130 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 Whatever tends to enconrage a system of 
 idleness, and to lead men to prefer a life of 
 mendicancy to that of honest and laborious 
 industry, certainly finds no countenance 
 from that book which has commanded us to 
 labor on six days of the week, and has or- 
 dained that "if any would not work, neither 
 should he eat." Indiscriminate almsgiving, 
 therefore, or the support in a lazy idleness 
 of those who can but will not labor, is no 
 l^art of a Christian's duty. But still there 
 are always cases, even in countries where 
 the fullest state provision is made for the re- 
 lief of poverty, which call upon the merciful 
 for their aid, and which the merciful God 
 requires us not to disregard. They may be 
 known by the judicious and inquiring ; by 
 those who will take a little trouble to dis- 
 criminate between real and fictitious dis- 
 tress, — between the difficulties of struggling 
 industry and sinful sloth. There are, in 
 fact, few of that class who come under the 
 title of the poor, who at some period or 
 other of their lives are not in circumstances 
 which justly entitle them to the sympathy 
 of their more fortunate brethren. "Want of 
 employment or a season of sickness will 
 sometimes deprive the most industrious and 
 deserving of a sufiiciency for their support. 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 131 
 
 It is at such times particularly that the hand 
 of kindness should be stretched out to their 
 assistance. A generous and sympathizing 
 conduct on the part of the upper toward the 
 lower orders, as it is in accordance with 
 God's will, so it is the best preservative of 
 society against the leveling doctrines of spo- 
 liation so prevalent in the present day. It 
 is the gorgeous luxury and selfish careless- 
 ness of the poor, by those above them, that 
 far more than anything else produce that 
 envy and hatred which pave the way for 
 the introduction into their minds of anti- 
 social principles, which in times of trial issue 
 in the overthrow of government and order. 
 A little love, and kindness, and sympathy, 
 if generally displayed by the independent 
 toward their humbler brethren, would be far 
 more effectual for the preservation of pro- 
 perty and society than stringent laws and 
 armed millions. 
 
 Such are the objects which God has in his 
 word placed before Christians for their sup- 
 port. On the upholding of these he expects 
 tliem to bestow that portion of their income 
 which is especially claimed by him. And 
 we thus perceive that the tenth, which be- 
 longs to God, is not too much for the pur- 
 poses for which it is designed ; that if it be 
 
132 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 on our part due to him as an acknowledg- 
 ment of his bounty and sovereignty, so he 
 has marked out an ample and most worthy 
 field for its employment. And so long as 
 any of these objects require our aid, so long 
 can no Christian plead the smallest excuse 
 for withholding from the Lord his right. 
 Until struggling industry ceases to advance 
 its claim, and age and sickness supplicate not 
 for relief; until ample instruction has been 
 provided for the youth of our land, and each 
 ministering servant and embassador of Christ 
 can say that he who supplies the spiritual 
 wants of his flock has had his ow^n temporal 
 wants fully answered; until in casting our 
 eyes over the wide world we can see no dark 
 spot to w^hich the glorious gospel has not 
 been sent: until this has been done, and 
 done well, no Christian can j)retend to say 
 that he may withdraw his share from the 
 treasury of God. Which of these great 
 objects is properly or fully supported? The 
 answer, alas ! must be, " None." When has 
 any one of them met its becoming assist- 
 ance ? We must reply, " Never." No man, 
 therefore, can say with ti-uth that he knows 
 not on what to expend that portion which 
 God claims for himself. 
 
 If such are the general calls on all Chris- 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAiq^ LIBERALITY. 133 
 
 tians, we will also find abundant to require 
 the free-will offerings of tlie wealthy. Who 
 that is disposed in his heart out of an over- 
 flowing abundance to give abundantly, but 
 will with little pains find some befitting 
 object on which to God's glory he may 
 expend a portion of his riclies ? He will fix 
 his eyes but too readily on some neglected 
 district of his own land, perhaps in his own 
 immediate neighborhood, whicli, though 
 situate in a so-called Christian country, is 
 almost as destitute of gospel privileges as if 
 it lay within a heathen land. What more 
 suitable, then, for a wealthy individual, or a 
 number of such united, than to devote their 
 care to this benighted spot? At their cost 
 let a house of God arise in the midst of it, 
 elegant in structure, while devoid of mere- 
 tricious ornament, whose open doors may 
 invite to prayer and to praise. Let some 
 faithful minister of Christ be chosen to con- 
 duct its ministrations ; by a holy life and a 
 pastoral care to attract the careless and the 
 godless ; to win to and keep for the great 
 Bishop of souls his wandering sheep. Let 
 an endowment provide, so far as man can 
 provide for futurity, that the gospel sound 
 shall never be silent within those walls ; that 
 when its pious builders have mingled with 
 
134 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 the dust, and the lips that first within them 
 testified of Christ are hushed in the grave, 
 the same " faithful saying, worthy of all 
 acceptation," may yet be heard, and "the 
 people that come after" may learn to praise 
 the Lord. It was no mean recommendation 
 of the centurion to Christ the report of the 
 Jews, " He hath built us a synagogue." 
 And surely the pious action of the Christian, 
 who in honor of his Lord raises a house to 
 his name, and provides for it a gospel minis- 
 tration is a most suitable object for his free- 
 will offering, and will bring down in the 
 goodness of God a blessing upon him and 
 his. 
 
 Or with equal propriety may the man of 
 wealth devote a portion of it to the erection 
 of a school-house, and provision for the in- 
 struction of youth, where such has not been 
 adequately provided. Second in importance 
 to none is such a work. It is the just obser- 
 vation of the poet Wordsworth, " Tlie child 
 is father of the man," which is but another 
 form of what Solomon said long before, 
 " Train up a child in the way he should go, 
 and when he is old he will not depart from 
 it." For what we sow we must expect to 
 reap. From an ignorant youth we must 
 look for a population a prey to the vile pur- 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 135 
 
 poses of the designing and the crafty ; from 
 such as have only received a secular learning 
 we may expect a population armed with 
 power for evil, and in the pride of unsancti- 
 fied intellect inclined to infidelity. From 
 those alone whose education has been based 
 upon divine truth may we hope for a people 
 the pride and strength of their country. 
 Such, to an extent probably unequaled else- 
 wliere, were, and we trust in a great measure 
 still are, the youth and manhood of Scotland. 
 Many, besides, are the ways in which tlie 
 substance of the rich may be expended to 
 the glory of God. In the erection of a hos- 
 pital for the sick, or an almshouse for the 
 aged and infirm, who have perhaj^s seen 
 better days, and been reduced through no 
 fault of theirs ; in the provision for the 
 orphan, whom death may have thrown help- 
 less on the world: in such ways as these 
 riches cease to be " the unrighteousness 
 mammon." Or wealth may cast a generous 
 eye upon some man of genius, whose soaring 
 intellect is cramped by that old complaint of 
 mental power, domestic poverty. Brought 
 out of want, this man may ap^^ly his miglity 
 mind on labors which shall enrich unborn 
 generations. To the liberality of Robert 
 Eoyle we prmcipally owe the publication of 
 
136 MP]ASUKE OF CHRISTIAN LIBEBALITT. 
 
 " Saimderson's Book on Conscience," and 
 " Burnet's History of the Reformation." 
 To the discriminating kindness of Bishop 
 Jewel we owe it that Richard Hooker was 
 not a tradesman. To similar conduct we 
 gwe the bringing forward of many of our 
 greatest men and their immortal works. 
 
 Such are some of those objects which in- 
 deed commend themselves to the attention 
 of those to whom God has given riches. 
 These are works worthy of men and of 
 Christians. These are works which give 
 glory to God, and procure an enduring fame. 
 O, how far more worthy of man than the 
 extravagant and idle freaks in which wealth 
 sometimes indulges ! In ancient times we 
 read of one whose profuse luxury has hand- 
 ed down a name which would otherwise 
 have been forgotten. Of the Roman Api- 
 cius we are told by Seneca that he expended 
 on his table nearly a million sterling of our 
 money ; that he kept an academy of gour- 
 mands, and made the invaluable discovery 
 that the tongue of the red-wing was a deli- 
 cacy ; that he sailed to tlie coast of Africa 
 to eat crayfish, and not finding them so good 
 as he expected, returned without deigning 
 to land. It is but too true that Christian 
 times could furnish many examples of an 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 137 
 
 expenditure as foolisli and far more wicked 
 than this. Nobler, too, are those works 
 which we have mentioned than the greatest 
 undertakings, which have not the glory of 
 God for their special object. The record of 
 these is kept on earth, and is a fading one ; 
 the record of those is in heaven. 
 
138 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 " IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RE- 
 CEIVE." 
 
 In speaking in the preceding chapter of those 
 objects which God has commended to his 
 people's care, we adverted to some reasons 
 which show our own great personal interest 
 in them, and which should therefore make us 
 the more willing to support them. We now 
 propose, as briefly as possible, to place before 
 our readers the various motives wliich should 
 influence them in giving of their substance 
 to the Lord. 
 
 Having throughout the Essay described 
 the bestowing of a portion of our increase in 
 the direct cause of God as being a tribute to 
 his sovereignty, a confession that he is the 
 true owner of all things, and an act of obe- 
 dience to his express commandment, we will 
 not further dwell on these motives, the first 
 and leading ones in the Christian's mind. 
 The feeling that all things come from God, 
 and still belong to him, is at the foundation 
 of the creature's woi*shi]3 of his Creator ; 
 and the disposition to obey unreservedly 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 139 
 
 and from the heart the will of God, whether 
 in believing what he places before us as the 
 objects of our faith, or performing what he 
 requires us to practice, is after all the great 
 distinction between those who really are his 
 and those who know him not, by whatever 
 name they may be called. The first motive, 
 then, in the believer's mind in the gift of his 
 substance is this, that God his Maker and 
 Father in Christ Jesus requires it from him, 
 in token that he and his are God's. 
 
 Another strong motive with the believer 
 will be gratitude. " What shall I render to 
 the Lord for all his benefits to me?" is a 
 question that often rises to his mind. Grati- 
 tude is indeed the very essence of the Chris- 
 tian's spirit, the unfailing sign of that soul 
 which has been redeemed from death and 
 brought to life eternal. How shall it attain 
 its high aspirations, and find a field of exer- 
 cise for its ardent longings? How shall the 
 soul, which the " love of Christ has constrain- 
 ed," show the love which it feels in return ? 
 It cannot exhibit it in self-chosen acts, in 
 works of whatever kind, whether painful or 
 otherwise, exceeding duty. It were too pre- 
 sumptuous for the creature to choose the 
 worship it should pay to God, — to bind the 
 approval of the All-wise to its self-elected 
 
140 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALriY. 
 
 acts. When the believer, then, reflects on 
 all that God has done for him from the first 
 work of creation to his wondrous love in re- 
 demption, — when he reflects truly, though, 
 alas ! most inadequately, on his infinite obli- 
 gations, — when he casts about him to dis- 
 cover what return he can make, — he finds 
 the only acceptable return he can render is 
 his cheerful and joyful acquiescence in the 
 path of defined dut}^ "Ye are not your 
 own," said Paul to the Corinthians, " for ye 
 are bought with a price, therefore glorify 
 God in your body and your spirit, which are 
 his.'''' The grateful mind then seeks to know 
 the will of God, that it may do it from the 
 heart. In the gift of his substance, as in 
 other things, he recognizes God's expressed 
 pleasure, and that which to the covetous is a 
 reluctant act, gratitude makes delightful, and 
 love makes easy, to the servant of the Lord. 
 Godliness is true wisdom, even in regard 
 of man's present advantage. Indeed none 
 but he who glorifies God is wise for himself. 
 So it is in regard of that duty which we are 
 now considering. The giving in God's cause 
 of that which he requires from us is assuredly 
 the best safeguard we can have for the safety 
 of our substance, and the best guarantee for 
 its increase. Who can lay his hands on 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 141 
 
 worldly possessions, and stay them with him 
 at his pleasure ? They can elude the grasp 
 of their most devoted lover in a thousand 
 ways that are under his control whom all 
 things obey. They have truly the fabled 
 power of Proteus, and none but God has the 
 art of securing them. He has himself made 
 special promises to those who honour him 
 with their substance and expend it to his 
 glory : " Bring ye all the tithe into the store- 
 house, that there may be meat in my house. 
 And prove me now herewith, saith the Lord 
 of hosts, if I will not open you the windows 
 of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that 
 there shall not be room enough to receive it." 
 Such is the promise of God on which the be- 
 liever relies, but from which the unfaithful 
 mind turns with distrust. Yet how foolishly ! 
 What hold have we or any one on his pos- 
 sessions? Are we rich and powerful ? What 
 warrant have we that before a year is passed, 
 " our riches may not have made to them- 
 selves wings and flown away ;" our great- 
 ness only made our fall the more remarkable ? 
 Or are we dependent on our vigor of mind 
 and strength of body for support? From 
 whom comes this vigor of body and mind? 
 From Him whom we are perhaps defraud- 
 ing of his claim. Do we not then pro- 
 
142 MEASTJKE OF CHRISTIAN LIBEEALITT. 
 
 voke him to withdraw his gifts, and in 
 that case where are we ? Wiser, surely, even 
 for this world is the man who with the con- 
 fiding spirit of a child walks in the path of 
 duty, and leaves himself simply to the care of 
 God. He has a power on his side which or- 
 ders all things ; a wisdom which proAddes for 
 every want ; a love more tender of his safety 
 than the fondest parent's on earth. "That 
 which is presented to God," Hooker says, "is 
 neither lost, nor unfruitfully bestowed, but 
 sanctifies the whole mass ; and he by receiv- 
 ing a little undertakes to bless all. In which 
 consideration the Jews were accustomed to 
 call their tithes the hedge of their riches." It 
 is the remark of the greatest philosopher of 
 England in one of hk Essays, that great lov- 
 ers of themselves " are frequently unfortun- 
 ate. And whereas they have all their life 
 sacrificed to themselves, they become in the 
 end themselves sacrifices to the inconstancy 
 of fortune, whose wings they thought by 
 their self-wisdom to have j^inioned." And 
 in exact agreement witli this, the writer has 
 heard a friend of liis, one who has seen much 
 of the world, and observed it very closely, 
 remark as the fruit of his observation, that 
 in the trying times, which have passed and 
 are passing over this country, he has seen 
 
[MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 143 
 
 those who have been accustomed to give 
 freely of their substance in the cause of God 
 surmounting their difficulties, and those who 
 refused God's claim sinking beneath them. 
 Is it but the fulfillment of God's promise, and 
 we need not wonder at it. Tlie examples of 
 Scripture present us with the same result. 
 We will refer briefly but to one, that of Ja- 
 cob. His vow at Bethel, doubtless, was per- 
 formed, and what was the consequence? 
 Listen to the words of the sons of selfish 
 Laban: "Jacob hath taken away all that 
 was our father's." Hear his own confession 
 of God's bounty : " With my staff I passed 
 over this Jordan, and now I am become two 
 bands." Kegard the wonderful history of 
 Jose2:>h's life, a life fore-ordered for this 
 among other purposes, to supply to the faith- 
 ful patriarch abundance in the days of 
 dearth. And when the time for dying came, 
 and Jacob from the conclusion of life re- 
 viewed in memory its eventful scenes, he in- 
 cluded this in his most beautiful description 
 of the character of Jehovah, "The God 
 which fed me all my life unto this day." 
 
 Again, the practice of this duty is the best 
 remedy against the sins of covetousness on 
 the one hand, and extravagance on the other. 
 The exercise of any grace is the most effect- 
 
144 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LrBERALITT. 
 
 ual safeguard against the prevalence of its 
 opposite vice. It is, indeed, the only effect- 
 ual safeguard. " Break off thy sins by right- 
 eousness," said Daniel to ISTebuchadnezzar, 
 '' and thy iniquities by showing mercy to 
 the poor." The heart of man cannot be un- 
 occuj^ied : it must be the seat either of good 
 or evil. Agahist that deadly sin of covetous- 
 ness, then, the best resource is a glad compli- 
 ance with God's precept in the bestowal of 
 our substance. Nor is this to be thought a 
 trifling reason to influence us to this duty. 
 Most insidious, most fatal, and most common, 
 is the sin of covetousness. "The disease," 
 says Dr. Chalmers, " is as near to universal 
 as it is virulent. Wealth is the goddess 
 whom all the world worshippeth. There is 
 many a city in our empire, of which, with 
 an eye of apostolical discernment, it may be 
 seen that it is almost wholly given over to 
 idolatry." It begins, perhaps, wdth the spe- 
 cious plea of providing for the present and 
 future wants of one's family, and passing 
 through intermediate stages, ends not unfre- 
 quently in being idolized simply for itself, un- 
 til we see the fearful picture of the miser, de- 
 voted to the acquisition of money without any 
 reference to the gi*atifications it is capable of 
 procuring, and who, deliglited in the posses- 
 
MEASURE OF CHKISTIAN LIBERALITY. 145 
 
 sion of imaginary riches, lives and dies amid 
 the realities of the direst poverty. Kor is it 
 to be thought an unimportant consideration, 
 that the exercise of this grace tends very 
 materially to check that thoughtless extrava- 
 gance, which is as much opposed to the teach- 
 ing of God's word as it is productive of mis- 
 ery in this present life. If the Christian is 
 indeed to allocate a fixed and important por- 
 tion of his income in the cause of God, this 
 will almost of necessity compel him to look 
 somewhat closely to his means and to his 
 expenditure, lest by carelessness he be com- 
 pelled to break in upon that portion which 
 he now feels to belong to God. 
 
 Again, the practice of Christian liberality 
 and kindness is most conducive to our own 
 happiness. It was He who knew the human 
 heart, and the deep joy of a bountiful spirit, 
 who said, " It is more blessed to give than 
 to receive." It must be more blessed ; for 
 it is to be like God, the source and fountain 
 of blessedness. He is the great Giver from 
 whom all receive, and to whom none can 
 give. His joy, as relates to all without him- 
 self, consists in bestowing. The creation, 
 and preservation, and redemption of his 
 creatures, gives satisfaction to the infinite 
 mind. It is so, too, with man, in so far as 
 10 
 
146 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 lie has not lost, and in proportion as he has 
 been restored to, his original condition, as 
 made " in the image of God." Behold the 
 deep joy of a mother over her infant inca- 
 pable as yet of making any return. The 
 anguish of her travail is forgotten in the de- 
 light of having brought a child into the 
 world ; and, perhaps, no subsequent joy at 
 its filial affection or its success in life is so 
 heartfelt as that with which she affords it 
 nourishment, or bends over the cradle of 
 her child, who, whether waking or sleeping, 
 is unconscious of her love and care. And 
 so in other matters where the heart is right. 
 We are sure that Howard, the philanthro- 
 pist, was one of the happiest of men. We 
 could never dream of comparing the happi- 
 ness of him w4io dwells all his life long amid 
 scenes of comfort and of elegance, and never 
 sacrifices an iota of his personal convenience 
 to the welfare of others, to his who, out of 
 an ample fortune, spent little of it on him- 
 self, who left the lovely scenes of England's 
 rural life, in which none took more sincere 
 pleasure, to pass his life in visiting the 
 gloomy prisons and the noisome lazarettos 
 of the world, to alleviate the sorrows of suf- 
 fering humanity, regardless of the toil to 
 which he was exposed, and of the danger to 
 
MEASURE OF CHEISTIAN LIBERALITY. 147 
 
 which at last he fell a victim. The Chris- 
 tian poet could enter into his feelings — 
 could rest assured that he was no fit object 
 for pity, but rather of envy, whose love for 
 man led him 
 
 •' To quit the bliss his rural scenes bestow, 
 To seek a nobler amid scenes of woe." 
 
 Where selfishness and covetousness have 
 not dried up and extinguished the benevo- 
 lent affections, there is, indeed, a truer satis- 
 faction in their exercise than in the pleasure 
 we experience in receiving. It was such a 
 feeling that impelled one, whose name de- 
 served to be remembered, the Portuguese 
 Andrada, to continue in an African prison, 
 and laden with fetters, that he might con- 
 tinue to console his fellow-prisoners. This 
 he preferred to his own personal freedom. 
 Of Bishop Burnet an anecdote is told which 
 illustrates this truth. One of his parishion- 
 ers was distrained for debt, and came to him 
 for some small assistance, when the bishop in- 
 quired of him how much would again set him 
 up in his trade. The debtor named the sum, 
 which a servant was immediately ordered to 
 pay him. " Sir," said the domestic, " it is all 
 we have in the house." " Well, well," replied 
 Burnet ; " pay it to this poor man ; you do 
 
148 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 not know tlie pleasure there is in making a 
 man glad." We have seen already in Scrip- 
 ture the deep joy of Israel on those occa- 
 sions when the nation was most forward in 
 its offerings to God. As Shakspeare has 
 beautifully described the bounty of Mari^ 
 Antony by the expression, "There was ti6 
 winter in it," so in him to whom God has 
 given the grace to be "a cheerful giver," 
 there can be no winter of gloom and dis- 
 content, the bountiful spirit is a perpetual 
 source of satisfaction, his good deeds to 
 others, for Christ's sake, return into his bo- 
 som a hundredfold. 
 
MEASUEE OF CHRISTIAN LIBEK.NXITY. 149 
 
 CHAPTER Xm. 
 
 ««BEWAiiE OF COVETOUSNESS." 
 
 Having brought our subject to its close, it 
 only remains for us to say a very few words. 
 The subject of which we have endeavored 
 to treat is beyond any doubt one of great 
 importance, both as regards the honor of 
 God and the state of our own souls before 
 him. On the one hand, there is his cause 
 to uphold and advance in a world which 
 knows him not. Shall we refuse to uphold 
 it? On the other hand, there is the fatal 
 tendency of covetousness, a sin most insidi- 
 ous and most prevalent to guard against, if 
 we would enter into life. 
 
 "Who is covetous?" is a question often 
 asked, but to which very few indeed can be 
 brought to reply, "I am the man." And 
 yet covetousness is a sin spoken of in the 
 Scriptures in numberless places, described 
 as most common, and as possessing a deadly 
 power over the soul which has admitted it. 
 It would then be a great advantage if we 
 could by any means help ourselves in find- 
 ing out whether we may be ourselves, with- 
 
150 MEASUKE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 out suspecting it, more or less under its 
 dominion. To value riches is not to be cov- 
 etous. They are the gift of God, and, like 
 every gift of his, good in themselves, and 
 capable of a good use. They are among the 
 other talents which have been bestowed by 
 the Creator on his creature. To overvalue 
 riches — to put them into a position in our 
 hearts which God did not design them to 
 fill — this is covetousness. The sin to which 
 it is most allied, and with which it is indeed 
 identical, is idolatry. IN^ow the essence of 
 idolatry is the preference of the creature to 
 the Creator, in whatever way this may ap- 
 pear. Idolatry causes man to abandon God 
 for something else, either openly or at heart ; 
 and when man turns to God, he also leaves 
 his idols. We will accordingly find that 
 that love of riches, which is branded in 
 Scripture as covetousness, is such a love of 
 them, and such a regard for them, as takes 
 from man his trust in God, and transfers it 
 to his possessions. Jeremiah, w^arning the 
 covetous, says, "Let not the rich man glory 
 in his riches, but let him that glorieth glory 
 in this, that he understandeth and knoweth 
 the Lord." David describes the covetous 
 man as he that "made not God his strength, 
 but trusted in the abundance. of his riches." 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 151 
 
 But then the question comes. How is this 
 trust in riches and distrust in God to be 
 known? How is the covetousness of the 
 heart to be distinguished ? "We know of no 
 test more effectual than this, namely, Are 
 we willing, or do we refuse, to part with 
 such of our substance as God requires at our 
 hands? If we are willing to do so, not in 
 any self-righteous spirit, as though by this 
 means we made God our debtor, but as obe- 
 dient children, preferring his will to ours, 
 and taking him as our sufficient and unfail- 
 ing portion, then we may reasonably con- 
 clude that wealth is not our idol. If we 
 refuse to do so — if we cannot bear, at his 
 command, to part with a portion or with the 
 whole of our substance, in reliance on his 
 promise of provision, it is then but too plain 
 that we have placed riches in God's room, 
 and are idolaters of them. The ruler that 
 came to Jesus was a covetous man, because 
 being commanded by his Lord to part with 
 all he had, and refusing to do so, he showed 
 that his heart was more set on them than on 
 God, and his trust in them stronger. He 
 saw more to confide in in his houses, and 
 lands, and money, than in that which Christ 
 would provide for him instead, implied in 
 the words, "Come and follow me." The 
 
152 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 
 
 Israelite was covetous that refused to pay to 
 God his tithe, because he so indicated his 
 preference of present worldly substance to 
 the care and promise of God; he thereby 
 virtually said, "If I give up this, and confide 
 in God, it will be worse for me." Now if 
 we have established the principal object of 
 this essay, and shown that our obligations to 
 God are at least as great as those of Israel 
 were, it will then be plain that we have for 
 ourselves the same test of covetousness. If 
 God requires of us a tenth for himself, and 
 tells us, in lieu thereof, to accept his care, 
 protection, and love, as our ample provision, 
 and we refuse his offer, and prefer our visible 
 and tangible means to his promises, then we 
 think that the sin of covetousness attaches 
 itself to us. 
 
 Let us, then, well weigh what has been 
 said upon this subject. There seems to be 
 much in favor of the conclusion we have 
 come to, and are ignorant that any serious 
 objection can be raised against it; for surely, 
 when the cause of God requires it, and when 
 that cause has been intrusted to us, we can 
 give no good reason for bestowing less upon 
 it than it was Israel's duty and Israel's privi- 
 lege to give. We would then, in conclusion, 
 seriously and affectionately put it to the 
 
MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 153 
 
 reader's conscience to ask himself, after fairly 
 and dispassionately reviewing the reasons we 
 have given, Is there force in them, or not? 
 If it be allowed that there is, we will then 
 only ask. Is nothing to follow from this 
 allowance ? Is it to be on our part a nomi- 
 nal admission of God's claim, but a practical 
 independence of its authority, like the empty 
 homage which a powerful vassal or province 
 pays to a feeble superior ? But God is not a 
 weak king, and let us beware how we trifle 
 with his claims. Let us rather, however, 
 regard his love and kindness as our strongest 
 motive to obedience, and to Him who made 
 and preserved and redeemed us let us gladly 
 give of that which he has given us. 
 
THE 
 
 C0ittrihtti0it : 
 
 OE, 
 
 IN WHAT PROPOETION SHOULD A BELIEVER IN REVE- 
 LATION DEDICATE HIS PROPERTY TO THE 
 CAUSE OF GOD? 
 
 See that ye abound in this grace also.— 2 Cor. viii, 7. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Chap. Page 
 I. The Bible 159 
 
 II. Abraham 169 
 
 III. Jacob 181 
 
 IV. Moses 190 
 
 1. The first titho, p. 192 ; 2. The second tithe, p. 194 ; 
 8. The tithe for the poor, p. 195; 4 The Levite's tithe, 
 p. 197; 5. Stated services, p. 19S; 6. Various sacrifices, 
 p. 200 ; 7. Free-will caterings, p. 201. 
 
 V. The Day of Pentecost 205 
 
 VI. Macedonia and Corinth 220 
 
 VII. The First Day of the Week 237 
 
 VIII. Examples 267 
 
 1. The Tabernacle, p. 268; 2. The Temple, p. 276; 8. The 
 widow of Sarepta, p. 282 ; 4. The widow's mite, p. 285. 
 
 IX. Miscellaneous 291 
 
 1. Precepts, p. 292; 2. Warnings, p. 297; 3. Promises, 
 p. 303 ; 4. Prophecies, p. 307. 
 
 X. Conclusion 314 
 
THE 
 
 SCKIPTUKE RULE 
 
 RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE BIBLE. 
 
 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony 
 of the Lord is sure, making wise the sim])Ie.— Psa. xix, 7. 
 
 '^ To the ]a^Y and to the testimony ; if they 
 speak not according to this word, it is be- 
 cause there is no lisdit in them." It is in 
 the spirit and under the solemn impression 
 of this divine testimony the subject of con- 
 tributing our property to the cause of God 
 should be discussed and determined. To 
 " search the Scriptures" is a duty command- 
 ed by Christ, and comprehends not merely 
 an investigation of what is taught respecting 
 himself, but also of all the duty which we 
 are required to render him. "What may we 
 learn of him ? and. What shall we do for 
 him? are both questions to be referred to 
 the authority of Scripture, and to be decided 
 
160 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 by it. "What saitli the Lord" on the duty 
 of devoting our substance to him ? — this is 
 the inquiry now to be entered upon, and this 
 is the manner in which it is to be pursued 
 to a satisfactory conclusion. 
 
 At the outset of such an investigation it 
 may be necessary to consider whether it has 
 pleased God to lay down, in his word, any 
 specific rule of religious contribution. Is 
 there any Scripture law upon the subject? 
 Or has it been left to every one to determine 
 the matter for himself, according to his cir- 
 cumstances, and agreeably to his own sense 
 of duty ? Most assuredly men have acted 
 as if God had given no specific rule. So 
 far as appears to the eye of an observer, 
 there does not seem to pervade the Christian 
 Church any anxious concern, any jealousy 
 of spirit, lest there should be a law of God 
 in this matter which is not obeyed. Even 
 the public teaching of the pulpit and the 
 press has not given a uniform and " certain 
 sound." A spirit of hesitation and doubt- 
 fulness has prevailed extensively. There 
 have been noble exceptions, in both the 
 principles inculcated and the practices pur- 
 sued by many persons ; yet as to the pre- 
 vailing views and habits of the members of 
 the Christian Church, it is notorious that 
 
Oi icEIJGIOUS CONTKIBUTIOX. 161 
 
 they have not recognized the duty of enter- 
 taining any decided views or of pursuing 
 any determined practice. Go into any of 
 our most enlightened and best- organized 
 Churches — meet its members as they come 
 away with warm hearts and weeping eyes 
 from the table of the Lord — propose to 
 each of them the plain question, How much 
 of your income do you believe it to be your 
 duty to give to the Lord, and in what pro- 
 portion is it your habit to employ it^ and 
 who does not know that generally no answer 
 could be obtained? The majority, it is to 
 be feared, have not considered, far less de- 
 termined, the question, " How much owest 
 thou to thy Lord?" And as to those who 
 have sought and discovered and walked in 
 the right path, alas ! it may be said, " few 
 there be that find it." 
 
 A few years ago a great impulse was 
 given to the cause of Christian generosity 
 by the publication of a volume under the 
 title of "Mammon; or, Covetousness the 
 Sin of the Christian Church. By the Rev. 
 John Harris." In that volume the follow- 
 ing sentences occur at pages 245-7, (nine- 
 teenth thousand) : " '^\i2X ][>rojportion of our 
 income ought we to devote to charitable 
 uses? If Christian love be permitted to 
 11 
 
162 THE SCRIPTUKE RULE 
 
 answer this question, and assign the amount, 
 there is no reason to fear a too scanty allow- 
 ance. On the other hand, if selfishness be 
 suffered to decide, there is ground to fear 
 that even an inspired reply, could such be 
 obtained, would be heard only to be over- 
 ruled. Besides which, the gospel of Christ, 
 in harmony with its great design of estab- 
 lishing a reign of love, leaves its followers 
 to assess themselves. It puts into their 
 hands, indeed, a claim upon their property, 
 but leaves the question, liow onicchf to be 
 determined by themselves. In assisting 
 them to fill the blank with the proper as- 
 sessment, the only step which it takes is to 
 point them to the cross of Christ ; and, 
 while their eye is fixed there in admiring 
 love, to say, 'How much owest thou unto 
 thy Lord V ' Freely ye have received, free- 
 ly give.' 
 
 " It is observable that Abraham and Ja- 
 cob, on particular occasions, voluntarily de- 
 voted to God — what afterward became a 
 divine law for the Jewish nation — a tenth of 
 their property. Without implying that their 
 example has any obligation on us, we may 
 venture to say that one tenth of our whole 
 income is an approved proportion for charity 
 for those who, with so doing, are able to 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 163 
 
 support themselves and families. For the 
 more opulent, and especially for those who 
 have no families, a larger proportion would 
 be equally easy. For some, one-half would 
 be too little ; while for others, a twentieth, 
 or even a fiftieth, would require the nicest 
 frugality and care. Indeed, of many among 
 the poor, it may be said, that if they give 
 anything they give their share^ — they cast 
 in more than all their brethren." It is 
 cheerfully and gratefully acknowledged that 
 the volume from which these sentences have 
 been extracted proved to be seasonable and 
 salutary in no inconsiderable degree. It is 
 eloquent, earnest, and effective. On this 
 special topic, however, to which the quoted 
 passage refers — the proportion of contribu- 
 tion to income — a few strictures may be 
 permitted, and are required. Without at 
 all entering on other exceptions which have 
 been taken to the volume on the ground of 
 a defective statement of Christian doctrine, 
 its views of proportionate giving may be 
 fairly disputed. It is worthy of observation, 
 that in the whole book this is the only pas- 
 sage directly referring to that branch of the 
 subject. So far, therefore, as it is concerned, 
 that topic requires yet to be discussed. It 
 is at least too important to be so slightly 
 
164: THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 dismissed. There is, besides, a hesitation in 
 the manner of setting forth what the law of 
 the Scriptures is upon the subject, which 
 greatly weakens its force. It is not misrep- 
 resenting it to say, that it recognizes no spe- 
 cific law of giving now binding on the con- 
 science and practice of the Christian. It is 
 taught, that " the gospel of Christ leaves the 
 question, how much? to be determined by 
 Christians themselves," — that while " we 
 may venture to say that one tenth of our 
 whole income is an approved proportion of 
 charity," this is to be understood only of 
 " those who, with so doing, are able to sup- 
 port themselves and families," — that there 
 are some for whom to give " a twentieth or 
 fiftieth would require the nicest frugality 
 and care," — and that " of many among the 
 poor it may be said, if they give anything 
 they give their share." Are these represen- 
 tations in accordance with the revealed will 
 of God ? We hold that they are inconsistent 
 with it. It is our belief that a law for the 
 regulation of giving is laid down in the 
 Scriptures of the Old and ]^ew Testament. 
 It is our conviction that no one, taking these 
 for his guide, can devote less than a tenth 
 of his available income to the cause of God. 
 He may give more, as much more as he will 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTEIBUTION. 165 
 
 or his circumstances warrant, but less he 
 cannot possibly give and act consistently 
 with the inspired standard of man's duty. 
 The case of a pauper in a poorhouse may be 
 pleaded against this view ; but what income 
 has he ? He has none, and where there is 
 no income there is no obligation. Let that 
 pauper, however, receive a shilling from the 
 passing visitant, and he is bound to recog- 
 nize the claim of God to at least the tenth. 
 Yes ! and he may devote it to him with as 
 high a principle and as holy an affection as 
 he who gives his thousands out of his great 
 abundance. Or we may be told of others 
 who are sunk in debt and under obligations 
 which they are unable to discharge; but 
 what comes to them is not their own, it is 
 the just property of their creditors, and can 
 only pass through their hands to them. 
 Every man must be able to say with David, 
 in his religious contributions, " I have of my 
 own proper good given to the house of my 
 God." Let the subject be cleared of all ex- 
 traneous matter — let the question stand in 
 its simplicity, What proportion of his income 
 should a believer in Eevelation dedicate to 
 the cause of God ? And without liesitation 
 it is affirmed he cannot consistently give less 
 than a tenth. It will be observed the phrase, 
 
166 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 a heliever in Hevelation^ is used designedly, 
 for our appeal is to the whole word of God. 
 The Jewish and the Christian Scriptures are 
 not to be paraded against each other as 
 though they inculcated different or contrary 
 doctrines. They are together the exposition 
 of one system of religion. They contain 
 the records of various dispensations of re- 
 ligion, but the religion is throughout one and 
 the same. The same moral law pervades 
 the Old and New Testament. Their princi- 
 ples are identical. Tliese are taught in a 
 peculiar manner under the ancient economy, 
 and they are brought out differently under 
 the present dispensation. Essentially and 
 substantially they teach the same lessons. 
 Our inquiry, therefore, will lead us to inves- 
 tigate the instructions of both on the subject 
 of giving to the Lord. Beginning with the 
 early intimations of the divine will, we shall 
 be carried forward to the meridian light of 
 the last and best economy. The subject is 
 regarded to be so important as to have a 
 prominent place in all parts of divine Reve- 
 lation. Our object shall be to compare 
 scripture with scripture, and so learn the 
 will of God. Their scattered light will be 
 viewed apart, and then, brought together, 
 shall be made to converge their rays on the 
 
. OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 167 
 
 one subject. Thus in the light of the Lord 
 we hope we sh&ll see light. 
 
 In conclusion, if God has given a law, it 
 ought to be known and obeyed. Great in- 
 juiy has arisen to the cause of Christ from 
 the indistinct and undecided views which 
 have prevailed respecting the duty of re- 
 ligious contribution. We may give, or we 
 may withhold ; we may give little or much, 
 every man may do what is right in his own 
 eyes — this is the doctrine which has guided 
 the Church too long. On the contrary, we 
 liold that " God hath spoken once, yea, 
 twice ;" that he has plainly made known his 
 will in his word ; that he has given a law to 
 regulate the conduct of Jews and Gentiles ; 
 that no believer in his word can consistently 
 give less than tlie tenth of his income to the 
 cause of God ; that he ought to know this, 
 and act upon it ; and that he cannot neglect 
 to do so without sin. For these statements, 
 we "bring forth our strong reasons" from 
 the divine record. While we do so, let us 
 " tremble at the commandment of the Lord." 
 Great evil and neglect have arisen from the 
 members of the Church being hitherto " at 
 ease in Zion " on this imjDortant question. 
 May much good arise from the prevalence 
 of another and a better spirit! Something 
 
168 THE SCKIPTUKE RULE 
 
 needs to be done. There is indecision in the 
 counsels of the Church, and feebleness in its 
 efforts. Surely if its members saw their 
 duty and the law that God has given to regu- 
 late it, they would be roused to more con- 
 sistent and vigorous efforts. If any are of- 
 fended with our plainness, we can only plead 
 the word of the Lord. " We believe, there- 
 fore we have spoken." " We speak as unto 
 wise men, j udge ye what we say." The time 
 demands new views of duty, and all we ask 
 is, that the members of the Church of Christ 
 shall honestly inquire, '' Lord, what wilt thou 
 have me to do ?" Let us adopt the Psalmist's 
 prayer in reference to the duty into which 
 we are about to inquire, " Show me thy ways, 
 O Lord ; teach me thy paths. Lead me in 
 thy truth, and teach me; for thou art the 
 God of my salvation ; on thee do I wait all 
 the day." If "whatever is not of faith is 
 sin," we must either be guided by the law 
 and authority of God's word in giving to 
 him of our substance, or our conduct in this 
 respect must meet with the reproof, " AVho 
 hath required this at your hands ?" 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 169 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 ABRAHAM. 
 He gave him tithes of all.— Gen. xlv, 20. 
 
 The accomplished author of " Mammon," 
 referring to the conduct of Abraham and 
 Jacob in giving a tenth of their property to 
 God, uses the phrase, "without implying 
 that their example has any obligation on us." 
 The meaning of this saying is by no means 
 clear. It would be injustice to interpret it 
 to signify that, in the writer's opinion, the 
 example of Abraham and Jacob should have 
 no influence upon us, although such a mean- 
 ing might fairly be ascribed to the terms em- 
 ployed. It must be explained as conveying 
 the sentiment that in this particular case we 
 are not boimd to imitate their examj^le. 
 Even so understood, however, its correctness 
 may be questioned. We cannot but regard 
 it as one of those unsound interpretations 
 whicli prevail so generally on the subject of 
 religious contribution. For in these views 
 this distinguished author is far from being 
 singular. In an admirable sermon preached 
 
170 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 before the London Missionary Society, by 
 the Rev. Dr. Brown, of Edinburgh, so long 
 ago as the year 1821, on the duty " of pe- 
 cuniary contribution to religious purposes," 
 the following sentiment is expressed : " From 
 the circumstance of the tenth of the income 
 of the Israelites being appropriated by ex- 
 press divine law to pious purposes, it is surely 
 a fair conclusion, that among the middle and 
 higher classes in all ordinary cases. Chris- 
 tians should not devote a less proportion of 
 their worldly substance to the service of 
 God." Why is the rule confined to the 
 middle and higher classes? It is our convic- 
 tion that the Spirit of God did not so intend 
 it. The rule is one of universal obligation. 
 To make this apparent is a prominent design 
 of these pages. And it is to enforce the ne- 
 cessity of proving and confirming such a 
 view that reference is made at all to such 
 eminent servants of the Lord as liave been 
 named. Their views are, in our judgment, 
 defective, and not sufficiently explicit. We 
 think they have not done full j ustice to the 
 plainness and authority of the inspired rule 
 and practice. A¥e are deeply solicitous to 
 place the subject in wdiat seems to us to be 
 the proper aspect, to lay tlie duty of giving 
 to God on its right basis, and with this ob- 
 
OF KELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 171 
 
 ject the following remarks are submitted on 
 the example of Abraham. 
 
 It is by no means a right principle to ap- 
 prove and imitate whatever is recorded to 
 have been done bj the eminent servants of 
 God in other ages. Abraham did many 
 things that were reprehensible, and they are 
 narrated, with their consequences, for our 
 w^arning. Still, it is written, "Be ye follow- 
 ers of them who through faith and patience 
 inherit the promises," and Abraham is named 
 as one of them. A careful consideration of 
 each case must be entered into in order to 
 ascertain whether it is designed to be an ex- 
 ample for imitation or a beacon for warning. 
 Its history will usually enable us to deter- 
 mine. As to the specific case before us, that 
 of Abraham, there can be no hesitation how 
 it is to be understood ; it is expressly record- 
 ed that we may go and do likewise. We 
 are bound to imitate him. Of this position 
 the evidence is full and clear. 
 
 An inspired writer in the New Testament 
 expresses approval of Abraham's conduct: 
 "Consider how great this man was, unto 
 whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the 
 tenth of the spoils." He speaks with high 
 respect of his character, as a distinguished 
 servant of the Most High, and in this par- 
 
172 THE SCKIPTUKP: KULE 
 
 ticiilar instance applauds what lie did. Al- 
 though, therefore, the incident is introduced 
 from the life of the patriarch for the illustra- 
 tion of another subject, yet the act which he 
 performed is approved, and in similar cir- 
 cumstances we are called upon to act in the 
 same manner. 
 
 There is something, indeed, very peculiar 
 and impressive in the record of this part of 
 Abraham's conduct. It is the first notice 
 contained in the Scriptures of the dedication 
 of any distinct proportion of property to God. 
 This circumstance alone increases its interest 
 and strengthens its obligation upon us. Its 
 novelty has a charm that ought to please and 
 captivate. In this instance, however, it is 
 the singular case of novelty in combination 
 with antiquity. While novelty pleases, an- 
 tiquity commands our reverence. If we 
 inquire after "the old paths," here they are, 
 and it ought surely to recommend them to 
 us that Abraham walked in them. The 
 traveler in Palestine enjoys the scenery the 
 more, as he thinks how the eyes of Abraham 
 gazed upon it, or his feet trod upon its sur- 
 face. Why are we to be less impressed by 
 his higher mental exercises or moral engage- 
 ments ? As these are more exalted in their na- 
 ture, their claim is greater upon our attention. 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 173 
 
 There is another feature in the manner of 
 the record not to be overlooked. The fact 
 is stated as to the conduct of Abraham, as 
 though there was nothing remarkable in tlie 
 mere act. It is given as if he had only com- 
 plied with a well-known usage. His dedi- 
 cation of the tenth of the spoils to the service 
 of God must have been in accordance with 
 the jpractice of the times or the known will 
 of God to accept it. In either case we are 
 entitled to infer a revelation had been given 
 of the divine mind upon the subject. It must 
 have been conveyed to Abraham either by 
 tradition from former ages or by an express 
 communication from heaven. He must have 
 been satisfied the law came from God, or he 
 would not have j^racticed it. We do not ex- 
 pect to find will- worship in the " father of the 
 faithful " and " the friend of God." Tlie fact 
 that he gave the tenth is sufficient to prove 
 that he knew it to be in accordance with the 
 will of God, and this carries us to the con- 
 clusion that a divine revelation or law had 
 been given upon the subject. It is custom- 
 ary to reason after this manner in other ques- 
 tions kindred to that in hand. The existence 
 of sacrifice in the time of Adam is held to be 
 a proof that its origin was divine. God ap- 
 pointed it, it is argued, or he would not have 
 
174 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 accepted it, nor would Adam have offered it. 
 So also with the observance of the Sabbath 
 on the first day of the week — our authority 
 is the example of the apostles. We infer 
 from their conduct that they had a divine 
 warrant for it, although there is not the 
 record of an express law. They would not 
 have acted as they did without knowing the 
 will of their Master. And this is all w^ re- 
 quire in the conduct of Abraham. It is to 
 be vindicated on the ground of a known law 
 which regulated the practice. And if so, 
 we are bound to conform to that law as well 
 as Abraham. His example is recorded for 
 our imitation. 
 
 What, then, is the amount of his example ? 
 What was it that Abraham did ? We have 
 no desire to press his example beyond its 
 legitimate boundary. He gave to Melchize- 
 dck, the priest of God, the tenth of tlie spoils 
 he had taken in battle as he returned from 
 the slaughter of the kings. God had given 
 him the victory, and he thus acknowledged 
 the divine interposition and his own obliga- 
 tion. His example abundantly establishes, 
 that in every deliverance we should honor 
 God, and especially that we should declare 
 our sense of his goodness when he preserves 
 our property, by dedicating a portion of it 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 1Y5 
 
 to him. We may go further. If God is 
 pleased in his providence to increase om* 
 property, we should observe his hand in it, 
 and give at least a tenth to him. Whether, 
 therefore, our property is preserved or in- 
 creased, the example of Abraham establishes 
 a divine claim to at least the tenth. Here, 
 then, we gain an undoubted rule of conduct 
 applicable to given circumstances in our sit- 
 uation. Our property, like that of Abraham 
 or Lot, for whom he contended, is continu- 
 ally exposed to destruction ; and if God pro- 
 tects or preserves it, we should devote to him 
 a tenth of whatever it is calculated to yield 
 us. We are continually receiving new favors 
 from the Lord, and whatever he confers we 
 should in like manner acknowledge him. 
 We will not at present press the inquiry how 
 far such a rule would cover the entire in- 
 come of every man. We are satisfied to 
 confine it to such special cases as may legiti- 
 mately fall under that of Abraham — to that 
 portion of our property that has been pre- 
 served from danger or added to our former 
 store. Other cases will arise to extend the 
 rule. In the mean time there are certain 
 claims upon our imitation of the conduct of 
 Abraham which cannot be passed over with- 
 out special notice. " Know ye therefore that 
 
176 THE SCRIPTUKE KULE 
 
 tliey which are of faith, the same are the 
 children of Abraham." " I^ow we, brethren, 
 as Isaac was, are the children of promise." 
 Abraham's faith was his peculiarity, and with 
 every genuine Christian it is the same. The 
 faith of Abraham wrought in his heart a 
 moral renovation, and the same faith is al- 
 ways productive of the same result. Faith 
 and regeneration are twin-sisters, ever found 
 associated, born together and strengthening 
 one another. Having therefore the mind 
 and heart of Abraham, his views and feel- 
 ings, we must act as he also acted. The same 
 principles produce the same practices in all 
 ages. As then "he that was born after the 
 flesh persecuted him that was born after the 
 Spirit, even so it is now." As then he that 
 was taught by the Spirit and governed by 
 the Spirit acted toward God, '^ even so it is 
 now." Abraham gave to God the tenth of 
 the spoils, and so will they act who inherit 
 the faith of Abraham and are entitled to be 
 called his children. The Christian soldier 
 returning with the prize of victory will dedi- 
 cate the tenth to God. The Christian mer- 
 chant, having rescued his property from 
 danger, will give the tenth of all it would 
 have yielded. The Christian minister, or 
 physician, or lawyer, whatever have been 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 177 
 
 the gains of his profession, will in the same 
 proportion lay his offering on the altar of the 
 Lord. The Christian man, in the humblest 
 or the highest circumstances of life, as the 
 Lord has rendered to him, so will he return 
 a corresponding measure for his service. All 
 that are of the divine faith of Abraham will 
 approve themselves his children, if they act 
 consistently, by doing as he did, and giving 
 as he gave. 
 
 IS'or let us omit to notice the situation of 
 Abraham, when he acted thus liberally to- 
 ward the cause of God. It was at an early 
 period of his history in the promised land. 
 As yet God had given him "none inheritance 
 in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on." 
 It was long afterward he had to supplicate 
 as a favor from the children of Heth a spot 
 where he might bury his dead. He was " a 
 pilgrim and stranger in the land." And 
 although God had increased his flocks and 
 herds, yet still his situation and property 
 were apparently most insecure, and he might 
 be considered a poor and very dependent 
 man. But he gave the tenth of all. How 
 readily might selfishness have found an ex- 
 cuse to withhold ! He might have pleaded 
 that he knew not how soon he might be in 
 straits, and that it was his duty to provide 
 12 
 
178 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 against tliem. Or he might have argued, 
 since God gave him such spoils, he might 
 conchide it was the divine will he should 
 possess them all. But no — thankful to God 
 and confiding in his providence, he gave to 
 him the tenth of what he had gained. 
 Where now shall we find an excuse for the 
 many apologies which our selfishness is wont 
 to plead ? The example of Abraham silences 
 them all. And the lesson is irresistible, that 
 in all circumstances, whether poor or rich, 
 Ave should acknowledge God in the preserva- 
 tion or increase of our worldly substance by 
 dedicating at least a tenth to him. 
 
 There was also a nobility in the conduct 
 of Abraham that cannot fail to command 
 our highest admiration. We have seen his 
 spirit toward God, let us look at his conduct 
 on the same occasion to men. "The king 
 of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the 
 persons, and take the goods to thyself. And 
 Abram said, I have lift up my hand unto 
 the Lord, the Most High God, the possessor 
 of heaven and earth, that I will not take 
 from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and 
 tliat I will not take anything that is thine, 
 lest thou shouldst say, I have made Abram 
 rich ; save only that which the young men 
 have eaten, and the portion of the men 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 179 
 
 which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and 
 Mamre ; let them take their portion." Here 
 is an example of noble-mindedness. Gen- 
 erosity, wisdom, and jnstice, are united in 
 his high-minded decision. The meanness of 
 the world is overcome by the elevation of 
 right principles. He who is right-minded 
 toward God is generous and large-hearted to 
 man. He who gives to the cause of God is 
 the friend of every effort that breathes be- 
 nevolence to men. 
 
 What a contrast to Abraham is Lot ! He 
 went to Sodom to gain the world, and he 
 lost it there. He departed from God, and 
 he fell into the hands of bloody men. His 
 life and property were recovered, but he 
 was indebted for both to the Lord's servant. 
 He does not appear to have profited by the 
 chastisement, and he was driven at last out 
 of the wicked city, when he left his proper- 
 ty in the flames. His last refuge was in a 
 cave of the mountain, where he was aban- 
 doned to temptation and fell into sin. How 
 fearful must have been the accusations of 
 his conscience, for he was "a righteous 
 man !" He presents a fearful example of 
 what even a godly man may suffer from 
 worldliness. Let us be warned by his exam- 
 })le, and let it operate to present more clear- 
 
180 THE SCRIPT UKE RULE 
 
 ly to our minds, and enforce more power- 
 fully on our hearts, that of Abraham, who 
 dedicated to God, gratefully and joyfully, 
 " a tenth of all." 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 181 
 
 CHAPTEK III. 
 
 JACOB. 
 
 Of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto 
 thee.— Gen. xxviii, 22. 
 
 What creation is to the pliilosopher, sucli are 
 the Scriptures to the Christian. Each has 
 his own book, although either should, and 
 often does, study them both. The botanist 
 goes into the fields and gardens, examines 
 their plants and flowers, classifies them ac- 
 cording to their properties, observes their 
 habits and influences, and from the whole 
 deduces the laws and principles by which 
 they are governed, and lays down the rules 
 by which his conduct toward them should 
 be guided. So does the astronomer proceed 
 in his observations upon the heavens, the 
 mineralogist with his rocks and stones, and 
 the metaphysician in his study of the human 
 mind. In like manner the student of the 
 Scriptures is occupied, whatever be the de- 
 partment of their varied contents to which 
 his attention is directed, — their doctrines, or 
 precepts, or examj)les, or promises. It has 
 become fashionable to decry a systematic 
 study of the sacred volume ; but it may be 
 
182 THE SCRIPTUllE RULE 
 
 confidently asserted that he who does not so 
 study it will never properly understand it, 
 nor will he who does not so teach ever prove 
 successful in imparting instruction. It is on 
 this principle we are desirous of proceeding 
 in our present inquiry. We are collecting- 
 facts out of the Scriptures that we may de- 
 duce principles and found rules of conduct 
 upon them. Our investigation is confined 
 to one species, as the botanist's to plants in 
 the field of nature. We wish to ascertain 
 what was done and approved in the matter 
 of contribution to the cause of God, that we 
 may learn our duty. We have seen how it 
 was in the case of Abraham, and we now 
 direct our attention to that of his most dis- 
 tinguished descendant, the patriarch Jacob. 
 It is worthy of notice that they both acted 
 on the same rule, that of devoting a tenth 
 to the Lord. It is therefore plain this was 
 an early and well-known rule of conduct. 
 They no doubt derived it from a common 
 source, and that, in all likelihood, was an 
 express divine command handed down from 
 the beginning to generation after generation. 
 There were many features common to the 
 two patriarchs, and their use of their world- 
 ly property. We have already remarked 
 on those which characterized the liberality 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. l^d 
 
 of Abraliam, and, omitting the same traits, 
 so far as tliey are found in Jacob, we shall 
 confine our attention to what was peculiar in 
 him. 
 
 The first appearance of a generous spirit 
 in Jacob was on the occasion of his depart- 
 ure from his father's house, to escape the 
 finy of his provoked and injured brother 
 Esau, and when he had gone so far upon his 
 journey as Bethel. Previously to this time 
 there is reason to believe he was under the 
 dominion of a w^orldly and grasping spirit, 
 so much so as not to stop at plans of deceit- 
 fulness and acts of injustice. In concert 
 with his mother, Rebekah, he devised a 
 scheme to deceive his father, and possess 
 himself of the portion of his elder brother. 
 It is no excuse for his conduct that Provi- 
 dence had revealed to his mother how the 
 elder should be subjected to the younger; it 
 was rather an aggravation of his sin, for he 
 and his accomplice should have confided in 
 that Providence to fulfill the divine promise 
 in his own lawful time and manner. Jacob, 
 therefore, is presented to us, in the truthful- 
 ness of the Scriptures, as in the outset of 
 life characterized by selfishness and cunning. 
 This constitutional temperament indeed ap- 
 pears again and again throughout his entire 
 
15* THE SCRIPTUKE RULE 
 
 history. Though it was overcome by grace, 
 still nature often asserted its power. And 
 many were the troubles into which the pa- 
 triarcli was brought by the remainder of this 
 indwelling sin. He had a struggle all his 
 days, and did not always come ofi" victorious. 
 It is interesting and instructive to observe the 
 providence and power of God breaking this 
 natural propensity of Jacob's corrupt heart. 
 What first strikes us with surprise is, that 
 his very sin was overruled to be the occasion 
 of its own overthrow. His love, of the world 
 led him into sin, and that sin drove him from 
 his father's house. He sought all his father's 
 property, and he was driven from it all. So 
 soon did a retributive Providence overtake 
 him, but it was guided by mercy. " Where 
 sin abounded grace did much more abound." 
 When the outcast son reached the end of his 
 first day's journey, he sank down exhausted 
 in body and sad in heart. He felt his soli- 
 tary and desolate situation. We may assume 
 that he looked to God that night as he had 
 never done before. He laid himself down 
 to sleep in a frame of mind such as he had 
 never previously experienced, feeling tliat 
 God was his only refuge, and resolved to seek 
 him for his portion. The God of his fathers 
 was not unmindful of their penitent son. 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 185 
 
 He was not forsaken in liis solitude and sor- 
 row. The Holy Spirit visited him with his 
 converting grace. "He dreamed, and be- 
 hold, a ladder set upon the earth, and the 
 top of it reached to heaven ; and behold, the 
 angels of God ascending and descending 
 npon it. And behold, the Lord stood above 
 it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham 
 thy father, and the God of Isaac." The prom- 
 ises made to them were then renewed to 
 him, and more were added. Tlie mind of 
 Jacob was enlightened by this revelation of 
 God, and his heart was touched. From that 
 day he showed himself a child of God. A 
 new nature w^as given to him, and he entered 
 upon a new course of life. One marked 
 change was from selfishness to generosity. 
 " Jacob vowed a vow, saying. If God will be 
 with me, and will keep me in this way that 
 I go, and will give me bread to eat and rai- 
 ment to put on, so that I come again to my 
 father's house in peace ; then shall the Lord 
 be my God, and this stone which I have set 
 for a pillar shall be God's house, and of all 
 that thou shalt give me I wdll surely give the 
 tenth unto thee." What a gracious change ! 
 Before all was for the world, and all the 
 world would hardly satisfy him ; now he 
 asks only what is necessary for a sustenance ! 
 
186 THE SCEIPTUKE EULE 
 
 Before all was for self, and nothing for God ; 
 now all is for God, and self is overlooked. 
 The connection between the conversion of the 
 soul and liberality to the cause of God is very 
 marked. Xo sooner is that blessed change 
 produced than this effect follows from it. 
 The Apostle Paul expresses the same senti- 
 ment when he says, "They first gave their 
 own selves to the Lord, and then unto us by 
 the will of God." Jacob gave himself to God 
 in his conversion, and then his property. 
 There is no doubt in some a natural generos- 
 ity when compared with others, but there is 
 no enlightened, enlarged, and consistent 
 generosity but such as proceeds from a new 
 heart under the dominion of grace. And 
 wherever the new heart is found, it is im- 
 pregnated with zeal for the glory of God and 
 a deep interest in the extension of his cause, 
 with a corresponding effort of labor and gen- 
 erosity of contribution. This generosity will 
 be no doubt much affected by the circum- 
 stances of the convert, although it be in all 
 radically the same grace. It will be interest- 
 ing to trace some of its outgoings in Jacob. 
 
 Like Abraham, he fixed on the tenth. 
 This is noticed again only to impress it on 
 the attention. That was the acknowledged 
 standard, and wherever grace renewed the 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 187 
 
 heart, its subject embraced the law of God 
 as its guide. 
 
 Unlike Abraham, Jacob's dedication was 
 not confined to one occasion or one posses- 
 sion. It comprehended his whole life and 
 his whole property. As long as he lived he 
 would dedicate this portion of his substance 
 to God, and whatever he possessed, the tenth 
 of it should be the Lord's. 
 
 Bringing these two cases of Abraham and 
 Jacob together, what a rule do we discover 
 for the guidance of all who would be gov- 
 erned by the law of Revelation! On all 
 special occasions of the preservation or in- 
 crease of property there is to be a special 
 dedication of a tenth. Of all ordinary and 
 stated income there is to be the dedication 
 of a tenth. Can it for a moment be supposed 
 it was by a mere accident the two patriarchs 
 fell upon the same amount of contribution? 
 Or is it to be supposed that either fixed the 
 sum of his own mere will and pleasure? The 
 tone of approval with which the conduct of 
 both is narrated shows how agreeable it was 
 to God, and we are shut up to the conclusion 
 that they both adopted for a guide the law 
 which their God liad given, and that it is 
 morally binding now as much as it was then. 
 
 This is not a little confirmed by what after- 
 
188 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 ward occurred in the life of Jacob. It ap- 
 pears that he forgot his vow, solemnly as he 
 had made it. God granted him more than 
 he sought. He returned to his father's house 
 in peace, and greatly enriched. Yet the 
 stone which was to be God's house, and to 
 which his property was to be dedicated, was 
 forgotten. He was therefore reproved and 
 summoned to the promised dut3\ "God 
 said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and 
 dwell there, and make there an altar unto 
 God, that appeared unto thee when thou 
 fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother." 
 The patriarch discovered a gracious disposi- 
 tion in an immediate and ready obedience. 
 He made it a season of a thorough reforma- 
 tion and revival in his household. It is par- 
 ticularly to be observed that he called to 
 mind the circumstances of his first dedica- 
 tion of himself to God, obtained fresh prom- 
 ises from God, and engaged with enlarged 
 liberality in the service of God. "He set 
 up a pillar in the place where God talked 
 with him, even a pillar of stone, and he 
 poured a drink-offering thereon, and he 
 poured oil thereon." The promised dedica- 
 tion was demanded by God when it was for- 
 gotten by his servant, and when it was pre- 
 sented it was accepted and approved. 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTEIBIJTION. 189 
 
 What is the legitimate inference from the 
 conduct of Jacob? When his heart was 
 brought under the power of true rehgion, he 
 gave the tenth of his income to God. Will 
 not every" truly converted soul feel the power 
 of his example ? This patriarch is continu- 
 ally presented to us in the Scriptures as a 
 most approved servant of God. His faults 
 are not concealed, but recorded for our warn- 
 ing. Still his gracious excellence is much 
 commended, and his example is to be imi- 
 tated. Shall there be an exception to that 
 part of it which binds him to devote his 
 property to God? The Christian who ac- 
 knowledges the obhgation of conformity to 
 the patriarch in other graces, but overlooks 
 this one, will require to assign a reason for 
 the exception. It is to be feared many fail 
 to imitate him in this respect who have not 
 considered how they are to be j ustified in so 
 doing. Let them think of the patriarch's 
 example, and they will see good cause to 
 follow it. They are as much bound to con- 
 form to him in this respect as in his agoniz- 
 ing prayer at Peniel. Both are recorded for 
 our benefit, and that benefit is gained only 
 when we do as he did. It is a Christian 
 purpose to say, " Of all that thou shalt give 
 me I will surely give the tenth unto thee." 
 
190 THE SCRIPTUKE RULE 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 MOSES. 
 The law was given by Moses.— John 1, IT. 
 
 We come now to a still clearer liglit, and to 
 a firmer footing. Abraham gave a tenth of 
 all the spoils, and there is reason to believe 
 he did so in compliance with an early and well- 
 known law of divine anthority. Jacob vowed 
 he would give the tenth of all he possessed, and 
 ]ie came to this resolution whenever his mind 
 was brought under the power of truth, and 
 was made the subject of a gracious change. 
 It is a serious thing to depart from the prac- 
 tice of these men of God. If we have the 
 faith of Abrtiham and the piety of Jacob, we 
 shall assuredly do as they did, and at least 
 give the tenth of all we have to God. We 
 are willing to rest the question here, and ask, 
 whether it is conceivable that any one hav- 
 ing the character of these patriarchs could 
 withhold this portion of his substance from 
 the service of Him who gave it all, especially 
 when he knows that this was their practice ? 
 We are not left, however, to infer what our 
 conduct ought to be from that of othei*s. 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTEIBUTION. 191 
 
 God has given a law, and we do well to con- 
 sider it. Tliere is express statute, associated 
 no doubt with many temporary ceremonies, 
 yet substantially unchangeable and binding 
 universally and forever. Let it not be said 
 that since God publicly proclaimed this law 
 for the first time to the Jews, we are to infer 
 it liad never been law before. Is it likely 
 that God adopted for a law what had previ- 
 ously become a prevailing practice ? How 
 much more probable it is that the prevailing 
 practice had originated in an ancient law, 
 given by God, yet of the first publication of 
 which we are not informed? We find that 
 the law of the Sabbath was published to the 
 Jews in the ten commandments upon Sinai ; 
 yet that same law had been given at the be- 
 ginning, and we find it in the earliest records 
 of the creation. The original law, there is 
 reason to fear, had fallen into disuse, and 
 therefore it is solemnly renewed and sanc- 
 tioned. Even this reason, however, was not 
 necessary to justify its republication. The 
 same laws are again and again proclaimed 
 and enforced by their divine Author. This 
 remark is applicable to all the ten command- 
 ments. They were all laws of God before 
 they were published to the Jews. From the 
 beginning they had been the rule of human 
 
192 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 conduct; yet where can it be shown that 
 each of them is, in so many words, to be 
 found? They were authoritative from the 
 first — they were known to the servants of 
 God — they were, more or less, obeyed by 
 them. And yet we find them embodied in 
 a special law for the guidance of Israel. We 
 believe it to have been the same with the 
 law of giving to the Lord — ^it had been en- 
 johied from the beginning, and it was pro- 
 claimed afresh and placed in new connec- 
 tions when God revealed his will to Moses 
 and Aaron. The reenactment of this law is 
 a subject of deep interest, and its associations 
 are full of instruction. We shall therefore 
 inquire with some minuteness into the ar- 
 rangements which God was pleased to pre- 
 scribe, and for this purpose shall place them 
 separately, as we find them in the ancient 
 code of Israel's laws. 
 
 I. THE FIRST TITHE. 
 
 " All the tithe of tlie land, whether of the 
 seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, 
 is the Lord's ; it is holy unto the Lord." 
 " Behold, I have given the children of Levi 
 all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for 
 tlieir service, which they serve, even the 
 service of the tabernacle of the congrega- 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 193 
 
 tion." The statute is explicit, and its special 
 requirements are worthy of careful observa- 
 tion, for they cast much light on the general 
 question under consideration. The lowest 
 proportion which the law could accept was 
 a tenth, conveying the sentiment that less 
 had never previously been given, nor could 
 less suffice now. The law of Moses was not 
 designed to reduce the claims of God on the 
 gratitude and offerings of his people. This 
 tenth was also exacted on all property, " the 
 seed of the land and the fruit of the tree " 
 alike. All came from God, and in all God 
 is to be acknowledged. " Of thine own 
 have we given thee," said David, and the 
 same is in all ages the language of piety. 
 And for what was this tenth demanded? 
 For the children of Levi, a reward for their 
 service in the tabernacle of the congrega- 
 tion. It was for thcjm as the ministers of 
 God. The end of the law was the glory of 
 Jehovah, that the knowledge and worship 
 of his name might be propagated and ex- 
 tended. Its essence lies in this, that God by 
 an express statute demands the tenth of our 
 property for the promotion of his cause. 
 The princvple of the law is as binding now 
 as it was on Israel. 
 
 13 
 
194 THE SCKIPTUKE BULE 
 n. THE SECOND TITHE. 
 
 " Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of 
 thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year 
 by year. And thou shalt eat before the 
 Lord th}^ God, in the place which he shall 
 choose to place his name there, the tithe of 
 thy corn, of thy vine, and of thine oil, and 
 the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks ; 
 that tliou niayest learn to fear the Lord thy 
 God always." This was clearly a diff'erent 
 tithe from the former. That was given for 
 the support of the Levite, this for the main- 
 tenance of the various feasts and sacrifices. 
 Behold, then, the increased demand on Is- 
 rael : first a tenth for one purpose — then a 
 second tenth for another — so that by a per- 
 manent statute every Israelite w^as required 
 to give at least a fifth of his yearly income 
 to the Lord. Under former dispensations 
 we read only of a tenth. As the world 
 grows older the claims of God are not les- 
 sened. Privileges are increased, and respon- 
 sibilities are increased with them : " To 
 whom nmcli is given, of them shall much be 
 required." The Jew might say, " What 
 advantage tlien hath the Jew ? or what pro- 
 fit is there of circumcision ? Much every 
 way ; chiefly because that unto them were 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 195 
 
 committed the oracles of God." But as he 
 thus reasoned he was summing up argu- 
 ments to enforce the claim of God on him- 
 self and his property. Let this principle 
 also be distinctly apprehended, for it will 
 come with mighty force when it is applied to 
 the privileges and responsibilities of the 
 best, the brightest, and the last dispensa- 
 tion. 
 
 III. THE TITHE FOE THE POOR. 
 
 "At the end of three years thou shalt 
 bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the 
 same year, and shalt lay it up within thy 
 gate. And the Levite, (because he hath no 
 part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stran- 
 ger, and the fatherless, and the widow which 
 are within thy gates, shall come, and shall 
 eat and be satisfied ; that the Lord thy God 
 may bless thee in all the work of thine hand 
 which thou doest." It is doubtful whether 
 this third tithe be entirely distinct from the 
 other two already noticed, and therefore 
 wliether it were an additional claim on Isra- 
 el. It may have been so, but the evidence 
 is not fully satisfactory. We found no argu- 
 ment therefore on that consideration, but we 
 cannot overlook this new appropriation of 
 property, this additional object of generosity 
 
196 THE SCKIPTUEE KULE 
 
 proposed to Israel. "The poor shall never 
 cease out of the land ;" and one design of 
 this providence is to teach us gratitude for 
 our own mercies and kindness to the neces- 
 sitous. Generosity to the cause of God is 
 here linked with benevolence to man. It is 
 the same condition of mind that produces 
 the double fruit. " Tliou shalt love the Lord 
 thy God with all thy heart and soul, and 
 mind, and strength, and thou shalt love thy 
 neighbor as thyself." The love of man 
 springs out of the love of God. If we love 
 the Creator we shall love the creature whom 
 he hath made. The love of the father en- 
 sures the love of his child. Let none fear 
 that because much is demanded and done 
 for the cause of God, the interests of man 
 will be therefore likely to be neglected. 
 The reverse may be expected. And let 
 none excuse themselves by alleging they 
 have so much to do for man they can do 
 nothing for the cause of God. It is a mere 
 pretense. Jesus could say to God, "The 
 zeal of thine house hath eaten me up," and at 
 the same time he healed the bodies and 
 saved the souls of men. He hath left us an 
 example that we should follow his steps. 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 197 
 
 rV. THE LEVITES' TITHE. 
 
 "Speak unto the Levites, and say unto 
 them, When ye take of the children of 
 Israel the tithes which I have given you 
 fi'om them for your inheritance, then ye 
 shall offer up a heave-offering of it for the 
 Lord, even a tenth part of the tithe." 
 
 The Levite's concern with the tithes was 
 not merely to receive and enjoy them. He 
 had his own tenth to pay to Aaron and his 
 sons. 'None were exempt in Israel. All 
 were recipients, and all must acknowledge 
 the bounty of God. The ministers of re- 
 ligion are not merely entitled to live by the 
 altar which they serve, they are bound to 
 devote of that which they receive to the 
 cause of God. The Apostle Paul applies the 
 former part of this statement to the minis- 
 ters of Christ, even adducing the Jewish 
 illustration, " Thou shalt not muzzle the ox 
 that treadeth out the corn ;" and it will not 
 be questioned that the latter part of it is 
 equally applicable under the Christian econ- 
 omy. The lesson is clearly taught that all 
 should devote to the Lord of that which they 
 receive, ^o rank or station can plead im- 
 munity. The higher the position the stronger 
 the claim. Ministers of the gospel especially 
 
198 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 should feel the powerful claims that the 
 cause of God has upon them. They are 
 exalted to great honor as embassadors for 
 Christ. They should manifest the generous 
 spirit of the religion which they teach. 
 They should be an example to the Church 
 in all things. But if they shall be so, the 
 people to whom they minister must consider 
 their liabilities. They cannot give of that 
 which they possess not. It is the duty of 
 the Churches to put it in the power of their 
 ministers to be examples of liberality. In 
 doing so they consult their own interests. 
 In that respect they will find the saying emi- 
 nently true, that " it is more blessed to give 
 than to receive." They are just filling up 
 the reservoir which shall pour out fresh 
 streams of pure water to refresh and fertilize 
 themselves. 
 
 V. STATED SERVICES. 
 
 " Speak unto the children of Israel, and 
 say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the 
 Lord, which ye shall proclaim, even these 
 are my feasts." 
 
 They w^ere to be observed at all times — 
 dayly, weekly, monthly, yearly, every 
 seventh year, every fiftieth year. Each of 
 these had its own peculiar claims and respon- 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTIOX. 199 
 
 sibilitles. One feature, however, marked 
 them all — the expensive character of tlie 
 service. The Israelite might indeed say, "I 
 will not render to the Lord of that which 
 cost me naught." He could not do so. The 
 prescribed service was in itself a serious 
 claim. It is true there were services adapted 
 to the poor ; but let it be remembered there 
 was no exception for the poor; the jDoorest 
 must give. It is said in "Mammon" for 
 some to give " a twentieth, or even a fiftieth, 
 would require the nicest frugality and care." 
 This w^as not the spirit of the ancient law of 
 Israel. Every man received something, and 
 every man must give something. Where is 
 the exception releasing the poorest from the 
 tenth ? This law is as wise as it is stringent. 
 The poor man is benefited by the exercise 
 of the " nicest frugality and care." It is the 
 most salutary discipline for himself and his 
 household. It is the very habit which the 
 poor most need to form and cherish ; it ele- 
 vates the mind to save something for the 
 cause of God. He knew human nature well 
 who has imposed this duty upon it. "He 
 needed not that any should testify of man, 
 for he knew what was in man." It is a mis- 
 take to lead the poor to think they have 
 nothing to do or to give to God. This is a 
 
200 THE SCRIPT UKE KULE 
 
 lesson never more required to be taught than 
 in our day. The rich are to give abundantly 
 out of their abundance, and the poor are to 
 give out of their poverty. God designedly 
 made his service heavy in the ancient econ- 
 omy. His demands never ceased, and none 
 were exempted. 
 
 VI. VARIOUS SACRIFICES. 
 
 " This is the law of the burnt-offering, of 
 the meat-offering, and of the sin-offering, and 
 of the trespass- offering, and of the peace- 
 offerings." 
 
 ISTo doubt these various services had main- 
 ly a typical meaning ; and very gracious the 
 instructions were which they were designed 
 and calculated to convey. In the burnt- 
 offering we behold the sacrifice of the Son 
 of God ; in the meat-offering, the devoted 
 gratitude of the believer presenting himself, 
 all he is and has, as an offering to the Lord ; 
 in the sin-offering and trespass-offering, that 
 life of faith upon the Son of God, and tliat 
 constant effort after purity of life which a 
 sense of sin and the love of holiness insjiire ; 
 and in the peace-offering, the fellowship with 
 God, without which the renewed soul can- 
 not rest, with the manner in which it is to 
 be maintained, even through the peace- 
 
OF KELiaiOUS CONTKIBUTION. 201 
 
 speaking blood of Christ. All this is true, 
 and it is important. Yet there is, besides, a 
 moral aim in all these institutes not to be 
 overlooked. Observe the state of mind 
 which they are calculated to produce and 
 foster. They require intelligence, consider- 
 ation, discrimination, frugality, and careful- 
 ness. They teach how much God demands 
 and how much we must do in order to ren- 
 der it. They enlighten, enlarge, and exer- 
 cise the mind. They train the soul to lofty 
 conceptions, to large services, and to make 
 sacrifices for God. Tliey teach us to make 
 religion our business, and they give us to 
 understand that the requirements of the Lord 
 at our hands are neither few nor small. 
 
 VII.' ^FKEE-WILL OFFERINGS. 
 
 " These things shall ye do unto the Lord 
 in your set feasts, beside your vows, and your 
 free-will offerings." 
 
 Over and above all that has been describ- 
 ed, the Israelite might dedicate whatever 
 besides he desired unto the Lord. There was 
 a limit on the one side, and the law made 
 its demands, but there was no limit on the 
 other, and the devout soul might devote as 
 it would. Li all who had a right frame of 
 mind this would not be a dead letter. Much 
 
202 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 would be added to the requirements of the 
 law. As fresh occasions arose for gratitude 
 to God, in the preservation of health, recov- 
 ery from sickness, the increase of property, 
 or the prosperity of friends, God would be 
 acknowledged .in all. This, therefore, is to 
 be added to what was noticed before as the 
 requirement of law and statute. A fifth pro- 
 portion of all was certainly demanded. It 
 may have been more, if the tithe for the 
 poor is considered to be distinct from that 
 for the Levite and that for the feasts. It is 
 not too much, on that interpretation, to as- 
 sume there was a fourth required. And when 
 to all these are added the vows and free- 
 will offerings, may it not be alleged that the 
 devout and consistent Israelite felt the claim 
 of God to be annually upon him for not less 
 than a third of the income which was gra- 
 ciously confided to him ? 
 
 This is the conclusion to which the review 
 of the ancient law of Israel has conducted 
 us. We appeal to the impartial inquirer 
 whether we have not arrived at this issue 
 by an unvarnished statement of clear stat- 
 utes and undoubted facts. And now what 
 is the moral to be drawn from all? God has 
 shown us that he considered it good for Is- 
 rael to press his demands upon them at all 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTEIBUTION. 203 
 
 times and seasons for all pious and benevo- 
 lent purposes, and in all measures adapted 
 to the rich and the poor, and obligatory upon 
 all. This was the education he gave his own 
 children whom he adopted to train for him- 
 self. Was it not manifestly designed to 
 counteract the selfishness of the human heart, 
 and open within it a fountain of generosity 
 and benevolence ?. As the water drawn from 
 the living well is renewed again with quick- 
 ened and enlarged supplies, so as the heart 
 is accustomed to give out of its fullness, the 
 streams of grace and providence supply it 
 afresh. The vapors that arise from the 
 earth gather into clouds, and thence distill 
 again to water and fertilize the ground 
 whence they first proceeded, and so he that 
 giveth getteth, he that does good receives 
 good, and as we yield ourselves and om* prop- 
 erty to God we are filled with the fullness of 
 God. Truly is charity said to be twice 
 blessed — blessed in him that gives no less 
 than in him that receives. With these facts 
 and views before us, it is confidently asked, 
 what proportion of his substance will the 
 believer in Kevelation dedicate to the ser- 
 vice of God ? Can he give less than a tenth ? 
 Is he consistent ? And can he satisfy his own 
 conscience if he does so ? Wliat is the law 
 
204 THE SCKIPTDKE KULE 
 
 of the Bible, and of God its Author ? Is it 
 optional with every man to give or withhold 
 as he pleases ? to give in what measure and 
 proportion he thinks proper ? We are con- 
 firmed in the conviction that no enlightened 
 and consistent believer can devote less than 
 the tenth to the Lord of the annual income 
 which Providence has placed at his disposal 
 for the maintenance of himself and those who 
 are dependent upon him. " Let God be true, 
 but every man a liar." We think we have 
 spoken the truth of God, and stand on the 
 sure ground of his testimony ; let all beware 
 how they depart from it by a false or unsound 
 interpretation involving a great practical 
 question bearing mightily on the cause of 
 God in the earth. 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 205 
 
 CHAPTER y. 
 
 THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 
 
 All that believed were together, and had all things common. 
 Acts ii, 44. 
 
 Hear what the law saith ! . What saith it ? 
 It saith that Abraham gave the tenth of the 
 spoils — that Jacob gave the tenth of all he 
 possessed — that Israel was required to give a 
 tentli to the Levite, a tenth to the feasts, a 
 tenth every third year to the poor, to give 
 constantly, to give for all pious and charita- 
 ble purposes, and over and above all that the 
 statute prescribed to give the free-will oifer- 
 ings which gratitude and love might prompt. 
 This is what the law saith. We leave it to 
 produce its effect on all who regard it; and 
 we proceed now to inquire. What saith the 
 gospel? For this purpose we direct atten- 
 tion to its opening scene. That scene w^as 
 no doubt intended to give a faithful repre- 
 sentation, and convey a just impression of 
 the new economy — what it was to be, what 
 it was to do, and what was to be expected 
 from it. On a full consideration it will be 
 found every way worthy of the gracious and 
 
206 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 glorious dispensation which it was designed 
 to usher into the world. 
 
 At the outset let us inquire what we are 
 to expect from Christianity on the subject of 
 religious contribution. We are to remember 
 it is the consummation of a religion which 
 had been taught from the beginning. It is 
 somehow assumed by many that it set aside 
 all that had gone before, and was altogether 
 a new religion. This is a most unsound and 
 dangerous principle. What was merely cere- 
 monial and had served its purpose was cer- 
 tainly withdrawn, but the great principles 
 inculcated from the first remained as they 
 Avere, and Christianity is simply Judaism 
 perfected. We are, therefore, not to expect 
 that on every subject treated under the first 
 dispensation we shall have new and distinct 
 instructions laid down in the second. The 
 lessons of Moses passed into the hands of the 
 disciples in the school of Christ, and the Kew 
 Testament did not supplant, although it more 
 fully explained and powerfully enforced, the 
 instructions of the Old Testament. These 
 remarks have an important bearing on the 
 subject before us. The views of giving to 
 the Lord, held and taught and practiced by 
 Abraham, Jacob, and Moses, are not disal- 
 lowed by Christ. They were not merely 
 
OF KELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 207 
 
 ceremonial, and have not ceased to be bind- 
 ing. So far as they were founded on the 
 principles of human nature and the relations 
 of man to God, they are the same yesterday, 
 and to-day, and forever. They arise out of 
 the nature and necessity of our position to- 
 ward both God and man, and cannot cease 
 to be obligatory. We are therefore to study 
 the teaching and example of ancient patri- 
 archs and lawgivers on this subject, as much 
 as tliose who lived in their times, and served 
 God under their dispensations. Nor are we 
 to be surprised if we do not find any new and 
 explicit directions in the 'New Testament. It 
 may be assumed these w^ere given sufticient- 
 ly before. There are various subjects of 
 great moment in which this was manifestly 
 the course jjursued by the early Christian 
 Church. We may instance the admission of 
 the children of believers to the membership 
 of the Church by the iniatory ordinance of 
 baptism. It has often been remarked there is 
 no express appointment of that observance of 
 the ordinance in the New Testament. But it 
 has been very properly replied, it was not ne- 
 cessary there should be any such fresh appoint- 
 ment. It had ever been the law of the Church 
 of God to receive the children of its members 
 into fellowship. Abraham and Moses alike 
 
208 THE SCKIPTURE RULE 
 
 practiced it in their day. Christianity assumed 
 its existence. It did not abrogate it, and un- 
 less it could be shown that it did abrogate 
 it, the observance must be regarded as con- 
 tinuing in all its force. Similar remarks 
 might be applied to the perpetuation of the 
 Sabbath. There is no fresh and express ap- 
 pointment of it under Christianity, yet the 
 judgment of the Christian Church has in all 
 ages been almost unanimous on the subject 
 of its perpetuity. Let the same view be 
 taken of religious contribution, and it will 
 show that the instructions drawn from Abra- 
 ham, Jacob, and Moses, remain in all their 
 authority, although a word had not been 
 added respecting it in the [N'ew Testament. 
 
 We make these remarks, however, not 
 because we fear to canvass the subject in 
 the light of the ^ew Testament. Our object 
 is to maintain the place we have already 
 gained in this argument, not to lose the 
 weight of any consideration hitherto ad- 
 vanced, and to stand by the assertion of 
 right principles in the interpretation of the 
 word of God. With this understanding, we 
 now proceed to inquire what may be expect- 
 ed under Christianity, and what develop- 
 ment of its views in the grand opening scene 
 of that economy ? At once, then, it must be 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 209 
 
 felt by all that we are not to expect any ret- 
 rograde movement here. We are not pre- 
 pared to find that the gospel of Christ will 
 ask less than the law of Moses in the matter 
 of contribution to the cause of God. Ra- 
 ther would we expect to hear in relation to 
 it what is said of another duty : "A new 
 commandment give I unto you, that ye love 
 one another." Love had always been a 
 duty, and always was taught and required. 
 Yet it is denominated a new commandment. 
 It is new in one sense, although not in an- 
 other. It is new in the reasons by which it 
 is enforced in the gospel, and in the measure 
 in which it ought to be exercised. But it is 
 not new as though it became a duty now, 
 while it had not been such before. Just so 
 with the subject in hand. It might be said 
 of it in the same sense, " A new command- 
 ment give I unto you." Moses taught the 
 duty of giving, but Jesus Christ taught it 
 more fully still. There are reasons for it 
 now which never existed before, and it ought 
 to be exercised in a degree far exceeding 
 the measure of former times. The light 
 which Christianity pours into the mind on 
 the great questions of time and eternity, re- 
 quires that we should put forth efforts and 
 make sacrifices to render time subservient to 
 14 
 
210 THE SCKIPTUEE KULE 
 
 the interests of eternity, sucli as never were 
 made before. The views which the gospel 
 gives of the comparative value of the body 
 and the soul should inspire an earnestness 
 and self-denial in the salvation of souls, 
 which could not have been expected under 
 darker dispensations. The obligations under 
 which Christians have been laid to Jesus, the 
 author and finisher of their faith, should 
 rouse to doing and sufi'ering in his cause 
 altogether new in the earth. His life and 
 death are an argument which should tell on 
 the heart as none ever told before. His 
 honor should be an object for the promotion 
 of which all his followers should feel they 
 could never do enough. His command 
 should come upon them witli a power which 
 they would feel it to be impossible to with- 
 stand. He died for us, and we should live 
 to him. He gave himself for us, and what 
 shall we withhold from him ? What shall 
 we render to the Lord for all his benefits ? 
 This is Christianity. What saith it on the 
 giving of our substance to the Lord ? Shall 
 its claims be supposed less than those of the 
 law ? If Abraham gave a tenth, and Jacob 
 a tenth, and Moses required a tenth, or a 
 fifth, or a third, what saith the gospel of 
 Jesus ? The very manner of its claim should 
 
OF KELIGIOUS CONTEniUTION. 21.1 
 
 give it an increased power over us. It does 
 not say, in so many words, a tenth, or a fifth, 
 or a third, or any prescribed proportion ; it 
 does assume that its early lessons on these 
 subjects, delivered under former dispensa- 
 tions, are in the hands of all who now pro- 
 fess its higher and clearer revelations ; but 
 this assumed, it leaves it to the Christian 
 heart to decide the proportion of its contri- 
 bution. It is not indifferent whether this 
 shall be greater or less than it was of old. 
 It is j ealous of its own honor. If there be a 
 falling back even to the calculations of the 
 law, the gospel is treated injuriously. If 
 there be satisfaction of mind with the old 
 truth, and if it is felt that when this is given we 
 have come up to the mark of duty, and need 
 go no further, Christ holds himself dishon- 
 ored. But suppose even this to be withheld, 
 suppose an argument constructed out of the 
 very generosity of Christianity, that we need 
 not give anything, or that we may give less 
 now than they did in the old times, how 
 must such a spirit be regarded by our divine 
 Eedeemer ? Are we to wonder if he shall 
 address to such the withering words, " Thou 
 wicked and slothful servant?" Christ has 
 not reduced his claims, although he makes 
 no bargain with his followers. He expects 
 
212 THE SCKEPTUKE RULE 
 
 that we shall say, " The love of Christ con- 
 straineth us." And he says by his apostle, 
 ^' Every man, as he purposeth in his heart, 
 so let him give ; not grudgingly nor of neces- 
 sity : for God loveth a cheerful giver." 
 
 With these general principles in view, let 
 us look at the transactions of the day of 
 Pentecost, as illustrative of the generous 
 spirit which the gospel inspires. It was a 
 day of great expectation. " When the day 
 of Pentecost was fully come, they were all 
 with one accord in one place." They had 
 been encouraged to expect singular blessings, 
 they had waited earnestly in prayer on God 
 that these might be dispensed, and now they 
 were met to receive them. It was a day of 
 the Spirit's power. This is what was prom- 
 ised and what they obtained. "Suddenly 
 there came a sound from heaven, as of a 
 rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the 
 house where they were sitting. And there 
 appeared unto them cloven tongues like as 
 of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And 
 they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, 
 and began to speak with other tongues, as 
 the Spirit gave them utterance." These 
 emblems of the Spirit were fitted to give 
 the apostles just ideas of his power. Who 
 can withstand the rushing mighty wind or 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 213 
 
 the devouring flame ? So under their minis- 
 try sinners would not be able to withstand 
 the Spirit bj which they should speak. It 
 was therefore a day of powerful impressions. 
 As the apostles preached Christ, told of his 
 life and death and resurrection, the hearts 
 of the audience were smitten. Deeply con- 
 vinced of sin, they cried out, " Men and 
 brethren, what shall we do?" But they 
 were enlightened by the same power that 
 convicted them. They saw and owned them- 
 selves the murderers of the innocent Jesus, 
 but in his blood which they had shed they 
 saw a fountain opened that cleanseth from 
 all sin. Into that fountain they went by 
 faith, and were made clean. I^obly they 
 avowed their convictions. " They that glad- 
 ly received his word were baptized : and the 
 same day there were added unto them about 
 three thousand souls." And now look at 
 this redeemed company. What distin- 
 guished them ? " They continued steadfast- 
 ly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, 
 and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." 
 It was no mere momentary excitement. It 
 was a thorough, a sound, and proved to be a 
 permanent work of the Spirit. But there 
 was one feature of their case and character 
 which here deserves our particular attention, 
 
214 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 as directly bearing on our great subject. 
 " 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." An extravagant and 
 foolish impression has been taken up with 
 regard to this transaction. It has been as- 
 sumed that all the property which the dis- 
 ciples possessed they sold, and cast the prod- 
 uce into a common purse, that individual 
 property ceased to be held, and that in the 
 widest sense there was a community of 
 goods. jSTo such views are given in the pas- 
 sage. The meaning is, that the disciples did 
 what the urgency of the occasion required. 
 Those who possessed property sold what was 
 necessary to meet the emergency of their 
 circumstances. There was no force on any 
 believer to do so ; each did as his generosity 
 stimulated him. This is plain from the 
 words of Peter, subsequently addressed to 
 Ananias: "While it remained, was it not 
 thine own ? and after it was sold, was it not 
 in thine own power ?" It was a proceeding 
 every way worthy of the first disciples, — de- 
 cided, vigorous, self-denying, yet calm and 
 full of purpose. Thus viewed it presents the 
 duty of religious contribution, as connected 
 with the gospel of Christ, in a most instruc 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 215 
 
 tive and impressive aspect. It represents it 
 as the fruit of the Spirit. Wherever the 
 Holy Ghost takes possession of tlie mind, he 
 enlightens and enLarges it. He gives just 
 appreliension of duty, and stimulates the 
 mind to a proper frame for the discharge of 
 it. Especially does this transaction show us 
 what was to be expected under the new dis- 
 pensation. Thus it opened, and thus it was 
 to progress. O ! why have not scenes like 
 these been frequent or constant ? The Spirit 
 has been grieved. The body of a cold pro- 
 fession has been left, but the warm spirit of 
 the gospel has been driven away. The king- 
 dom of God is among us in word, but not in 
 power. How cheering to contemplate this 
 scene with which the gospel economy open- 
 ed ! The selfishness of the human heart 
 was overborne. Love took possession of the 
 minds of the disciples. Zeal for their Mas- 
 ter's cause and honor inflamed them. Theirs 
 was a spirit equal to the occasion to which 
 God had called them. And it was to them- 
 selves a blessed season. " Continuing dayly 
 with one accord in the temple, and breaking 
 bread from house to house, they did eat 
 their meat w^ith gladness and singleness of 
 heart, praising God, and having favor with 
 all the people. And the Lord added to the 
 
216 THK SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 Church dayly such as should be saved." 
 "When we do our duty and act faithfully, we 
 have our reward. These disciples enjoyed 
 it in their own bosom richly, and in the 
 prosperity that attended the cause that was 
 dearer to them than life. Nor let us omit to 
 notice the fearful confirmation which very 
 soon after was given to these views of this 
 blessed day. " A certain man named An- 
 anias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a posses- 
 sion, and kept back part of the price, his 
 wife also being privy to it, and brought a 
 certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. 
 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan 
 filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and 
 to keep back part of the price ? Why hast 
 thou conceived this thing in thy heart? 
 Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." 
 The sequel is well known. The judgment 
 of the Lord fell upon them, and the deceit- 
 ful husband and the consenting wife were 
 speedily laid in one dishonored grave. Their 
 sin was deception and falsehood, proceeding 
 from pride and worldliness. They need not 
 have sold their property. Probably no one 
 had asked them. But they wished to have 
 the glory, and yet indulge their selfishness. 
 It is a fearful reproof of a parsimonious 
 spirit in the things of God and religion. It 
 
OF KELiaiOUS CONTRIBUTION. 217 
 
 was a faithful warning of what might be 
 expected from sinful men, yet no less a dis- 
 tinct intimation of what the gospel deserved 
 and demanded. 
 
 Thus Christianity opened, and now wo 
 apply the argument. What are we to ex- 
 pect from those who yield themselves up to 
 the dominion of Christ? In the light and 
 under the impression of the day of Pentecost 
 let the answer be given. Has Christianity 
 reduced its demands on the generosity of its 
 disciples? Are they expected to give more 
 or less to the cause of God than did Abra- 
 ham, Jacob, and Moses? If a tenth was the 
 least under former economies, shall that suf- 
 fice now? Shame would not permit us to 
 say it ought. " Ye are not your own, ye are 
 bought with a price ; therefore glorify God 
 in your body and spirit, which are his." 
 And if this is the demand upon us, what of 
 our property? Let the parable of the talents, 
 spoken by Jesus himself, answer the ques- 
 tion. He who received five talents m^de 
 them ten for his master ; he who had two, by 
 trading made them four; and he who had 
 one hid it, and neither wasted nor employed 
 it — he returned it as he had received it. 
 The first two were approved and rewarded, 
 but to the third it was said, "Thou wicked 
 
218 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 and slothful servant, tliou oiightest to have 
 put my money to the exchanges, and then 
 at my coming I should have received mine 
 own with usury." And this was the sen- 
 tence passed upon him — "Take therefore the 
 talent from him, and give it unto him w^hich 
 hath ten talents. For unto every one that 
 hath shall be given, and he shall have abun- 
 dance ; but from him that hath not, shall be 
 taken away even that which he hath. And 
 cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer 
 darkness : there shall be weeping and gnash- 
 ing of teeth." Let it be observed, this man 
 is called " wicked and slothful," and yet the 
 amount of sin charged upon him is simply 
 nei^clect to be dilio^ent in the cause of God. 
 How, then, in the j udgment of Christ, must 
 it be with the man who neglects to give to 
 the promotion of his cause ? The answer may 
 easily be given. Xor is it easier tlian it is 
 to determine what are the relative claims of 
 the law and of the gospel. If the law, by 
 exj)ress statute, demanded a tenth, what does 
 Christianity, without a statute, demand? It 
 lias certainly not abrogated the law of the 
 ancient economy, but it has powerfully in- 
 spirited it. It were a slander on the gospel 
 to suppose it lowers the claims of Christ and 
 his cause. ]^o, no; it elevates and enlarges 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 219 
 
 them, and like itself it raises all who truly re- 
 ceive and consistently obey it to a high, holy, 
 and honorable standing before God and men, 
 where, with the cross full in view, they ask, 
 What shall I render to the Lord for all his 
 benefits ? 
 
220 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 CHAPTEK YI. 
 
 MACEDONIA AND CORINTH. 
 
 The grace of God bestowed on tbe churches of Macedonia.— 2 Cor 
 
 viii, 1. 
 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift— 2 Cor. ix, 15. 
 
 Thus begins and ends a statement of prin- 
 ciples, and an argument founded upon them, 
 illustrating and enforcing the duty of giving 
 to the Lord, which, if accepted and acted 
 upon by the Church of Jesus Christ, would 
 issue speedily in filling the earth with the 
 fruits of righteousness. It may be said, 
 when we set forth the transactions of the 
 day of Pentecost, That was a peculiar season, 
 a time of excitement and powerful impulse; 
 but it did not continue, and could not be ex- 
 pected to continue, and does not apply to 
 ordinary times and persons. Without at all 
 admitting that this is a proper statement, we 
 do not stop to dispute it, but we proceed at 
 once to a case neither extraordinary nor ex- 
 citing. We claim attention to the Apostle 
 Paul sitting calmly to dictate what the Spirit 
 desired him to write, coolly narrating what 
 was done by one Church, and drawing rea- 
 sons from it to regulate the conduct of an- 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 221 
 
 other. We will also present his account of 
 the matter in a way the most remote possi- 
 ble from that which is fitted to produce any 
 excitement. We will apply ourselves to a 
 plain and simple exposition of what he said, 
 doing little more than fixing attention on 
 verse after verse, allowing it to speak for 
 itself, and ofiiering a few explanations which 
 none can dispute. Only let it be remem- 
 bered, as we do so, that we are using the 
 language, and employing the arguments, of 
 the Holy Spirit of God, and which he intend- 
 ed to form the faith and regulate the conduct 
 of Christian Churches, till the final consum- 
 mation of all things. 
 
 MACEDONIA,— 2 CORINTHIANS ^-lii, 1-5. 
 
 Yer. 1. " ^foreover, brethren, we do you to 
 wit [we call on you to witness while we in- 
 form you of] the grace of God bestowed on 
 the Churches of Macedonia." 
 
 He invites them to admire what had taken 
 place in them. He ascribes it entirely to 
 the gracious operation of the Spirit of God. 
 They would themselves have been the first 
 to exclaim, " Not unto us, O God, not unto 
 us, but unto thy name give glory." Still it 
 is not to be overlooked that the Divine Spirit 
 does make his servants objects of admiration. 
 
222 ITIE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 He beautifies tliem with liis salvation. He 
 puts his own image upon them, and he makes 
 them beautiful through his comeliness, l^ov 
 is it wrong, it would seem, to notice and ex- 
 press our admiration of the Christian loveli- 
 ness. Great care, it is true, should be taken 
 in speaking of it to themselves, lest it should 
 become a temptation to pride. Circum- 
 stances, however, may arise when it is both 
 lawful and proper, for the sake of encourage- 
 ment, to do even that. But, whether or not 
 we may speak of it to others, for there is 
 here the example of an apostle, and that too 
 in the most public manner, not merely spo- 
 ken, but published and handed down from 
 generation to generation, so that, as in the 
 case of Mary, it may be said, ""Wherever 
 the gospel of the kingdom is preached, there 
 it is told for a memorial of them." 
 
 Yer. 2. " How that in a great trial of afflic- 
 tion, the abundance of their joy, and their 
 deep poverty, abounded unto the riches of 
 their liberality." 
 
 This is the special grace which was so esti- 
 mable in the judgment of the apostle and of 
 the Spirit by which he spake, and which he 
 calls upon the Corinthians, and all others, to 
 admire. Tlie grace itself is beautiful, liberality 
 in the service of the Lord. It is a fruit of the 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 223 
 
 Spirit. It is a triumph over the selfishness of 
 the human heart. It spreads happiness as far 
 as it goes. It assimilates its subj ect to God, who 
 delights in doing good. And it is a noble tes- 
 timony to the power and grace of the gospel. 
 In the circumstances of those who exercised 
 it, however, it was greatly enhanced. It was 
 in the midst of deep poverty and affliction ; 
 yet it abounded, and that joyfully. Their 
 own affliction might have swallowed up their , 
 sympathies, their poverty might have been 
 a ready excuse for neglect ; but no, in spite 
 of all obstacles, the gracious affection of love 
 for others burst out. It urged its way through 
 every obstruction, overcame all difficulties, 
 and triumphed in alleviating distress and 
 promoting happiness. The grace was every 
 way worthy of admiration. 
 
 Yer. 3. " For to their power, I bear record, 
 yea, and beyond their power, they were will- 
 ing of themselves." 
 
 Their charity was spontaneous, vigorous, 
 and efficient ; like the living well, the waters 
 came of their own accord. It reminds us of 
 the words of Jesus, "The water that I shall 
 give shall be in him a well of water spring- 
 ing up unto everlasting life." Grace is ex- 
 haustless, because it is supplied by the infi- 
 nite Spirit. The disposition is strengthened 
 
224 THE SOKIPTUKE KULE 
 
 by exercise. And like the source, so are the 
 streams that flow from it. They go gushing 
 out in strong and rapid movement. They 
 are not as those who say, "Be ye warmed 
 and filled, nevertheless they give them not 
 those things which are needful to the body." 
 The warm heart puts forth the ready hand, 
 and the generous spirit opens it wide to dis- 
 pense its gifts. It knows the luxury of doing 
 ^ood, and only follows the propensity of its 
 renewed nature. 
 
 Yer. 4. " Praying us with much entreaty, 
 that we would receive the gift, and take 
 upon us the fellowship of the ministering to 
 the saints." 
 
 What a scene ! The giving and receiving 
 of the rich and poor a means of Christian 
 fellowship, and an inspired apostle the me- 
 dium of maintaining it ! All the entreaty is 
 on the side of the rich, that they may be per- 
 mitted to give ; and they ask the good offices 
 of the apostle, that they may be indulged in 
 charity. Compare that scene of apostolic 
 times with the poor-laws, and the distribu- 
 tions, and the distributers of our day. Where 
 is our religion ? or is the real spirit of it, as 
 manifested of old, to be found on earth ? We 
 speak of apostolic Churches and apostolic 
 practices. Here they are. Are our Cliurches 
 
OF KPXIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 225 
 
 and practices like these ? So far as they are, 
 they are apostolic ; so far as they are not, 
 they are not apostolic. 
 
 Yer. 5. "And this they did, not as we 
 hoped, but first gave their own selves to the 
 Lord and unto us by the will of God." 
 
 They far exceeded all the expectations and 
 hopes which the apostle had formed and 
 cherished. But he reveals the secret of all. 
 They had given themselves to God, and 
 what then would they withhold from him or 
 his people ? And this, alas ! reveals another 
 secret. It makes an awful disclosure which 
 it may be unpleasant to divulge. It teaches 
 the reason of the want of liberality to the 
 cause of God, even the want of religion. It 
 traces the closed hand to the shut heart. It 
 brings us to the foundation of things. And 
 as we cannot expect to raise a superstructure 
 where there has been no foundation, so we 
 need not look for doings of liberality where 
 there is not a renewed heart. "Who can 
 bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? 'Not 
 one." "Can the fig-tree bear olive-berries? 
 either a vine figs ?" 
 
 Such, as described by the pen of inspira- 
 tion, were the Churches of Macedonia. They 
 were the first Churches in Europe. The 
 apostle was called there in a vision by the 
 15 
 
226 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 cry, " Come over and help ns." He found, 
 when he went, that the Lord had work for 
 him to do. There he saw the gospel entering 
 the heart of Lydia, like the sun rising gently 
 and gradually, and pouring its light into a 
 darkened world. And there he saw its con- 
 flict with the hard-hearted jailer of Phihppi, 
 and force from him the cry, " What must I 
 do to be saved ?" The Church in other times 
 was worthy of its origin. It maintained its 
 high character years after, when the apostle 
 wrote of it and held it up as an example to 
 othei-s. How many Churches are like it? 
 How is the gold become dim, and the fine 
 gold changed ! Yet the obligation to imitate 
 it still remains, as we shall now see, by con- 
 sidering the aj^ostle's exhortation, founded 
 on what he had said to the Church of Christ 
 at Corinth. 
 
 C0EmTH.-2 CORINTHIANS viii, ft-9 ; ix, 6-8, 12-15. 
 
 Yer. 6. " Insomuch that we desired Titus, 
 that as he had begun, so he would also finish 
 in you the same grace also." 
 
 What he had seen at Macedonia he de- 
 sired to see at Corinth. God, he knew, had 
 all hearts in his hand, and could and would 
 do again and elsewhere as he had done be- 
 fore. Nothing but the advancing power of 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 227 
 
 the gospel will satisfy a mind rightly dis- 
 posed toward God. The subjection of the 
 earth to Jesus is the object at which he aims. 
 But means must be used to gain the end. 
 On this occasion the ministry of Titus was 
 employed. It is a legitimate work to occupy 
 the attention and labors of a minister of 
 Christ, when he sets himself to produce and 
 cherish in the people of his charge an en- 
 larged liberality in the service of God. And 
 when any success is obtained, that should be 
 accounted an encouragement to persevere. 
 Where w^e have begun to do good we should 
 not rest till we finish the work. 
 
 Yer. 7. " Therefore, as ye abound in every- 
 thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowl- 
 edge, and in all diligence, and in your love 
 to us, see that ye abound in this grace 
 also." 
 
 The possession of some graces should never 
 be esteemed an apology for the want of 
 others. Rather should the deficiency be re- 
 garded as more inexcusable and inconsistent 
 for that reason. Particularly it is most care- 
 fully to be avoided, that while some other 
 graces are apparent that of liberality should 
 be wanting. If a man be very zealous and 
 stringent for holding the faith of the gospel 
 in purity, if he be eloquent in its advocacy 
 
228 THE SCKIPTUKE RULE 
 
 and defense, if he be possessed of clear and 
 enlarged views, if he be active in many ex- 
 ternal duties, if he show a great interest in 
 the ministers of religion, and yet, after all, 
 be deficient in liberality, it is a sad specta- 
 cle. Tlie world see it and understand it. It 
 brings the gospel into disrepute; it causes 
 the way of truth to be evil spoken of ; it is 
 the very circumstance which will be most 
 readily seized upon to disparage true re- 
 ligion. And, therefore, wdiile we do not 
 fail to possess and cultivate other graces, we 
 should be specially careful to exercise that 
 of generosity in the cause of God. 
 
 Yer. 8. "I speak not by commandment, 
 but by occasion of the forwardness of others, 
 and to prove the sincerity of your love." 
 
 After all, let it not be supposed the apos- 
 tle was dictatorial. What he said was in 
 love and zeal, and he conld not help it. 
 " Out of the abundance of the heart the 
 mouth speaketh." It was in his mind, and 
 it would have been as a fire in his bones if 
 he had not given vent to it. And there was 
 some excuse for him. Others urged him, 
 both by their example and their w^ords. 
 He wished also to have the same regard for 
 the Corinthians as for others, such as the 
 Macedonians, and the same reasons for it. 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 229 
 
 He longed to see the sincerity of their love 
 tested and proved. And when he did see 
 it, it would contribute alike to their credit 
 and his gratification. 
 
 Yer. 9. " For 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." 
 
 Ah, yes! This motive would justify all 
 his earnestness, and might stimulate all their 
 love. AVho could resist it, or how? They 
 were not i<^norant of it. Thev knew it the- 
 oretically, and had in some measure felt it 
 experimentally. What was it ? They knew 
 that Jesus had been rich — that he had dwelt 
 in the glory of the Father in the highest 
 heavens. They knew that he had become 
 poor — so much so as not to have where to 
 lay his head, and to suffer as a common 
 malefactor on the cross. They knew that to 
 all this he submitted on their account, — 
 that tliey might be rich in the pardon of 
 sin, the gifts of righteousness, the blessed- 
 ness of true religion here and its everlasting 
 joys hereafter. And if they knew and con- 
 fessed all this, what might be expected of 
 them? What would they do in the cause 
 of this Divine Master ? What would they 
 give for its advancement? What would 
 
230 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 tliey withhold ? Surely such an appeal was 
 irresistible. 
 
 Having made it, he explained to them at 
 length some arrangements he had made for 
 carrying forward the particular exercise of 
 liberality then required of them to maturity. 
 And having done so sufficiently for his pur- 
 pose, lie proceeded to urge certain motives 
 upon them, which it is important to notice 
 as a specimen of apostolic dealing with a 
 question of contribution to the cause of God. 
 
 Chap, ix, 6. "But this I say, He which 
 soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; 
 and he which soweth boimtifully shall reap 
 also bountifully." 
 
 This is reasonable. As it is in nature so 
 also may we expect to find it in grace. He 
 who does little good may expect to receive 
 little. And this is applicable as well to time 
 as to eternity. God has so ordered it, that 
 in the very exercise of serving others we 
 best serve ourselves. There is a providence, 
 too, which goes by the rule, " With what 
 measure ye mete it shall be measured to you 
 again." And it is the plain testimony of the 
 divine word that men shall be judged, if not 
 by, yet "according to, their works." It 
 must in the nature of the case be so, for just 
 as by exercise the capacity for happiness is 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 231 
 
 enlarged, so shall the measure of final enjoy- 
 ment be. 
 
 Yer. 7. " Every man, according as he 
 pnrposeth in his heart, so let him give ; not 
 grudgingly, or of necessity : for God loveth 
 a cheerful giver." 
 
 We should be at pains with the state of 
 our hearts. We should not be satisfied 
 merely with the doing of the generous act, — 
 we should see that it is done in the right 
 spirit. And this may be obtained by indulg- 
 ing such considerations as the apostle had 
 suggested. Let them keep "looking unto 
 Jesus," and the fire will burn within them. 
 Besides, the doing of the acts of generosity 
 has a tendency to improve the heart. Christ 
 said, " If any man will do my will, he shall 
 know of the doctrine, whether it be of God." 
 Kight performances would clear the intellect 
 and promote knowledge. It would teach 
 experimentally. And so here also the right 
 occupation of the hands would extend its 
 influence to the heart, and deeds of charity 
 would promote a spirit of love. 
 
 Yer. 8. "And God is able to make all 
 grace abound toward you ; that ye, having 
 all sufiiciency in all things, may abound to 
 every good work." 
 
 It was not merely the naturat effect of 
 
232 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 such a course as he had recommended they 
 were to consider. There was, besides this, 
 the promised and direct influence of the di- 
 vine blessing. What could not God do with 
 their hearts? What would he not do? 
 What had he not done with many? He 
 was able and willing, and they had only to 
 ask and receive a right hearty and generous 
 spirit from him. O how little this is remem- 
 bered ! How few remember to ask God for 
 liberality of soul, and how feebly ! Yet, be 
 it not forgotten, the want of it is a sore 
 calamity, the possession of it is an unspeak- 
 able blessing, and from God only can it 
 come, and out of his fullness it may con- 
 stantly be received. 
 
 Yer. 11-14. " Which causeth through us 
 thanksgiving to God. — They glorify God for 
 your liberal distribution, and long after you 
 for the exceeding grace of God in you." 
 
 They benefited not merely themselves and 
 their fellow- creatures, but they brought glory 
 to God in the highest. They acted on the 
 exhortation, " Let your light shine before 
 men, that they may see your good works 
 and glorify your Father who is in heaven." 
 And wliat effect ought such a thought to 
 have on a generous heart ? To be permitted 
 to honor "God ! — what an honor ! The very 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 233 
 
 act of liberality itself honors liim. It hon- 
 ors his grace which prompted it, and thus 
 its eifecfcs increase his glory. They who 
 participate in the kindness expressed are 
 benefited, not only in the improvement of 
 their outward circumstances, but in the state 
 of their minds toward God and toward man. 
 There is thus no limit to the widening circle 
 of a generous liberality. As the pebble 
 dropped into the lake puts its waters into 
 motion, and circle rises after circle, till all is 
 stirred, and the whole borders around are 
 bathed by the waters ; so a Christian deed 
 may prove the means of an excitement 
 which shall grow and increase from person 
 to person, and from place to place, and from 
 age to age, until it shall reach eternity it- 
 self, and encircle the throne of God with a 
 halo of glory. 
 
 Yer. 15. " Thanks be unto God for his 
 unspeakable gift." 
 
 ISTo wonder the apostle should thus close 
 his exhortation. He calls the grace of liber- 
 ality an " unspeakable gift," for which he 
 gives God thanks. And so it is, and so he 
 ought to do. It is unspeakably good in its 
 nature and effects. It is lamentable that it 
 is so little contemplated under this aspect. 
 How many quote the apostle's words, and 
 
234 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 yet do not apply them to his subject ! Their 
 modes of thinking are not like his; they 
 have not the elevated views of gracious af- 
 fections which he had. He calls charity an 
 unspeakable gift, and until the same views 
 prevail more generally the Christian Church 
 can never be expected to do its duty in the 
 devotion of its property to God. O that 
 men might so see this grace as to be im- 
 pelled to cry out, both on account of its own 
 lovely character, and the extent to which 
 they behold it exercised, " Thanks be unto 
 God for his unspeakable gift !" 
 
 "Well, then, if these be the principles 
 which the Apostle Paul inculcated on the 
 subject of religious contribution, what say 
 we to the special question whicli they were 
 introduced to illustrate? What testimony 
 do Macedonia and Corinth bear to the pro- 
 portion in which Christians should contribute 
 to the cause of God? Would they say a 
 tenth? Did this suffice for them or the 
 apostle their teacher ? They were all famil- 
 iar with the laws and customs of ancient 
 times. Although none of these persons had 
 been Jews, and the members of both Mace- 
 donia and Corinth were either generally or 
 exclusively Gentiles, and even Lydia seems 
 to have been a proselyte, yet tliey would 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 235 
 
 liave learned from the Jewish Scriptures, 
 and the Jews scattered among them, what 
 had been the habits and practices of tlie an- 
 cient people of God. They knew well what 
 God had required in the Jewish Scriptures. 
 And now, when they came to interpret these 
 passages by the principles which Paul had 
 inculcated upon them, at wdiat conclusion 
 would they arrive? If we were told some 
 gave a tenth, others less, others nothing, 
 what opinion would we form or express of 
 those Churches ? We would be ashamed of 
 them. We would say they were utterly un- 
 worthy of their high privileges and honored 
 teachers. We could not help pronouncing 
 upon them the severest censure.^ Then let 
 us beware lest it be said to us, "Thou art the 
 man;" " Physician, heal thyself ;" "Thou 
 that teachest a man should not steal, dost 
 thou steal ?" "Thou that sayest a man should 
 not commit adultery, dost thou commit adul- 
 tery ?" " Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou 
 commit sacrilege?" Let us not expose our- 
 selves to a retort so fearful. We see what 
 are the great principles of the apostle, and 
 by what motives he urged them on the early 
 Church. Let us remember in speaking to 
 them, he being dead yet speaketh to us. 
 Let us adopt his principles and act upon 
 
236 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 them ; let us become distinguished by liber- 
 ality in the cause of God as we have hither- 
 to been by the want of it. Let it no more 
 be said, ''All seek their own, not the things 
 which are Jesus Christ's." Let his cause be 
 ours, and under a deep and growing sense 
 of what he did for us, let us uphold his 
 cause till "all nations shall be blessed in 
 him, and all nations shall call him blessed/' 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 237 
 
 CHAPTER yn. 
 
 THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK. 
 
 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in 
 store, as God hath prospered him.— 1 Cor. xvi, 2. 
 
 " A WORD fitly spoken is like apples of gold 
 in pictures of silver." It is in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures these fitting words are found in perfec- 
 tion. Very frequently the weightiest senti- 
 ments are conveyed there in the fewest and 
 simplest words possible. Great good is gained 
 by this peculiarity of style. The truth so 
 expressed is easily apprehended, easily re- 
 membered, and easily applied to practical 
 uses. It is like the concentrated essence of 
 the best food or medicine, in the composition 
 of which the greatest nutrition is secured by 
 the smallest quantity. Examples of all kinds 
 abound. Do the Scriptures describe God? 
 It is thus : "God is a spirit ;" " God is light ;" 
 " God is love." What a fund of thought and 
 truth is here, which the most profound phi- 
 losopher cannot fathom, and which yet the 
 simplest child can in some degree apprehend 
 and remember perfectly! Or do they set 
 forth the way of a sinner's salvation by God ? 
 
238 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 It is thus : " God so loved the world, that 
 he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoso- 
 ever believeth in him should not perish, but 
 have everlasting life;" "This is a faithful 
 saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that 
 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sin- 
 ners, of whom I am chief;" "By grace are 
 ye saved, through faith; and that not of 
 yourselves : it is the gift of God." In these 
 brief sayings the leading features of the way 
 of salvation are fully and clearly intimated. 
 It is the same with practical duties. Every 
 class will be found expressed in some com- 
 prehensive and short sentence. To confine 
 ourselves to the one before us, the duty of 
 religious contribution, the whole subject may 
 be said to be laid down in the few terms pre- 
 fixed to this chapter: "Upon the first day of 
 the week let every one of you lay by him 
 in store, as God hath prospered him." A 
 full development of the great principles of 
 the duty has already been considered in the 
 apostle's argument addressed to the Corinth- 
 ians. On every one of them we might have 
 dwelt at length, but their number and weight 
 permitted only a cursory glance at them. 
 Enough, however, was said to show their ex- 
 tent and depth. O that the members of the 
 Cliristian Cliurcli would ponder them deeply, 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 239 
 
 drink into their spirit, feel their power, and 
 obey their requirements ! But we must now 
 turn from them, and claim attention to the 
 brief rule which has just been intimated, and 
 which will yet be found to have the most 
 extensive application. 
 
 1. The time of religious contribution is 
 marked—" the first day of the week " — the 
 Christian Sabbath. There is much signifi- 
 cance in the fact that a time is thus divinely 
 fixed. It assumes that the duty as a matter 
 of obligation must be discharged at some 
 time, and that it is well to have an appoint- 
 ed time for it, lest it should by any possibil- 
 ity, through neglect, be omitted altogether. 
 It is too often found that what we think may 
 be done at any time is never done. Kor is 
 it merely that the time is fixed; the fre- 
 quency of its recurrence is important to be 
 observed. It arrives weekly. The duty is 
 to be habitually performed. It is not a 
 mere momentary excitement, to be spent in 
 a strong impulse, from which we may fall 
 back into apathy or neglect. It is a duty to 
 be kept constantly before our attention, that 
 as its obligations never cease, so neither shall 
 our exertions. ' The tone of the prescribed 
 rule implies that there is the utmost concern 
 and consideration that the duty may be done 
 
240 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 perseveringly and effectually. Above all, it 
 should be carefully noted under what power- 
 ful impressions and motives the apostle would 
 have our minds when we would thus habitu- 
 ally devote our property to God. "On the 
 lirst day of the week !" "What associations 
 are connected with that day ! It reminds us 
 of Jesus, it is sacred to his memory, it is the 
 Lord's day, it brings us into fellowship with 
 him, and it irresistibly urges upon us, " What- 
 soever ye do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord 
 and not unto men.'' It reminds us especially 
 of his triumph. We may say, "This is the 
 day the Lord hath made: we will rejoice and 
 be glad in it." " I will triumph in the work 
 of thy hands." On this day our Divine Ke- 
 deemer rose from the grave, "spoiling prin- 
 cipalities and powers, and making a show of 
 them openly." We have, therefore, vividly 
 presented to us all the blessings which we 
 enioy by means of the death and resurrec- 
 tii^n of the Son of God. An appeal is made 
 to the heart by their value and number. As 
 we contemplate what he has done for us, we 
 are asked, what we are ready to do for him? 
 By the Sabbath we are further reminded of 
 the outpouring of the Spirit of Christ. As 
 on this day he arose and ascended, so also 
 on it he sent the Holy Ghost. And the effu- 
 
OF RELIGIOrS COXTEIBUTION. 241 
 
 sion of the day of Pentecost was only an em- 
 blem and earnest of what might be expected 
 in future years. Long after, John could say 
 in the lonely isle of Patmos, ''I was in the 
 Spirit on the Lord's day." So should every 
 believer have the same experience. He 
 needs the weekly return of the holy day, and 
 it is expressly provided for him. His prayer 
 should be, " Yisit me with thy salvation ;" 
 and nothing less than the enjoyment of its 
 answer should satisfy him. What, then, is 
 to be its effect in the enlightenment and en- 
 largement of his mind, discovering to him 
 the duty of yielding himself and all he has 
 to God, and engaging him heartily and earn- 
 estly to make the sm-render? But it is in 
 the ordinances of grace the Spirit is to be 
 expected on that day, and hence arises an- 
 other powerful influence under which the 
 believer is to be prompted to act. These are 
 wondrously adapted to both his mental and 
 bodily constitution — the singing of God's 
 praise, pouring out the heart in prayer, the 
 word read and preached, the fellowship of 
 the body and blood of Jesus, and the pro- 
 nouncing of benediction in his name. How 
 calculated are these services powerfully to 
 impress and excite the soul to duty ! They 
 may well be anticipated, as was done bvDa- 
 16 
 
242 thp: sckiptuke kule 
 
 vicl5_sajing3 "I shall be anointed with fresh 
 oil.'' Fresh supplies of the grace of the 
 Spirit are needed and expected in the ordi- 
 nances of God's house. And, to sum up all, 
 flie rest of the Sabbath is the emblem of 
 heaven itself. Heaven is only an unbroken 
 Sabbath — unbroken by worldly cares or sins, 
 unbroken by any limitation of times or sea- 
 sons. We are reminded how short our time 
 on earth is, and how long the eternity on 
 which we are about to enter. In the same 
 manner w^e learn the necessity of redeeming 
 the time now, and doinoj somethino^ that will 
 tell upon eternity for the well-being of our- 
 selves and others. This is the time which 
 the apostle has fixed for religious contribu- 
 tion. And is it not manifest he did so with 
 good reason ? He has chosen the time when 
 the mind is under the best and most power- 
 ful influences, the period at which the duty 
 bids fairest to be best discharged, when if 
 ever it shall not be neglected, and when 
 every temptation to neglect is most likely to 
 be resisted and overcome. 
 
 Attention is specially requested to this 
 view of the subject. In almost no instance 
 is the apostolic rule, in this matter, obeyed. 
 In a large proportion of the Churches of 
 these lands no religious contribution is made 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 243 
 
 on the first day of the week. In many, a 
 half-penny or penny may statedly be given. 
 But as to meeting the spirit or the letter of 
 the apostolic rule, where shall we find it? 
 Personal enjoyment and profit seem to be 
 the grand absorbing objects of attendance 
 upon public worship. We go to receive 
 good, and forget the apostle has also taught 
 us we should no less go to do good. "To do 
 good and to communicate forget not : for 
 with such sacrifices God is well pleased." 
 It is to be feared we are in no readiness to 
 act upon this apostolic rule. The Church 
 that would earnestly call upon its members 
 to do so would be apt to endanger its peace 
 or outward prosperity. Its habitual calls to 
 generosity would be felt to be irksome, and 
 there would be rebellion against them. Let 
 us alone, and let us have the undisturbed 
 enjoyment of the word and ordinance, would, 
 it is feared, be the saying of many. Yet 
 this is a great mistake. Never do we find 
 a Scripture rule either unwise or unsuited to 
 our highest benefit. It is in doing good we 
 obtain good. If the Churches of Christ 
 would only consent to act on the apostolic 
 rule, they would speedily experience the ad- 
 vantages in their own edification. Only sup- 
 pose that their members did, as the apostle 
 
244: THE SCRIFIURE RULE 
 
 recommends, exercise frugality and care 
 throughout the week, that they might be 
 prepared to present their offerings to the 
 Lord and his cause on every first day of the 
 week, and what rich enjoyment would they 
 soon experience in their own souls ! God 
 would meet them, and shower his blessings 
 upon them. They would soon have the as- 
 pect of a garden which the Lord himself had 
 watered. And they would be constrained 
 often to cry out, " God is in this place ; this 
 is none other than the house of God, and 
 this is the gate of heaven." There is one 
 practice in particular to which we cannot 
 but advert for a moment, in connection with 
 this view of the subject. It is the custom of 
 most Churches to sustain their Christian ef- 
 forts by occasional addresses and collections 
 on days specially appointed for the purpose. 
 For these all preparation is made. IS'otices 
 are previously given of the intended appeal, 
 and the object of it. Liformation is circu- 
 lated to arrest attention, and stimulate zeal. 
 When the set-day arrives, the preacher puts 
 forth his utmost power to rouse the assem- 
 bled Church to a sense and performance of 
 its duty. And on the success of this attempt 
 the cause in question is dependent for a year 
 to come. It is cause of thankfulness that 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 245 
 
 even this much is gained. Not long ago 
 nothing of the kind existed. Churches met 
 and parted, and thought not of any duty 
 they were called on to discharge for the 
 benefit of others. It is hoped there will be 
 a growing spirit of earnest zeal, and that 
 nothing shall be left undone which wise and 
 prudent measures can obtain for the uphold- 
 ing of the cause of Christ on earth. As 
 matters are, ministers must thus statedly 
 preach, they must go forth from time to 
 time, and place to place ; they must circu- 
 late information, and try to call forth zeal ; 
 they must devise expedients, and use all their 
 sanctified ingenuity to raise the funds that 
 are required for carrying the truth of Christ 
 and its messengers through the whole earth. 
 All this, it is admitted, must, in the pres- 
 ent state of the Church, be done. I^ one, 
 we trust, will misunderstand our remarks, 
 nor turn them into an excuse for the neglect 
 of present duty. After all, however, may 
 we not say, " I show unto you a more excel- 
 lent way ?" And what is it ? many will say. 
 They feel that the present plan is inefiicient, 
 and does not reach the necessities of the case. 
 Our most important plans for the evangeli- 
 zation of the world are languishing for the 
 want of support. Can you point out a way 
 
246 IHE SCRIPTUKE KULE 
 
 to fill the exhausted treasury? Yes, and a 
 simple one too — a way simpler and easier far 
 than that which is at present pursued, and 
 as much more efficient as it is easier and 
 simpler. It is just to return to the apostolic 
 counsel, "On the first day of the week" 
 give your substance to the cause of God. It 
 is obvious he means, not as we seem to have 
 understood it, a special day selected now 
 and again, but every " first day of the 
 week." Wherever the Church of Christ 
 assembles on that day, let its members give 
 what their painstaking has enabled them to 
 provide for the cause of God. Observe how 
 an operation so simple would tell advanta- 
 geously on the finances of the Church. It 
 would set us free from the disaster which a 
 day of stormy rain and tempest must inflict 
 upon the cause which had its advocacy con- 
 fined to that special season. "With what 
 dismay have the managers of many a noble 
 cause looked out on such a day, as they felt 
 the responsibility that rested upon them to 
 meet the necessities of those who bore its 
 toils and conducted its labors. It has been 
 stated that the character of the appointed 
 day determined in some instances whether 
 the effort made over the Churches of a cer- 
 tain district would raise the cause to a posi- 
 
OP RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 247 
 
 tion of safety and prosperity for the coming 
 year, or leave it to struggle as best it might 
 with the difficulties of poverty until Provi- 
 dence might be pleased to favor it, in some 
 future day, with a season of calm and sun- 
 shine. Is it a wise or proper arrangement 
 that leaves an important cause dependent 
 upon such a circumstance ? The apostolic 
 rule would remove the difficulty, and it 
 would do more and better still. It would 
 bring the claims of God's cause before all 
 the members of the Church. On those spe- 
 cial occasions which we have fixed many 
 may not be present. Either they must have 
 zeal to remedy the loss of their presence by 
 a voluntary donation of their generosity, or 
 their helj) must be lost until another distant 
 opportunity shall be granted. And then the 
 same disappointment may arise again. The 
 stated and habitual offering at once remedies 
 this evil. At the same time its amount of 
 contribution would be a mighty increase on 
 the present forced collection. A penny 
 every week would seem a trifle to many 
 who would scruple to present the shillings 
 to which it would rise at the termination of 
 the year. A shilling would be an easy 
 weekly offering to some who would be 
 alarmed by the idea of laying fifty-two to- 
 
24:8 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 gether on the plate of solicitation after the 
 financial year had come to a close. Even 
 the more extended offering of the pound, or 
 more, would not seem extravagant to some 
 who would feel a strong temptation to cur- 
 tail the donation of not a few when they 
 were to be presented in a single offering. 
 The finance of the Scriptures will be found 
 as wise and efficient as it is simple. It is 
 the best by far to meet the temptations to 
 which human nature, in the frailty of its 
 best estate, is liable, and by the easiest 
 means to secure the best results. And is it 
 nothing to substitute the calm doings of 
 principle for the stimulus of occasional ex- 
 citement ? We should look well to our mo- 
 tives. God searcheth the hearts and trieth 
 the reins of the children of men. Pride 
 and vain-glory are besetting sins of men. 
 They are in all circumstances evil, chiefly so 
 when allowed to influence in the cause of 
 God. We should be careful not only to do 
 what is right in itself, but to do it in the 
 right spirit and manner. And that the 
 change of measures suggested would be cal- 
 culated to have a favorable influence in this 
 respect who can doubt ? It may be added 
 that the very habit of looking to our affairs 
 habitually throughout the week, that we 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 249 
 
 may have to give to the cause of God on 
 the approaching Sabbath, and that we may 
 know what we ought to give consistently 
 with other claims, would greatly minister to 
 a proper frame of mind. It would be a 
 most valuable and habitual discipline of the 
 soul. It would bring God into the most 
 ordinary concerns of life, and elevate the 
 lowest engagements to the dignity of the 
 highest principles. Let it not be said, such 
 a habit would lay upon us a yoke of intol- 
 erable bondage. Recollect it is God who 
 lias laid it on. The rule we are recommend- 
 ing is divine. It is also both wise and mer- 
 cifully adapted to its purposes, and not less 
 so to the happiness and prosperity of him 
 who acts upon it. Alas that the Churches 
 of Christ should be so little in a condition to 
 adopt such a rule ! We are far from vio- 
 lently forcing it on any. We fear great 
 changes must come before it will be gener- 
 ally adopted. But one day, no doubt, it 
 will be the rule and the practice of the 
 Lord's people. Let those who can, begin to 
 act upon it now. Let those who cannot 
 overcome the difficulties in their way, pray 
 and wait till God shall make the path plain 
 before them. But in this as in all things let 
 us feel assured it is well to say — " O that my 
 
250 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 ways were directed to keep tliy statutes! 
 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have 
 respect unto all thy commandments.'' 
 
 2. ISTot merely, however, does the apostolic 
 rule determine the time of contributing, it 
 fixes attention also upon those whose duty it 
 is to contribute — " Every one of you." Who 
 are meant ? In some sense it may no doubt 
 be said all men are comprehended in the 
 description. Whoever they are for whom 
 the blessings of the gospel are intended, they 
 certainly should acknowledge the obligation 
 here laid upon them. We proceed on the 
 general ground, which none will dispute, 
 that the gospel is to be preached to all men, 
 and that all are invited to participate in its 
 benefits. N^one will be so infatuated as to 
 exclude themselves from the number of 
 those who are invited and entreated to be- 
 lieve on Jesus Christ, and obtain eternal life 
 in him. Then must all such own that they 
 are included in the " every one " of the rule. 
 For if the gospel is preached to them, and 
 they may enjoy its benefits, surely it be- 
 comes their duty to give of their substance 
 that these same privileges may be extended 
 to others. Let it not be said, there can be 
 no obligation on any to extend the gospel 
 until they themselves become recipients of 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTEIBUTIOK. 261 
 
 the gospel and its salvation. Tliis involves 
 a most fatal principle in morals. A man's 
 unfitness for a duty, or liis indisposedness for 
 it, does not release him from the obligation 
 of it. So, because a man does not receive 
 the gospel, it does not follow that it is not his 
 duty to receive it. He is bound to receive 
 it, and to discharge every duty which it re- 
 quires. Until he does so, he is living in sin, 
 and nothing can free him from the demand 
 which his great Creator has laid upon him. 
 These remarks apply directly to the special 
 duty which we are enforcing. It is the duty 
 of " every one " to receive the gospel him- 
 self, and to send it to others, and to do what- 
 ever he can to advance this object. We 
 have no hesitation in saying this is the duty 
 of a deist, or even of an atheist, if such is 
 to be found. "Unto you, O men, I call, and 
 my voice is to the sons of men," — this is the 
 address of Christ in his word. And whether 
 men will hear, or whether they will forbear, 
 here are their privileges, and duties, and re- 
 sponsibilities. Literally and universally, 
 therefore, it is the duty of " every one " to 
 consider and contrive that he may have to 
 give of his substance " on the first day of 
 ffie^weeli?' Nor let it be overlooked, that 
 whoever fails in this duty is so far hardening 
 
252 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 his own heart and shutting it up more and 
 more against the reception of Christ and his 
 truth into it. It is with this sin as with 
 every sin. All sin is not only evil in itself, 
 but is exerting an influence for greater evil 
 over every mind that is subjected to it. 
 And this is a fearful consideration. The un- 
 godly are " treasuring up wrath against the 
 day of wrath and revelation of the righteous 
 judgment of God." On this principle we 
 deem it an object worthy of all zeal and 
 effort to hinder an ungodly man from con- 
 tracting more sin. Even though he become 
 not a subject of God's converting grace, it is 
 of high moment to keep him back from any 
 sin, or to engage him in the performance of 
 any duty. Often the very performance of a 
 duty is the beginning of a state of mind that 
 leads to the most gracious and blessed results. 
 One thing is clear, it was a marked fea- 
 ture in our Lord's ministry to engage " every 
 one" in well-doing. His sermon on the 
 mount is a noble illustration of it. "Tl^en 
 came publicans also to be baptized, and said 
 unto him, Master, what shall we do? And 
 he said unto them, Exact no more than that 
 which is appointed you. And the soldiers 
 likewise demanded of him, saying, And what 
 shall we do? And he said unto them, Do 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 253 
 
 jvioleiice to no man, neither accuse any falsely, 
 and be content with your wages." Pro- 
 ceeding on this high authority, we call upon 
 " every one " to give unto the Lord. O 
 that w^e could engage even an ungodly and 
 careless community in this duty ! It would 
 soon produce a wondrous change on their 
 spirit, and habits, and practices. Caring for 
 others, they w^ould begin to care for them- 
 selves. This would bring them to God, and, 
 sensible of their own necessities, they would 
 learn to cry mightily to him, that they might 
 be healed of their sins. God would bless 
 them, too. Kot only in the nature and ne- 
 cessity of their new engagements would 
 there arise a cessation from much that was 
 evil, and an engagement in that which was 
 in itself good, but the Lord would look fa- 
 vorably upon them ; not, certainly, because 
 they thus entered upon a course of reforma- 
 tion, yet in the way of entering on such a 
 course. We are urgent in the assertion of 
 these principles, because we think they have 
 been sadly perverted, and a secret feeling 
 seems to have spread too generally in the 
 minds of men that because they do not pro- 
 fess religion, its duties cannot be expected 
 nor are they required of them. It is a fear- 
 ful delusion, by which Satan has slain his 
 
254 THE SCRIPTUKE KULE 
 
 thousands and tens of thousands. We have 
 done what we could to detect and expose his 
 design, and we now proceed to contemplate 
 the phrase before us in its more restricted 
 acceptation. This was no doubt in the apos- 
 tle's mind when he said, " Every one of yoxiP 
 He spoke to the members of that Church 
 which he had described as "sanctified in 
 Christ Jesus, called to be saints." "Ye are 
 washed, ye are justified, ye are sanctified, in 
 the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the 
 Spirit of our God." They were called upon, 
 therefore, by a regard to their own consist- 
 ency and profession, to be liberal in the cause 
 of God. They had declared by their conduct 
 tliat they acquiesced in the sentiment of 
 Christ, "What is a man profited, if he shall 
 gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? 
 or what shall a man give in exchange for his 
 soul ?" They must therefore do what in them 
 lay to show their value for the souls of men, 
 and make every sacrifice to save them. 
 Even although the special duty required of 
 them was to contribute to the temporal relief 
 of the saints at Jerusalem, yet there was 
 mucli that was spiritual in the duty. Their 
 temporal state powerfully affected their men- 
 tal exercises. It was as the saints of God, 
 having claims upon them as part of the Chris- 
 
OF EELTGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 255 
 
 tian brotherhood, they were required to pro- 
 vide for them. And they were under the 
 necessity of doing it out of regard to Jesus 
 Christ, their Master, and that of the objects 
 of their sympathy too— regard to his exam- 
 ple, autliority, and the solemn anticipations 
 of the final judgment which he had so mi- 
 nutely described in his ministry on the earth, 
 and in which description he gave so much 
 prominence to what was done for his disci- 
 ples in his name : " Inasmuch as ye have 
 done it unto one of the least of these my 
 brethren, ye have done it unto me." The 
 duty, therefore, was to all intents and pur- 
 poses one highly spiritual in its character, as 
 much so as if its direct object had been the 
 saving of the souls of them for whom they 
 were concerned. Then, again, they liad by 
 their conduct acknowledged the fulhiess and 
 sufficiency of Christ for the salvation of their 
 own souls. Tliey had committed themselves 
 into his hands, and this was the highest tes- 
 timony they could give to others how highly 
 tliey imzed him. If they were sincere 
 herein, what would they do to lead others 
 to do as they had done themselves ? How 
 l)altry would any earthly sacrifice seem in 
 comparison with the high and holy object 
 which they sought to gain ! E'ot only had 
 
256 THE SCKIPTUKE RULE 
 
 they made their confession by the act of em- 
 bracing the Saviour for themselves in faith, 
 but they were accustomed to avow that faith 
 in the most pubhc and emphatic manner. 
 Tlieir Sabbath assemblies and their holy com- 
 munion in bread and wine at the table of the 
 Lord were known and read of all men. In all 
 consistency, then, what service might be de- 
 manded at their hands ? Surely " every one " 
 of them would own and act on his obligation 
 to give to the utmost for the temporal, spir- 
 itual, and eternal well-being of others. These 
 remarks are as applicable to the members 
 of the Christian Church now as they ever 
 were to those whom the apostle immediately 
 addressed. Christians make the same pro- 
 fessions now as ever were made in apostolic 
 times. It is the profession of a " common 
 salvation." They have their assemblies now, 
 as of old — the same solemnities — the same 
 table of the Lord. The same obligations, 
 therefore, rest upon them. On " every one " 
 who professes Christ is laid the obligation to 
 do what he can for the spread of his truth. 
 And is there any " one " who could not do 
 something ? Is there " one " who could not 
 give something ? God knoweth, and it were 
 presumption in us to speak peremptorily; 
 but if there be " one " who could not give 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 257 
 
 something for Jesus, who gave himself for 
 him, his circumstances must be very pecu- 
 liar. Yet how many there are who act as 
 if such were their case ! They give nothing. 
 It is idle to inquire into the various reasons 
 which would be alleged for the neglect, but 
 the fact cannot be questioned. Many, very 
 many, do not give at all. The majority do 
 not give. The smallness of contribution in 
 the earth to the cause of Christ is a proof 
 that few give. It may be presumed many 
 have not been told of their obligation to do 
 so. To others it has not occurred. It is a 
 prevailing idea with many that all they 
 could give is so little, it would be neither 
 worth their offering nor the Church accept- 
 ing. This is a sore evil. As well might the 
 drops not fall because they are not each a 
 whole shower of rain. As well might the 
 stream let from the mountain stay its course, 
 because it is not the broad river on which go 
 the gallant ships. This is a matter of deep 
 concern to the interests of religion. Personal 
 responsibility is the great duty needed to be 
 known and felt. If the members of the 
 Church were brought to understand it, all 
 would be well. If each would do what he 
 could, "there would be enough. How wise 
 is the Spirit of God ! How apparent is that 
 
 17 
 
268 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 wisdom in the rule of contribution which we 
 have been considering ! If it were obeyed, 
 and " every one " would give, it would 
 change the whole aspect of the Church and 
 the world. The discovery of the law of grav- 
 ity did not produce a greater change in the 
 philosophy of the world than the obedience 
 of this simple rule would produce in the 
 moral condition of the world. The discovery 
 of steam, with all its wondrous powers and ex- 
 traordinary effects and unexpected changes, 
 would not match the results of this one sim- 
 ple principle, were it only carried out into 
 the conduct of professing Christians. We 
 
 submit it to them, and call on "every one 
 to say whether he will accept it for his rule, 
 or plainly and confessedly reject it from his 
 creed. Only let " every one " know that who- 
 soever rejects it, rejects the apostle and Him 
 also who sent him — the Lord Jesus. 
 
 3. Lengthened, however, as our remarks 
 have been on this apostolic rule, we have 
 not yet done. It is, as we have said again 
 and again, remarkable for its simplicity, and 
 it should have required nothing to be said 
 in either the illustration or enforcement of it. 
 But its neglect, its almost entire oversight, 
 has rendered it necessary that all should be 
 said which has been now advanced and 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTEIBUTION. 259 
 
 more too. The longer a noble building Has 
 lain in ruins the more it is covered over with 
 accumulated matter, and it needs the greater 
 labor to remove the rubbish, and more ex- 
 cavation to bring the buried columns to the 
 light of day, and replace them on their an- 
 cient foundations, until the once perfect 
 building is restored again to its former sym- 
 metry, and beauty, and strength. So with 
 this principle on which we have been dwell- 
 ing. It appears to have been concealed 
 from the view of the Church. Amid the 
 dilapidations of the truth and of the Church 
 upon the earth, the rubbish of long-estab- 
 lished usages, and mistaken principles, and 
 erroneous views, has covered it over so as to 
 have put it out of sight. Much labor, there- 
 fore, is necessary to bring it out again, and 
 let men see it in its beautiful proportion and 
 mighty strength. We have already pre- 
 sented some portions of it to their notice and 
 admiration ; and now we proceed to exhibit 
 one other feature, which will complete the 
 description. It is the measure or proportion 
 in which " every one " is required to give — 
 even "as the Lord hath prospered him." 
 
 At first sight the meaning would seem to 
 be sufficiently clear. Indeed, it would ap- 
 pear as if it were hardly possible to mistake 
 
260 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 it, — that as God gives us means from week 
 to week, so we should give in the same pro- 
 portion to his cause. But there are none so 
 blind as those who will not see. Where no 
 obscurity exists, there are those who take 
 pleasure in creating it. The more simple 
 anything is, they make it the more difficult 
 to understand. And even on this unmis- 
 takable rule questions are asked which no 
 casuist is able to answer, and prolixities are 
 woven out of it which it is impossible to un- 
 ravel. What is meant, says one, by giving 
 as the Lord hath prospered ? Does it mean 
 our annual income, or our whole estate? 
 Supposing the tenth to be the proportion of 
 giving, am I called on to give that measure 
 of all I have, or of what God has given me 
 within the year ? The principle of explana- 
 tion is manifestly contained in the rule itself. 
 It is a proportion to be given according to 
 the increase of the time mentioned, and in 
 the present instance it is a week. This may 
 be extended to other periods of time, a 
 month or a year. Thus the text itself fixes 
 its meaning to refer to income, and not to 
 the amount of property possessed. It need 
 not be said this property will affect the in- 
 come, but it is by the increase of what it 
 yields that the proportion to be given shall 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 261 
 
 be measured. In this arrangement the wis- 
 dom of the Scriptures is great. The j promise 
 to the believer worldly prosperity among 
 other blessings. "Godliness is profitable 
 unto all things, having promise of the life 
 that now is, and of that which is to come." 
 "Wealth is an unspeakable blessing in the 
 hands of the godly. Constituted as the 
 world is, we do not see how the cause of 
 God is to be carried forward without the 
 help of the rich. True, the offerings of the 
 poor are to be highly prized. Perhaps, too, 
 they will ever be, as they have ever been, 
 the chief source of support to the Church of 
 Christ. Still there are noble examples of 
 great good effected by princely offerings 
 from the rich. Great and gracious promises, 
 too, are held out to this effect in the Scrip- 
 tures. We rejoice, therefore, when God in 
 his providence is pleased to prosper his peo- 
 ple. It is good to see them growing in 
 wealth and influence. The world shall be 
 the better for it all. Let it not, therefore, 
 be supposed we frown upon the wealthy, or 
 make little of their wealth. On the con- 
 trary, we praise God on their account ; and 
 we admire the rule which is now before us, 
 because, while it provides for the necessities 
 of the Church, it does not interfere even 
 
262 THE SCKIFTUKE KULE 
 
 with their worldly prosperity. Understand- 
 ing it thus, then, its directions are plain, and 
 we hold them to be universally applicable. 
 Fixing attention, for the sake of illustra- 
 tion, on what we have shown to be the lowest 
 proportion of giving ever sanctioned by the 
 Scriptures,' — a tenth, — observe the practical 
 appUcation. And we specify it, not because 
 any can fail to apply the rule to themselves, 
 but because, even where duty is clear, we 
 need ^' line upon line and precept upon pre- 
 cept." The income of one is fifty dollars in 
 the year; "then the claim of God is five dol- 
 lars : that of another is double, and the claim 
 upon him is double. A third has received 
 five hundred dollars, and fifty dollars is his 
 proportion. If it be a thousand dollars, a 
 hundred can readily be spared. If it be 
 many thousands, there may be as many hun- 
 dreds. Plain and specific, however, as we 
 desire to be, there are those who cannot un- 
 derstand the matter. How, they ask, can a 
 man wlio has a large family, and only five 
 hundred dollars a year to provide for all 
 their wants, devote a tenth of that to the 
 cause of God ? Then, I ask, is a man having 
 only the half of it, or less, to give none at all? 
 ISTay, I ask. How are many families support- 
 ed on the fourth of it ? And on less by far ? 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 263 
 
 But, you say, we have a station to support 
 which they have not. Will you plead that 
 argument with God^ The conscience that 
 could do so must be seared as with a hot 
 iron. If God has placed you in those cir- 
 cumstances, it is an intimation of his will that 
 he would have you to live according to them. 
 He has not relaxed his law that you might 
 live after certain conventional rales which 
 men have made, but which he has never 
 sanctioned. After all, are you not satisfied 
 with our explanations? Then we are sorry 
 for it, but cannot help it. Only you must 
 allow us to ask. Where lies the fault ? In us, 
 or in you ? To bring this question to a test, 
 let us entreat that you will give us your in- 
 terpretation of the apostolic rule. You do 
 not approve of ours ; what, then, is your 
 own? There are those who can reject all 
 that others propose, but have no proposal of 
 their own to make. Are you of that num- 
 ber? There is a mighty power in some to 
 pull down, but they will never give a hand 
 to help to build up. We must leave you, if 
 you be such, to Him who shall judge both 
 you and us. And we turn away to indulge 
 the sad reflections which are forced upon us 
 while we look at the rule which the apostle 
 has prescribed, and compare it with the con- 
 
264 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 duct which many evince. How few, alas ! 
 there are who are giving even according to 
 the lowest proportion of a tenth ! But, not 
 to dwell upon this, we mourn especially how 
 little the claim is considered that each shall 
 give "as the Lord hath prospered him.'* 
 Last year the income was increased, but 
 the subscription is the same. The income 
 of one is double that of another, but their 
 donations to the cause of God are equal. 
 In some instances the income has been 
 growing, and the proportion of contribution 
 has been decreasing. Years have been ac- 
 cumulating, and wealth has kept pace with 
 them ; but the lieart has become more and 
 more contracted, and the duty of giving less 
 and less felt. It is a fearful proof of the de- 
 pravity of human nature to find that the be- 
 setting sin of old age is covetousness. Just 
 the opposite of what might have been ex- 
 pected is found to be the reality. As the 
 world becomes less capable of affording en- 
 joyment, it is held wdth greater tenacity. 
 When men are about to leave it they cling 
 closer to it. Be watchful. IS'othing grows 
 faster, or is harder to be dislodged from the 
 heart, than worldliness. Tliere may be some 
 who feel difficulties, however, which are pe- 
 culiar to their circumstances in carrying the 
 
OF KELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 265 
 
 apostolic rule into effect. Tlie apostle seems 
 to write to those who are in circumstances 
 to know what their weekly lodgment for the 
 cause of God should be. Some such there 
 are still — it may be many. But there are 
 some with whom it is not so. They are un- 
 able to tell what a week, or a month, or even 
 a year, may enable them to make a just pro- 
 portion. It is to be regretted that the state 
 of commerce does in some instances create 
 such difficulties. When the servant of the 
 Lord finds himself in them, he must meet 
 them as best he can. Stretching the time 
 over more years than one, he must strike the 
 proportion accordingly. He knows how to 
 do so in other transactions, and his ingenuity 
 will not fail him here. We may safely leave 
 him to its exercise. Only let him not for- 
 get, the rule we have been 'expounding does 
 not change w^ith the changes of this earth's 
 occupations. It is like Him who gave it, 
 eternal and. immutable. Abraham acted on 
 it in his day, so did Jacob. Moses enforced 
 it by many sanctions, and Jesus Christ in his 
 own ministry, and by that of his apostles, 
 inculcated it again and again. However, 
 therefore, it is to be obeyed — conformity to 
 it is essential. If any find fault with our ex- 
 position of it, in understanding it of income, 
 
266 THE SCKIPTUKE RULE 
 
 let them extend it according to their convic- 
 tions of duty. If they think it embraces all 
 property, let them so act upon it. We shall 
 not complain of them. Perhaps, after all, 
 they may reap their reward in so doing. It 
 is a blessed thing to get above the earthliness 
 of the present world. We are in great dan- 
 ger of being swayed by its vain calculations. 
 Truly we need to cry, " O Lord, open thou 
 mine eyes to behold wondrous things out of 
 thy law." In no department is this more 
 necessary than in those practical questions 
 that are apt to come into contact with our 
 selfishness and worldly prejudices. Blessed 
 be God, how^ever, the rule in this instance is 
 plain. The wayfaring man, though a fool, 
 need not err respecting it. He who runs may 
 read. And we end with its repetition as we 
 began, leaving it on the conscience of every 
 man to act according to his view of what it 
 requires. " On the first day of the week let 
 every one of you lay by him in store, as God 
 hath prospered him." Xoble principle this ! 
 And noble exercise where it is obeyed ! The 
 Christian keeping it ever in his eye ! looking 
 at his dayly accounts in the light of it ! re- 
 garding God as a claimant in all his transac- 
 tions ! and while just in his dealings with all 
 men, resolved he wnll not " rob God." 
 
OF KELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 267 
 
 CHAPTEE Yin. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our 
 learning. — Kom. xv, 4. 
 
 "As a man thinketli in liis heart, so is lie." 
 As is our faith, so will be our conduct. 
 Hence we infer, on the other hand, that as a 
 man's life is, so we may judge of his senti- 
 ments. " By their fruits ye shall know them." 
 Proceeding on this principle we may gain 
 further inforination respecting the views 
 taught in the Scriptures on the subject of 
 religious contribution. We have only to 
 inquire what was the conduct of those who 
 believed them in order to ascertain wliat 
 were their sentiments. Their actions are a 
 comment on their princi^^les. We have en- 
 deavored to make manifest that the lowest 
 proportion of income ever given by the 
 people of God, and sanctioned by his au- 
 thority, is a tenth ; and now, in confirmation 
 and illustration of that view, we appeal to 
 this practice. Let this be contemplated in 
 all relations, public and private, and under 
 all dispensations, Mosaic and Christian, and 
 
268 THE SCRIPTUKE KULE 
 
 the conclusion will be the same. It is worthy 
 of observation, that the Spirit of God has 
 seen good to record the doings of the Lord's 
 people in this respect ; and out of many ex- 
 amples we shall select a few that may be 
 looked upon as a specimen of the rest, and 
 very illustrative of their guiding principles. 
 The first which we shall notice relates to the 
 
 ERECTION OF THE TABERNACLE. 
 
 Tlie record of this event is contained in 
 Exodus XXXV, xxxvi. It has seemed good to 
 the Holy Ghost to give us very minute de- 
 tails, and particularly to describe how means 
 were obtained for the completion of such an 
 undertaking. AVe shall endeavor to sketch 
 the leading features of the interesting and 
 instructive proceeding. The first thing that 
 arrests attention is the proposal of Moses: 
 " Moses gathered all the congregation of the 
 children of Israel together, and said unto 
 them. These are tlie words which the Lord 
 hath commanded, that ye should do them ; 
 take ye from among you an ofiering unto the 
 Lord." He deals reasonably and candidly 
 with them. He assumes no authority over 
 them, but bears to them a message from the 
 Lord. He explains to them the will of the 
 Lord clearly before he proceeds to ask their 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 269 
 
 concurrence and cooperation. Let this be 
 noticed at the outset. We must never at- 
 tempt to cany our measures for the cause of 
 God by mere authority. We must be ready 
 and careful to give a reason for our propos- 
 als. We must take care that both we and 
 our measures are understood, and not till 
 then are we in a condition to propose their 
 adoption. This done, Moses at once gave 
 them to understand the work was to be en- 
 tirely voluntary : " Whosoever is of a will- 
 ing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the 
 Lord." There was to be no constraint. If 
 any chose to avoid the work, they were at 
 liberty to do so ; if any took part in it, it 
 must be heartily. Even though they helped 
 by their contribution, if this were not done 
 with sincerity and cheerfulness, the service 
 would not be accepted by Him who looketh 
 not so much on the outward appearance as 
 upon the heart. Tlien as to what each 
 should bring to the work, the proposal of 
 Moses was that every one should give ac- 
 cording to what he possessed : " Gold, silver, 
 brass, blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats' 
 hair, rams' skins, badgers' skins, shittim 
 wood, oils, spices, and onyx stones." Any- 
 thing offered in the right spirit would be ac- 
 ceptable. Every one could give something. 
 
270 THE SCKIPTUKE EULE 
 
 although no one could give everything. 
 None would be excluded from having some 
 part in the delightful service ; God would 
 deprive no one of such an opportunity. His 
 providence has put something in the hands 
 of every one, which may be employed for 
 him. Such were the proposals of Moses, and 
 now we are to look at their reception by the 
 people. This was not immediate. They 
 took time for consideration : " All the con- 
 gregation of the children of Israel departed 
 from the presence of Moses." How did they 
 em])loy themselves? We follow them to 
 their tents. Here is a company engaged in 
 earnest conversation by the way on what 
 they had heard, and every one gives his 
 opinion freely, all approving the plan. There 
 is a family group in affectionate fellowship, 
 consulting what they can do to help the 
 work forward. And yonder is an aged patri- 
 arch, alone, in prayer to God, wrestling with 
 him, that he may give counsel to Israel in so 
 great a work, and engage the hearts of all in 
 it. All this augurs well. Soon, therefore, 
 the people come to a decision, and return to 
 Moses : " They came, every one whose heart 
 stirred him up, and every one whose spirit 
 made him willing, and they brought the 
 Lord's offering to the work of the tabernacle 
 
OF KELIGIOFS CONTRIBUTION. 271 
 
 of the congregation." It is most engaging 
 to notice who came, and what they brought, 
 and how they acted. "Who? "Men and 
 women," both the sexes alike. All are con- 
 cerned in the work of the Lord, and none 
 should abstain from it. There is work for 
 man and work for woman. Both are under 
 deep obligations, and both should acknowl- 
 edge them. The one can do what the other 
 cannot — together the agency is complete. 
 "What did they bring ? The women brought 
 " bracelets and earrings, and rings and tab- 
 lets, all jewels of gold." These would be 
 better employed in aiding the work of the 
 Lord than in adorning their persons. The 
 men brought "blue and purple, and skins 
 and wood," wdiatever any one possessed. 
 How did they act? "The women did spin 
 with their hands, and brought that which 
 they had spun." " The rulers brought onyx 
 stones, and spice, and oil." "The children 
 of Israel brought a willing offering unto the 
 Lord, every man and woman, whose heart 
 made them willing to bring, for all manner 
 of work which the Lord had commanded to 
 be made by the hand of Moses." 'No sooner 
 did this heartiness in the Lord's service ap- 
 pear than the favor of Jehovah was mani- 
 fested. He raised up fitting agents to do 
 
272 THE SCKIPTURe RULE 
 
 the work. " Moses said, See, the Lord hath 
 called by name Bezaleel, the son of TJri, 
 and he hath filled him with the Spirit of 
 God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in 
 all knowledge, and in all manner of work- 
 manship." " And he hath put in his heart 
 that he may teach, both he and Aholiab : 
 them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to 
 work all manner of work, of the engraver, 
 and of the cunning workman, and of the 
 embroiderer, in blue and in purple, in scarlet 
 and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even 
 of them that do any work, and of those that 
 devise cunning work." Let us address our- 
 selves to God's work in good earnest, and he 
 will further our endeavors. " Acknowledge 
 God in all thy ways, and he will direct thy 
 steps." I^or was this a momentary excite- 
 ment. The work went on, and the interest 
 of the people in it continued. " They 
 brought free ofierings every morning." 
 Having begun a good work we must perse- 
 vere. So they did, and a glorious issue they 
 obtained. " The wise men that wrought all 
 the work came unto Moses and said, Tlie 
 people bring much more than enough. And 
 Moses gave commandment, and they caused 
 it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, 
 saying, Let neither man nor woman make 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 2T3 
 
 any more work for tlie offering of the sanc- 
 tuar}^ So the people were restrained from 
 bringing." It should not be overlooked in 
 what circumstances this noble outburst of 
 sanctified generosity took place. It was in 
 the wilderness. Tlie people were assembled 
 there amid its wild and rugged scenery. 
 They were dependent every day on the 
 providence of God to supply their returning 
 wants. They had no resources either from 
 agriculture or commerce. No people could 
 be under stronger temptations to keep what 
 they had against an evil day. Yet their 
 zeal for God overcame all their fears. Their 
 love for his service opened their hearts, and 
 made them willing to give whatever tliey 
 possessed. And a blessed work it proved to 
 be. That Tabernacle became the dwelling- 
 place of Jehovah throughout many genera- 
 tions. There he met his people and com- 
 muned with them. It was like the building 
 of a mighty reservoir of pure water, whence 
 streams of blessing flow^ed after them while 
 they sojourned in the desert, and loug also 
 after they entered into the promised land. 
 The transactions of that glorious day, we 
 may be assured, were never forgotten in 
 Israel. An impetus was then given to the 
 cause of God that did not spend its force for 
 18 
 
274 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 many generations. They are left on record 
 to teacli us to act in the same manner. We, 
 as they, are invited to bear our part in the 
 work of the Lord. We should, like them, 
 entertain the proposal seriously and prayer- 
 fully. We ought, after their example, to 
 acquiesce in it. We should all do so, men 
 and women. Every one should do what he 
 can, and give what he can. God will bless 
 us as we do so. He will provide agents to 
 carry forward the holy enterprise on which 
 we set our hearts ; he will bring it to a suc- 
 cessful issue. We shall find that we have 
 been raising a memorial the most honorable 
 to ourselves and beneficial to men : it will 
 endure when we have moldered into dust. 
 In it we shall find we were blessed, and, 
 after us, many shall find it to be a blessing. 
 Is not such a work worthy of a generous 
 offering? What shall it be? A tenth of 
 our income ? Read the doings of Israel and 
 determine. They knew the law ; but did 
 they limit themselves to it on this occasion ? 
 Their conduct is the best exemplification of 
 their principles. What think we of any 
 Israelite who might be detected in that day 
 keeping back from the work of the Lord ? 
 How w^e despise him ! An Aclian in the 
 camp, lie could only bring a curse on Israel. 
 
OF EELIGI0U8 CONTRIBUTION. 275 
 
 Then let us be both admonished and encour- 
 aged liberally to give to the work of the 
 Lord until his Tabernacle is built in the wil- 
 derness of the world, where he shall dwell, 
 in manifest tokens of his presence, until his 
 people are all brought up into the land of 
 rest and promise. 
 
 THE TEMPLE. 
 
 The Tabernacle had now stood for a period 
 of about five liundred years. It was the 
 will of God that it should at length give 
 place to a more permanent structure. The 
 circumstances in which the Temple that suc- 
 ceeded it was erected are fully detailed. 
 And it is worthy of note that here again, as 
 in the case of the Tabernacle, we are pre- 
 sented with a noble exhibition of generosity 
 in the cause of God. This cannot be acci- 
 dental. It is the will of God, we should 
 know, that under every economy and in 
 every change of administration liberality in 
 his cause marked his people. Israel at the 
 building of the Temple presents a happy re- 
 semblance of the same Israel at the erection 
 of the Tabernacle, and we shall now con- 
 template the prominent features of their 
 conduct as narrated in the twenty-eighth 
 and twenty-ninth chapters of 1 Chronicles. 
 
276 THE SCRIPT UKE RULE 
 
 As might be expected, there is much in 
 common with what happened at the build- 
 ing of the Tabernacle ; but we shall endeavor 
 to bring out mainly what is new in this ex- 
 ample of generosity. 
 
 The objects were in some respects similar, 
 but in others different. One great end was 
 to be served by both, the maintenance of 
 the worship of God among his people, a 
 testimony to himself and his truth. But the 
 Tabernacle was a frail and movable erection, 
 while the Temple was a permanent and sta- 
 ble structure. The one was adapted to an 
 unsettled people on a toilsome journey, the 
 other to a state of tranquillity and national 
 prosperity. Tlie narrative in both cases 
 shows that a generous spirit can live under 
 any circumstances, in poverty and in wealth, 
 in journeying or abiding, at home or abroad. 
 The principle is independent of changing 
 circumstances. At all times and in all con- 
 ditions the people of the Lord are expected 
 to be generous in his service. 
 
 As the offerings for the Tabernacle were 
 adapted to the wilderness state of Israel and 
 to their condition of poverty, so their ser- 
 vices for the Temple were worthy of their 
 advancement in civilization and prosperity. 
 Tlieir contributions were magnificent. Tliey 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 277 
 
 are thus described in the discourse of Dr. 
 Brown, formerly referred to : " The donations 
 of David and his people astonish us by their 
 magnitude. In addition to the immense 
 sums which he had amassed during his reign 
 for the building of the Temple, he, on the 
 occasion referred to, devoted to this pious 
 purpose what is equivalent to about eighteen 
 millions of our money; and his people's 
 joint contributions considerably exceed thw- 
 ty millions y It is easy to pronounce these 
 sums, but there are few who have any just 
 apprehension of their value as they thought- 
 lessly read of them. They discover an 
 amount of wealth and a largeness of heart 
 to which in these days there is nothing to 
 compare in the efforts of Christian benevo- 
 lence. All the contributions of all the 
 Christian Churches on the face of the earth, 
 for all missionary purposes, fall immeasura- 
 bly short of this single offering on the part 
 of ancient Israel and their king. 
 
 It is partly to be explained by observing 
 who they were that gave on this occasion, 
 and in what manner they did so. Here is 
 the narrative : " David assembled all the 
 princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, 
 and the captains of the companies that min- 
 istered to the king by course, and the cap- 
 
278 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 tains over the thousands, and captains over 
 the hundreds, and the stewards over all the 
 substance and possession of the king, and of 
 his sons, with the officers, and with the 
 mighty men, and with all the valiant men, 
 unto Jerusalem." " Then the chief of the 
 fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, 
 and the captains of thousands and of hun- 
 dreds, with the rulers of the king's work, 
 offered willingly." And " the people re- 
 joiced for that they offered willingly to the 
 Lord, and David the king also rejoiced with 
 great joy." The conduct of the parties was 
 as noble as their station. Had such not 
 borne their part in some measure commen- 
 surate to their position in society, the work 
 could not have been accomplished. When 
 shall such a scene be witnessed here ? What 
 aid are the rulers and wealthy men of the 
 land giving to the spread of Christianity? 
 Are their contributions commensurate with 
 their position, and responsibility, and wealth? 
 We are j ealous of their consistency, and we 
 must remind them of their accountability. 
 Let us be borne with while we ask, What 
 are even ministers of the gospel in affluent 
 circumstances doing to help forward the 
 work of the Lord by their contributions? 
 We have heard reports of their princely 
 
OF EELIGIOIJS CONTRIBUTION. 279 
 
 salaries ; to what are these devoted ? Are 
 their names and subscriptions prominent in 
 the lists of those who are trying to build np 
 and enlarge Zion ? We bring no railing ac- 
 cusation, but Ave cannot help saying there is 
 cause for solemn inquiry. It cannot be that 
 the cause of God shall be neglected by the 
 great and noble without incurring much 
 guilt. O that America were as it was with 
 Israel in the days of King David, when the 
 king, and the princes, and the nobles, led 
 the way in the work of the Lord ! "Were it 
 so, we should enjoy a measure of peace and 
 prosperity not at present known among us. 
 " Then should the earth yield her increase, 
 and God, even our own God, would bless 
 us." 
 
 Yet there was no extravagant excitement 
 in the conduct of David and his nobles. 
 The whole proceeding was marked by a 
 spirit the most calm and considerate. It 
 was indeed a determined one, and in such a 
 cause it ought to be so. " I.have prepared 
 with all my might for the cause of my God," 
 said David. He weighed the matter well, 
 and acted with a clear and steady purpose. 
 Yet his uprightness is most prominent. " Be- 
 cause I have set my affection to the house 
 of my God, I have of mine own proper good 
 
280 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 given to the house of my God." His affec- 
 tion for the work is assigned as a reason 
 why he acted both generously and honestly. 
 It opened his heart to give, but it taught 
 him also that he must take care to give only 
 that which was his own, knowing that no 
 cause could have the Lord's blessing which 
 was not sustained in accordance with his 
 will and law. David and his nobles were as 
 careful to give honestly as they were to give 
 at all. This is a blessed example to the com- 
 munity. The great are not only to contrib- 
 ute, but to do so in a way that will command 
 respect and approbation. It is when this is 
 the state of a people, the rich and the poor 
 will feel aright toward one another, and 
 dwell in concord and common prosperity. 
 
 A beautiful example is presented on this 
 occasion of the effect of the conduct of the 
 great on that of the public at large. " All 
 the congregation blessed the Lord God of 
 their fathers." "The people rejoiced." The 
 poorest had tlieir part as well as the richest. 
 They never imagined they were exempted 
 from the duty, or excluded from the privi- 
 lege of giving. And this is never to be for- 
 gotten. The work is to be done in common. 
 All are to labor at it. Every one should 
 resolve, I will have at least a stone in the 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 281 
 
 building of the Lord. I cannot do what I 
 would, but I will do what I can. 
 
 This work ended in a way worthy of its 
 commencement. "David blessed the Lord 
 before all the congregation, and said, Bless- 
 ed be thou. Lord God of Israel, our Father, 
 forever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the 
 greatness, and the power, and the glory, and 
 the victory, and the majesty; for all that is 
 in the heaven and in the earth is thine ; both 
 riches and honor come of thee ; and in thine 
 hand it is to make great, and to give strength 
 unto all. But who am I, or what is my peo- 
 ple, that we should be able to offer so will- 
 ingly, after this sort ? for all things come of 
 thee, and of thine own have we given thee." 
 It is where this spirit of piety and prayerful 
 dependence prevails we may expect such re- 
 sults as these. When are we to witness or 
 exemplify them ? 
 
 With this example before us, let us judge 
 what we are to give to the Lord, and to do 
 for his cause. What do we think of the 
 tenth in the light of such a transaction ? ISTot 
 in vain had the law of God educated this 
 people in an enlarged liberality. There must 
 have been long training to call forth and ex- 
 ercise such a spirit. It was not the product 
 of a day. Deep principles must have got 
 
282 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 hold of the hearts of the people, great and 
 small. They show us what they were and 
 what they thought. And their example of 
 generosity ought not t^ be lost on the present 
 generation. It is much needed. The Lord 
 grant that through his blessing it may be 
 effectual. 
 
 THE WIDOW OF SAREPTA. 
 
 It is not in one form only the examples of 
 Scripture are presented to us. They are 
 national and individual, public and private. 
 We have seen what was done unitedly, let 
 us also see what was done singly. There is 
 some danger of being so dazzled with great 
 and striking exhibitions of generosity on a 
 broad scale as to cause us to forget our indi- 
 vidual responsibility. We therefore select 
 a special case, and that presenting as strong 
 a contrast to what we have been considering 
 as can well be imagined. The history to 
 which we refer is recorded in 1 Kings xvii, 
 8-24. All the features of it seem to be or- 
 dered so as to teach, that there are none who 
 may not and ought not to exercise generosity 
 in the service of God. It was that of a wo- 
 man. Often the Scriptures tell of such, that 
 it may not be supposed they are exempted 
 from taking part in the work of the Lord. 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 283 
 
 She was a widow. The name is the strong- 
 est association we have in our language with 
 helplessness and dependence. What can 
 such a one do? She was poor. "I have not 
 a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel 
 and a little oil in a cruse." She was in the 
 extremity of a famine. "I am gathering 
 two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for 
 me and my son, that we may eat it and die." 
 Yet to her the prophet Elijah is sent in his 
 strait thar she may feed him. This circum- 
 stance is specially noticed by Christ in the 
 'New Testament: "Many widows were in 
 Israel in the days of Elias, when the heavens 
 were shut up three years and six months, 
 when great famine was throughout the land ; 
 but unto none of them was Elias sent save 
 unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, to a woman 
 that was a widow." It is mentioned as a 
 distinguishing favor conferred upon her. 
 Difficult and distressing as her circum- 
 stances were, she fell in with the proposal of 
 the prophet to relieve his hunger. At first 
 she hesitated, and did not see either her duty 
 or the possibility of compliance. But a word 
 of encouragement and explanation satisfied 
 her, and she w^as resolved to try what she 
 could do for the Lord and his servant. 
 "She went and did according to the saying 
 
284 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 of Elijah." And she had no cause to regret 
 it. The Lord's blessing rested on her and 
 rewarded her. "The barrel of meal wasted 
 not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, accord- 
 ing to the word of the Lord which he spoke 
 by Elijah." ISTow, why is all this recorded? 
 What is the purpose of this simple narrative 
 of a lonely and destitute widow ? Surely to 
 teach us there is no one who may not do 
 good. Surely to teach us a generous heart 
 may dwell under a garb of the greatest pov- 
 erty. Surely to teach us we should never 
 decline a proposal to do good and relieve 
 distress when it is in the power of our hand 
 to do it. Surely to teach us we shall never 
 serve the Lord or his cause in vain. Many 
 a widow's heart has this record cheered. 
 Yery good it is in God that he gave it a 
 place in his word. It may be as the hidden 
 flower in the luxuriant garden. It does not 
 at first attract us. But when we take it up 
 and examine it, how lovely! worthy of its 
 Author ! He is infinite in wisdom and love. 
 Let none decline some part in the Lord's 
 work. However humble, there is a place 
 he is to occupy, and a work he is to do. The 
 generous heart will move the hand to activ 
 ity. Remember the widow of Sarepta. 
 
OF KELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 285 
 
 THE WIDOW'S MITE. 
 
 One other example let iis just notice be- 
 fore concluding this part of the subject. It 
 is recommended to us as having occurred in 
 the ministry of Christ, having called forth 
 his most emphatic approval, and so being 
 distinctly illustrative of the spirit of his gos- 
 pel. It is thus recorded: "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 
 said unto them, Yerily, 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." What a scene is here ! 
 Jesus was looking on. How little the crowds 
 thought of this ! And it is so still. His eye 
 is upon all men, he is taking cognizance of 
 their doings, and yet they perceive it not, 
 think not of it, and are not influenced by it. 
 What did he see, and what did he think and 
 say of it? He saw the people casting their 
 money into the treasury according to the law, 
 
286 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 and in particular lie observed that many rich 
 persons cast in much. With this he does not 
 iind fault. The act was a proper one in itself, 
 and whether it was acceptable or not de- 
 pended on what he saw to be the spirit by 
 which it was prompted. If it was pride or 
 self-righteousness, it was hateful in his sight ; 
 if it was in compliance with the law, and out 
 of regard to the authority of God and tlie 
 good of men, it was accepted and approved. 
 AVe are not told, however, what he thought 
 of these rich men and their offerings. There 
 is another person and another offering that 
 attract and absorb his attention. And he 
 calls the special attention of his disciples to 
 what he observed and desired to say of it. 
 The person was " a cei'tain poor widow " — ■ 
 somebody whose name was not known there, 
 suffering under the privations of poverty, yet 
 casting in a farthing. And what of this? 
 Wiio minds it? The poor woman and lier 
 miserable offering were perhaps in the way 
 while some portly magnate strutted forward 
 to deposit his princely gift. But hear the 
 judgment of Plim who shall at last judge the 
 world. He that made the worlds, of whom 
 it is written, "The earth is the Lord's and 
 the fullness thereof," remarks with emphasis, 
 "This poor widow hath cast in more than 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 287 
 
 they all," — more in the account of God, 
 more in the way of securing his acceptance 
 and blessing, more for the fiu-therance of the 
 great end for which that treasury had been 
 appointed. But Christ gives the explanation 
 himself: "They all did cast in of their abun- 
 dance, but she of her want did cast in all 
 that she had, even all her living." What 
 they gave they could easily spare, and feel 
 no inconvenience ; what she gave left her, 
 in all human calculation, to want the neces- 
 saries of life. Is our Lord's judgment of this 
 case the opinion that would be entertained 
 or expressed of it by thousands in our day ? 
 They would count such conduct the height 
 of folly and absurdity, while He wlio had 
 the treasures of wisdom and knowledge de- 
 clared his admiration of it. What! God 
 gives a poor widow a farthing, she needs it 
 to buy bread, and yet she goes and casts it 
 into a contribution for the spread of religion ! 
 Has the poor woman not lost her understand- 
 ing ? Many would think so. Well, be it re- 
 membered, Jesus thought the reverse. 
 
 Tliere is, perhaps, no passage in the word 
 of God that has been more perverted and 
 abused than this simple and beautiful inci- 
 dent. A rich man or woman proceeds to 
 deposit an offering to the cause of God, and 
 
288 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 remarks, with an air of extreme humility, 
 " I have been giving my mite to the cause." 
 Indeed ! Have you ? Just inquire what is 
 meant by a mite. We do not say that the 
 term inite is synonymous with moiety^ yet 
 they so resemble one another as to suggest 
 the idea of some affinity in their meaning. 
 Moiety signifies the one-half of anything. If, 
 then, mite be derived from it, it denotes a 
 large share, even a half, of that which is in 
 question. Have you then given the one- 
 half of what you possess, or of what you 
 ought to give % But this poor widow is not 
 said to have cast in her mite, but two mites, 
 two moities, two halves; that is, the whole 
 sum which she possessed. And so our Lord 
 explains it : '' She did cast in all that she 
 had." Let this language be laid aside, as it 
 is commonly used. All allusion to such an 
 incident as this is most unbecoming in those 
 most given to the use of it. Their conduct 
 is the very reverse of this poor widow's. 
 They are to be classed with the rich on 
 whom Christ looked, it is not said whether 
 with approval or displeasure, and not with 
 the poor widow, with whom they are not 
 worthy to be associated. Yet this incident 
 is a beautiful exponent of the spirit of the 
 gospel. It shows what Christ expects in his 
 
OF KELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 289 
 
 followers. 'No doubt, too, it has mightily 
 tended to form and cherish a generous spirit 
 in many of tliem. It is known to all, and 
 many have caught his spirit expressed in it, 
 and acted according to it. For much as 
 there is reason to lament and to complain of 
 the sad prevailing want of liberality in the 
 Church of Christ, there are yet those to 
 whom there has been given a large and no- 
 ble generosity. Such there ever have been, 
 and their number, it is hoped, is not decreas- 
 ing. They have been found among rich and 
 poor, among the laity and ecclesiastics, 
 among the judges of the land and rulers of 
 the people. The Honorable Sir Robert 
 Boyle with his high intellectual attainments. 
 Sir Matthew Hale gracing the bench of just- 
 ice, Eichard Baxter, Dr. Doddridge, and 
 John Wesley, all held high views of the duty 
 of religious contribution, and they acted 
 upon them. Every one of these great men 
 held the opinion that no believer in Revela- 
 tion could consistently give less than a tenth 
 of his income to the service of the Lord, 
 and some of them went much further in 
 both their principles and practices. Some 
 indications have appeared of an advancing 
 attainment in this respect in the Church of 
 our time. All Churches are owning the ob- 
 19 
 
290 THE SCKIPTURE KULE 
 
 ligations, and making some feeble attempt to 
 give and to get for the spread of tlie gospel. 
 Examples have appeared of large-hear ted- 
 ness that are a good earnest of a better state 
 of things. It could hardly be otherwise than 
 it is in the low views entertained by many. 
 They have not been informed nor roused 
 upon the subject. But the day of apathy, 
 we trust, is gone. Many are asking for the 
 "old paths," and soon, we hope, will be 
 found walking in them. The spirit of Abra- 
 ham, and Jacob, and Moses, and Christ, and 
 of his early Churches, will revive, and men 
 will encourage one another, saying, '' Who 
 is willing to consecrate his service this day 
 unto the Lord ?" The Lord hasten it in his 
 time ! 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBimON. 291 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept : line upon line, 
 line upon line ; here a little, and there a little.— Isaiah xxviii, 10. 
 
 '' Give a portion to seven, and also to eight : 
 if the clouds be full of rain, they emptj 
 themselves upon the earth." Although a 
 curse be upon creation, by reason of man's 
 sin, yet it is manifestly under a law of be- 
 neficence, and it is thus proposed as a model 
 for our imitation. Everything is contribut- 
 ing to the good of man. Tlie heavenly 
 bodies give him light ; the clouds pour out 
 their rain ; the earth yields its increase, and 
 all that is upon it ; the waters teem with liv- 
 ing creatures for his food; all things are 
 made for his benefit. Man himself is not 
 an exception to the rule. He has been 
 made not merely to receive, but to do good. 
 Fallen as he is, still this claim lies upon him. 
 The Scriptures enforce it continually, in all 
 places, at all times, and in all ways. Every 
 argument that can avail with a reasonable 
 mind is everywhere employed throughout 
 their various revelations. We have precepts 
 and promises, warnings and encouragements, 
 
292 THE SCRIPTUKE RULE 
 
 facts and prophecies. To consider all these 
 with any measure of minuteness is impossi- 
 ble ; yet it may be well to glance at them, 
 that we may see the fullness of Scripture in 
 the enforcement of well-doing, and from it& 
 tone and spirit learn what must be our duty, 
 especially in the way of religious contribu- 
 tion. 
 
 PEECEPTS. 
 
 These pervade the whole volume. It is 
 not easier to gather flowers in the open fields 
 of nature than it is to find such precepts in 
 the word of God. "Honor the Lord with 
 thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all 
 thine increase." " Cast thy bread upon the 
 waters, for thou shalt find it after many 
 days." " In the morning sow th}^ seed, and 
 in the evening withhold not thine hand ; for 
 thou knowest not whether shall prosper, 
 either this or tliat, or wliether they shall be 
 alike good." " A good man showeth favor 
 and lendeth." " Give to him that asketh of 
 thee, and from him that would borrow of 
 thee turn not thou away." "Withhold not 
 good from them to whom it is due, when it 
 is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say 
 not to thy neighbor, Go, and come again, 
 and to-morrow I will give, when thou hast it 
 
OF RELIGIOUS OONTRIBUTION. 293 
 
 by thee." "To do good, and to communi- 
 cate, forget not : for with such sacrifices God 
 is well pleased." "If thine enemy hunger, 
 feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink : for 
 in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on 
 his head. Be not overcome of evil, but 
 overcome evil with good." This is the tone 
 of Scripture precept. What is expected of 
 all who truly receive it ? A few remarks on 
 these passages, taken almost at random out 
 of thousands, may be helpful to illustrate 
 and enforce the pure and delicate principles 
 involved in them. They assume that God is 
 to be acknowledged in all we possess. He 
 must be honored in such a use of it as shall 
 show we feel it to be a gift from him, and 
 that it is to be used for him. There is a pe- 
 culiar force in the phrase, "All thine in- 
 crease." "Whatever is added to our income, 
 the "first-fruits" belong to God. It is in- 
 tended to keep us continually in contact 
 wdth God, through the bounties of his provi- 
 dence. It is as if the commands were ever 
 sounding in our ears, " Occupy till I come ;" 
 " Give an account of thy stewardship." The 
 way in which we shall thus honor the Lord 
 is also pointed out ; it is by doing good to 
 his creatures, expending our substance in a 
 way that will be profitable to them. A pa- 
 
294 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 rent feels himself obliged by all the kind- 
 ness that is shown to his children ; and God 
 is pleased to assure us he is so pleased to re- 
 gard whatever is done to his creatures. Es- 
 pecially does a parent estimate the kindness 
 that is shown to his child out of regard to 
 him ; and this is a principle continually rec- 
 ognized in the Scriptures : " Inasmuch as ye 
 have done it unto one of the least of these 
 my brethren, ye have done it unto me." 
 JSTot only so, if the kindness be not shown, he 
 resents it as an injury to himself: "Inas- 
 much as ye did it not to one of the least of 
 these my brethren, ye did it not to me." 
 And it is well known of what he speaks : 
 " I was a hungered, and ye gave me meat ; 
 I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was 
 naked, and ye clothed me ; I was a stranger, 
 and ye took me in ; I was sick and in prison, 
 and ye visited me." Or the reverse : " I 
 was a hungered, and ye gave me no meat ; 
 I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink ; I 
 was naked, and ye clothed me not ; I was a 
 stranger, and ye took me not in ; I was sick 
 and in prison, and ye visited me not." It 
 carries these solemn sayings to the highest 
 pitch of interest and importance, when it is 
 remembered that they are given as the pro- 
 ceedings of Christ in the final judgment vf 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 295 
 
 the world, and are to be followed by the 
 sentence, " Come, ye blessed of my Father," 
 or " Depart, ye cm-sed ;" and in accordance 
 therewith, " These shall go away into ever- 
 lasting punishment, and the righteous to life, 
 eternal." There is in some of these precepts 
 quoted a tenderness and delicacy of feeling 
 inculcated that greatly endear and recom- 
 mend them. In the matter of lending we 
 are enjoined to be frank, candid, and gra- 
 cious — not constraining the applicant to feel 
 that we are conferring a great favor upon 
 him, but making him to perceive that what 
 we do is done freely, and with a sincere de- 
 sire to serve him. In showing a favor to 
 another, it is not to be done in a way that 
 may be irksome, as if we would have it to 
 be felt we were making a great sacrifice ; it 
 must be done cheerfully, and at once. In 
 aiding others who may be seeking our co- 
 operation in helping them forward in a good 
 cause, we must give no unnecessary trouble. 
 We are not to say to this neighbor, " Go, and 
 come again, when we have it by us." We 
 must respect his feelings, and time, and con- 
 venience. And while there is this spirit of 
 considerateness and delicacy in these Scrip- 
 ture precepts, some of them rise to the lofti- 
 est height of the noblest principles, l^o 
 
296 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 unkindness, or injustice, or cruelty, or sin- 
 fulness, or ingratitude in others, is to hinder 
 us from doing them good. If our bitterest 
 enemy hunger, we are to feed him. The 
 Jiarder the metal, the greater the heat that 
 must be applied to fuse it. Tlie greater the 
 wickedness, the more the kindness that must 
 be used to overcome it. Heap up coals of 
 fire on his head, and melt down the hard 
 heart of our enemy. This assuredly was 
 the way of Clirist. He acted on that prin- 
 ciple. It is the very basis of his gospel. 
 " Where sin abounded, grace did much 
 more abound." It is the most open avenue 
 to the heart of man. If it cannot be enter- 
 ed thus, it cannot be entered at all. Would 
 that it were more frequently tried ! And of 
 all forms of kindness none is more felt than 
 the employment of our pecuniary means for 
 the good of others. Men value money, and 
 when they see that others use it for their 
 benefit, it is an argument which they at once 
 understand and powerfully feel. It strikes a 
 chord of sympathy which vibrates through 
 the heart, and takes the man captive in its 
 bonds. Let it not be said. It is needless to 
 dwell on counsels which all admit to be 
 Scriptural and binding. All admit them, 
 and few act on them. We are persuaded 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 297 
 
 there is mucli to be learned, not only in the 
 duty of doing good, bnt the spirit in which 
 it should be done ; not only in the matter of 
 giving, but the manner of it — cultivating 
 that tenderness and delicacy of feeling 
 which the Scriptures alone have ever fully 
 apprehended, and rising to that loftiness of 
 principle which they only who act upon 
 them can attain. 
 
 WAKNINGS. 
 
 Kor let it be supposed it is left optional 
 with us whether we shall obey these precepts 
 or not. We may disregard them ; but if so, 
 • we are warned that we shall abide the conse- 
 cpiences. These consequences are distinctly 
 set before us, and if we expose ourselves to 
 them we cannot plead tlie want of plain 
 speaking in the word of God. Confining our 
 attention to the single form of benevolence 
 in pecuniary contribution, it will be well to 
 listen to the voice of warning which the 
 Scriptures raise in the ears of all who are not 
 careful to practice it. The danger of covet- 
 ousness is set forth with a strength of senti- 
 ment and a force of language seldom em- 
 plo3"ed on other subj ects. The tone in which 
 it is spoken of betrays a sense of its evil, 
 which, it is to be feared, few estimate ; and 
 
298 THE SCKIPTUKE KULE 
 
 this renders it all the more necessary that we 
 attend to the warnings of God's word, as 
 though we heard the voice of Jesus saying, 
 " He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." 
 Solomon saith, " There is that scattereth, and 
 yet increaseth ; and there is that withholdeth 
 more than is meet, and it tendeth to pov- 
 erty." This witness is true. A naiTOw- 
 minded man does not usually prosper. He 
 has not himself a heart to use the means that 
 are necessary to success. Others take pleas- 
 ure in thwarting his purposes ; and the bless- 
 ing of God does not rest on his basket and 
 store. What a miserable object! The ex- 
 penditure of a shilling might gain him a 
 pound, but he cannot force himself to employ 
 it. Proverbs usually have their foundation 
 in truth and correct observation; and here 
 we have an example of it. This man is 
 known by the appellation of a miser, and the 
 very term signifies misery. A greater than 
 Solomon has spoken on the same subject. It 
 was a frequent topic in the ministry of Christ. 
 He has given a most empliatic testimony to 
 his own estimate of wealth in the Jowly po- 
 sition which he chose to occupy on the eartli, 
 in the companions with whom he thought 
 proper to associate, and in the condition in 
 which he has been pleased to place many of 
 
OF RELiaiOUS CONTKIBUTIOX. 299 
 
 his people. His own mother he left a de- 
 pendent on the kindness of a disciple ; and 
 this single fact is full of meaning. But his 
 speech was often directed to this theme ; and 
 what said he? In one place he warns — 
 "Take heed, and beware of covetousness ; 
 for a man's life consisteth not in the abund- 
 ance of the things which he possesseth." It 
 is difficult to say which is more impressive, 
 the counsel given here or the argument by 
 which it is enforced. " Take heed, and be- 
 ware." A double warning is given. We 
 require to take heed, giving our utmost at- 
 tention to the subject; and when we have 
 done so, we shall find that we must stand 
 upon our guard in the attitude of self-de- 
 fense. For why ? There is nothing so insidi- 
 ous as the love of the world and its wealth. 
 It creeps in unperceived and unsuspected; 
 and when once it has got a footing it is hard 
 to be dislodged, and it assumes a mastery 
 over the mind which appears most unaccount- 
 able and unreasonable. Hence many who, 
 in the time of their comparative poverty, 
 were generous, have become, in the posses- 
 sion of wealth, narrow and illiberal. They 
 say, and we fear they believe, they cannot 
 contribute to the cause for which they are 
 solicited. Covetousness thus seems to destroy 
 
300 THE SCRIPTUIiE RULE 
 
 reason as well as religion. It is no wonder, 
 therefore, that Christ so loudly lifted up his 
 warning voice against it. Then the reason 
 which he assigns is in keeping with his coun- 
 sel — " A man's life does not consist in the 
 abundance which he possesseth." He may 
 have " the abundance," but not the end for 
 which life is given ; that is, happiness. This 
 is in strict accordance with the facts that lie 
 all around us. Rich men are not more 
 happy than poor men. The poor are apt to 
 think they are, but it is a mistake ; and it is 
 often found that as a man increaseth wealth 
 he increases sorrow. He will be delivered 
 from this evil, certainly, if he attend to one 
 thing; that is, if he rightly use the wealth 
 which God has given him : but if he do not 
 so, he will find, from bitter experience, that 
 vain is the endeavor to extract sweetness out 
 of gold. Our Lord does not hesitate, how- 
 ever, to use even stronger representations 
 than we have been considering. To illus- 
 trate and enforce his saying he employs a 
 parable. He describes a rich man in the 
 height of his luxury and enjoyment till he 
 says, " Soul, thou hast much goods laid up 
 for many years ; eat, drink, and be merry." 
 But then, reversing the scene, he introduces 
 God saying to him, "Thou fool, this night 
 
OF EELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 301 
 
 tliy soul shall be required of thee ; then 
 whose shall those things be which thon hast 
 provided?" and he draws this inference, " So 
 is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and 
 is not rich toward God." 'No wonder that 
 he who thus viewed the subject of ill-used 
 wealth should sav, " 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." 
 He meant that a rich man, yielding to the 
 temptation of trusting in riches, of which 
 there is imminent danger, could no more, in 
 that state of mind, become a subject of true re- 
 ligion here, or attain to its joys hereafter, than 
 a camel, according to the Jewish proverb, 
 could pass through the eye of a needle. The 
 one is literally, and the other morally, im- 
 possible. We cannot help adding to the tes- 
 timony of Christ the words of his illustrious 
 apostle to the Gentiles. Paul says, "They 
 that will be rich fall into temptation and a 
 a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful 
 lusts, which drown men in destruction and 
 perdition. For the love of money is the root 
 of all evil ; which while some coveted after, 
 they have erred from the faith, and pierced 
 themselves through with many sorrows." 
 Fearful warning ! Let us not fail to under- 
 stand it. It has in view the man that " will 
 
302 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 be rich." On this he is determined. To 
 that he is resolved everything shall yield. 
 He does not speak of the man whom God 
 enriches, of him who in his providence pros- 
 pers in his Avorldly calling, but of the man 
 who at all hazards of character and principle 
 is resolved to be rich if he can. Such a man 
 he distinctly forewarns, that he will encom- 
 pass himself with temptations which shall 
 prove a snare to him, that these temptations 
 shall provoke evil dispositions in him, that 
 will prove to be most foolish and hurtful, 
 that they will end in utter destruction, in all 
 kinds of evil, cause him to abandon the true 
 faith of the gospel, and plunge him into sor- 
 rows which shall pierce him through at last as 
 so many poisoned and fatal darts. So speaketh 
 the Spirit of God of the " love of money." Let 
 men be warned. Money is good ; it is cause 
 of thankfulness when God bestows it ; it is a 
 blessed talent to employ for the good of men 
 and the glory of God : but if it be misused it 
 is evil in proportion to the good that it might 
 have achieved. The best food is the most 
 injurious to the diseased body, it is not in a 
 capacity to profit by it ; and it is the same 
 with riches — a blessing unspeakable to those 
 who will use them as God's commands, a 
 curse terrible to those who misapply them.^ 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 303 
 
 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, and so 
 are the warnings of Scripture. 
 
 PROMISES. 
 
 We would like to see a complete collection 
 of these brought together, and presented to 
 our notice at a glance. The botanist takes 
 great satisfaction in bringing together all 
 the different species he can find of one ad- 
 mired plant, that he may look at their com- 
 mon features in connection with their minute 
 and beautiful varieties. So also the naturalist 
 in every department of his study. All the 
 works of God resemble each other. As it is 
 in his creation, so it is in his word. Same- 
 ness and variety pervade the whole. At 
 present we shall indulge our admiration of 
 his word in the matter of his promises, con- 
 fining our attention to one class, however, 
 those which relate to the right use of money, 
 and so set forth vividly the advantages of 
 liberality. Keferring to a passage quoted 
 among the precepts, Solomon having said, 
 "Honor the Lord with thy substance, and 
 the first-fruits of all thine increase," adds, 
 "So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, 
 and thy presses shall burst out with new 
 wine." The enjoyments and necessaries of 
 life shall be certain. Both are guaranteed 
 
304 THE SCKIPTURE EULE 
 
 to every one who acts as he is command- 
 ed. And why should we doubt the truth 
 of the promises? How easy it is in God 
 to make them good ! He can touch a 
 spring in providence that either opens or 
 shuts the door of our prosperity. If we are 
 dependent on the field, his elements can 
 either mature or destroy our property at his 
 bidding. If commerce is our pursuit, he can 
 restrain or stimulate our minds, or those of 
 the men with whom w^e have had to do, so 
 as to issue in our loss or gain. It is greatly 
 to be deplored that this is not sufficiently 
 considered. Even the Lord's people do not 
 enough lay upon themselves the duty of re- 
 membering God and his providence in every 
 transaction. If they did so, they would find 
 it to contribute vastly both to their peace 
 and their prosperity. In another place Solo- 
 mon says, "He that hath pity on the poor 
 lendeth to the Lord ; and that which he hath 
 given will he pay him again." The state- 
 ment cannot be made plainer, and if any 
 man doubt the truth of it we have no au- 
 thority to plead higher than the word in 
 which it is contained. God hath said it. 
 David says of the rightous man, "Wealth 
 and riches shall be in his house ;" and then 
 he proceeds to explain the graces, in the ex- 
 
OF EELiaiOUS CONTRIBUTION. 305 
 
 ercise of which he will be sure to meet with 
 the promised reward, saying, " A good man 
 showeth favor and lendeth : he will guide 
 his affairs with discretion." The promise is 
 not to every good man, act as he may, wisely 
 or foolishly, but to the good man acting 
 generously, and at the same time as dis- 
 creetly as generously. The prophet Isaiah 
 takes up the same subject, and says, "The 
 liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal 
 things shall he stand." God will so order it, 
 that in serving others he will lay the founda- 
 tion of his own prosperity. As the clouds 
 pour out their water on the earth, and the 
 very abundance with which it is given 
 causes the vapor to ascend again and fill the 
 clouds afresh, so " the liberal man," in doing 
 liberal things, is creating, though without 
 his own design, an influence that will return 
 back again seven-fold into his own bosom. 
 Jesus, too, has spoken on the same subject. 
 '' Seek first," he says, " the kingdom of God 
 and his righteousness, and all these things 
 shall be added unto you." " Give, and it shall 
 be given unto you ; good measure, pressed 
 down, and shaken together, and running 
 over, shall men give into your bosom. For 
 with the same measure that ye mete withal, 
 it shall be measured to you again," This is 
 20" 
 
306 THE SCKIPTURE RULE 
 
 the faithful and true witness. And in cor- 
 roboration of his testimony, let ns for a mo- 
 ment look at the principles inculcated upon 
 Israel, at the period of the return from Baby- 
 lon and the second building of the Temple, 
 and tlie measures founded upon them. 
 Haggai is commissioned to say, " Go up to 
 the mountain, and bring wood, and build the 
 house ; and I will take pleasure in it, and I 
 will be glorified, saith the Lord. Ye looked 
 for much, and lo, it came to little ; and when 
 ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. 
 Why ? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of 
 my house that is waste, and ye run every 
 man nnto his own house." These words told 
 upon the people : "They came and did work 
 in the house of the Lord of hosts." And 
 the prophet was then commissioned to pro- 
 claim, "From this day I will bless you." 
 Malachi spoke in like manner : " Bring ye 
 all the tithes into the storehouse, and prove 
 me now herewith, if I will not open you 
 the windows of lieaven and pour you out a 
 blessing, that there shall not be room enough 
 to receive it. And I will rebuke tlie de- 
 vourer for your sakes, and he shall not de- 
 stroy the fruits of your ground ; neither shall 
 your vine cast her fruit before the time in the 
 field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all na- 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTBIBUTION. 307 
 
 tions shall call you blessed : for ye shall be 
 a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts." 
 These are words of truth and soberness. 
 They declare the unchangeable and eternal 
 principles of the divine government. They 
 were exemplified in the prosperity of Israel, 
 while they acted in accordance with them. 
 ''All the promises of God are in Christ 
 Jesus yea, and in him Amen, unto the 
 glory of God." The glory of God is bound 
 up in the fulfillment of the promises. And 
 of these promises, as of all others, it may be 
 said, " Hath he spoken, and shall he not do 
 it ? He is not a man that he should lie, nor 
 the son of man that he should repent." 
 
 PEOPHECIES. 
 
 Without a glance at these, the subject 
 would be incomplete. We cannot repress 
 the desire to know how it shall be with the 
 Church in future times, and God hath gra- 
 ciously told us. Much darkness hangs in 
 many respects over its coming history, yet 
 in the matter of the enlarged and generous 
 spirit which is destined one day to ]3i'evail, 
 the Spirit hath spoken expressly. There are 
 passages in his word, not a few, devoted to 
 the delineation of the latter-day glory. The}^ 
 seem as if they w^ere intended to sustain the 
 
308 THE SCRIPTUEE KULE 
 
 drooping' spirit of God's saints under their 
 many difficulties and depressions. They cry, 
 " Who hath beheved our report, and to whom 
 hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?" 
 And he "puts a new song into their mouth,* 
 even praise unto our God." The Book of 
 Revelation, in particular, dark as some of its 
 intimations are, is yet clear in the represent- 
 ation of the ultimate issue of all things in the 
 universal spread and triumph of the gospel. 
 However we may fail to trace the steps by 
 w^hich Jesus shall go forth conquering and 
 to conquer, yet of this there can be no doubt, 
 that he will continue his conquests until the 
 cry is raised, " The kingdoms of this world 
 are the kingdoms of our God and his Christ." 
 Now in these sublime and encouraging pre- 
 dictions, one feature frequently marked is 
 the generosity by which the Lord's people 
 shall be distinguished in the day of coming 
 glory. And to a few of these passages it 
 will be suitable to recur. Isaiah, treating of 
 this very subject, largely and expressly, says, 
 " The vile pei-son shall no more be called lib- 
 eral, nor the churl said to be bountiful." He 
 intimates that it may be so now, but that it 
 shall not always be so. A complete change 
 will j)ass over the views and judgments of 
 men. Many are esteemed liberal men who 
 
OF KELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 309 
 
 would then be regarded as the personifica- 
 tion of covetonsness. See what men can give 
 now for personal and family luxuries, and 
 compare it with what they devote to the 
 cause of God, and the proportion is misera- 
 ble ; not a tenth it may be, perhaps much 
 less. Yet because they give at all, or be- 
 times give beyond what is common, or what 
 was expected of them, their character is ele- 
 vated to the idea of liberality, and men speak 
 of them as if they were indeed generous. It 
 shall not be so in the day to which we look 
 forward. Men will then judge righteous 
 judgment. A narrow inquiry will be made 
 into means and expenditure. A faithful rule 
 of proportion will be applied to the contribu- 
 tion. And character and conduct will be 
 estimated, not by the false and deceitful 
 rules of a covetous generation, but by the 
 broad and eternal principles of man's rela- 
 tion to God, and his obligations to Christ and 
 his cause. Another prophet opens our view 
 still further, and tells us what men will do 
 in those days. To David this is a frequent 
 and delightful theme, and in one of his 
 Psalms, expressly set to the music of the 
 conquering Messiah's triumphs, he says, 
 " The daughter of Tyre shall be there with a 
 gift, even the rich among the people shall 
 
310 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 entreat thy favor." Tyre was the great mart 
 of ancient commerce. This, therefore, is a 
 prophecy that commerce shall be laid tribu- 
 tary at the feet of Jesus — its wealth, its en- 
 terprise, its discoveries, and its labors. Every 
 one who looks at what is taking place in the 
 earth must see that the destiny of the world 
 is likely soon to be in the hands of its mer- 
 chants. This is a consummation to be de- 
 voutly desired. There is no class whose in- 
 fluence is so great, and from whom so much 
 may be expected. Commerce enlarges the 
 mind beyond any other earthly employment. 
 While riches increase by its energetic pur- 
 suit, they do not seem to take so fast a hold 
 of the mind as when otherwise obtained. 
 There is a readiness to give which is not 
 found in other professions. The giving as 
 well as the getting of money may become a 
 habit. And there are thus even natural 
 principles on which the greater liberality of 
 this class of men may be explained. But 
 above all, their enterprise, how it surprises 
 and delights us! Whose are the railways 
 that are now connecting kingdom with king- 
 dom as hamlet used to be with hamlet? 
 They have been devised and paid for by 
 those merchants, who, we say, happily are 
 become as princes in the earth. They are 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 311 
 
 bridging over the nations that before were 
 far apart, and making a highway for the 
 redeemed of the Lord to pass over. They 
 are constructing a pathway for the mission- 
 ary to all people of the earth. They may 
 not, some of them, or even many of them, 
 intend it, yet God is doing it by them. We 
 cannot help applying, almost literally, to 
 this astonishing change in the state of things, 
 the words of the prophet: "Every valley 
 shall be exalted, and every mountain and 
 hill shall be made low : and the crooked shall 
 be made straight, and the rough places plain : 
 and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, 
 and all flesh shall see it together: for the 
 mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Com- 
 merce has thus become the John the Bap- 
 tist of the present day. It is the voice cry- 
 ing, "Prepare the way of the Lord, make 
 his paths straight." Rather we should say, 
 God is thus speaking by it. In his provi- 
 dence he is opening these facilities for the 
 spread of his truth. Let us feel the obliga- 
 tions that are thus laid upon us, and all the 
 more that the facilities for the spread of 
 error and sin keep pace with those for truth 
 and godliness. Only we have confidence in 
 right principles. Great is the truth, and it 
 will prevail. Better still, God has said, " The 
 
312 THE SCEIPTURE KULE 
 
 knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth 
 as the waters do the sea." All shall be 
 directed and overruled to that end. So 
 saitli another prophet: ''In that day shall 
 there be upon the bells [or bridles] of the 
 horses, Holiness unto the Lord; and the 
 pots in the Lord's house shall be like the 
 bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in 
 Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness 
 unto tlie Lord of hosts: and in that day 
 there shall be no more the Canaanite in the 
 house of the Lord of hosts." This is the 
 purpose which the God of the whole earth 
 liath purposed. Blessed be his name, none 
 can hinder or frustrate it. On everything in 
 the Church — on everything in the world, the 
 inscription Avill be written, "Holiness unto 
 the Lord." It is his, and it is hereby dedi- 
 cated to him. Our souls are his, and we 
 write upon them " Holiness unto the Lord." 
 Our bodies are his, and we write upon them 
 " Holiness unto the Lord." Our children and 
 families are his, and we write upon them " Ho- 
 liness unto the Lord." Our Churches and 
 their ordinances are his, and we write upon 
 them '' Holiness unto the Lord." Our labors 
 are his, and we write upon them "Holi- 
 ness unto the Lord." Our wealth is his, and 
 we write upon it, in lines of deep and dur^i- 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 313 
 
 ble inscription, because it was so long with- 
 holden from him, but now wholly, freely, 
 and forever rendered up to him, to his ser- 
 vice, and cause, and glory,— 
 
 " Holiness unto the Lord." 
 
314: THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 Let us hear the conclusiou of the whole matter.— Eccles. xil, 18. 
 
 What proportion of his income should a be- 
 liever in revelation dedicate to the cause of 
 God ? " Holy men of old spake as they 
 were moved by the Holy Ghost," — and they 
 have answered the question. We have 
 cited them as our only witnesses, and we 
 have examined their testimony in detail. 
 Desirous to know what the mind of God on 
 the question is, and believing they were 
 commissioned to declare it, we have consult- 
 ed them one by one, and heard what each 
 had to say. Before dismissing the subject, 
 it may be well to cite them forward once 
 more, and hear their united testimony. Let 
 us consider ourselves a jury solemnly im- 
 panneled in the presence of God the Judge, 
 adj ured to give an honest verdict on the evi- 
 dence to be laid before us, and to find 
 whether any believer in the revelation they 
 carry to us can consistently devote less than 
 a tenth of his income to the cause of God. 
 Abraham first claims attention, and gives 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTEIBUTION. 315 
 
 his testimony. He deposes as follows : God 
 found me in Ur of the Chaldees, rapidly 
 sinking with my fathers into idolatry. He 
 called me in his sovereignty, and sanctified 
 me by his grace. He honored me with the 
 appellation of " the Friend of God." Deep- 
 ly did I feel my obligation to him, but es- 
 pecially on some peculiar occasions when he 
 interposed remarkably on my behalf, and 
 not only preserved me and mine, but enrich- 
 ed me with increased substance. At such 
 times, in token of my gratitude, I devoted 
 the tenth of what he had given me to his 
 immediate service. I did so because my 
 heart prompted me to honor my benefactor ; 
 because it was right in itself, and because I 
 knew, either from express revelation or the 
 practice of God's people in those days, that 
 such an offering was required, and would be 
 accepted, by the Lord. This is the amount 
 of my testimony, and for further information 
 on the subject I refer you to my distinguish- 
 ed grandson Jacob, the younger son of my 
 beloved Isaac. 
 
 Jacob bore willing testimony, and said : I 
 have hearkened to the speech of my vener- 
 ated forefather, and heartily acquiesce in all 
 he has said. It is manifest from the light of 
 nature, as well as from the law of God and 
 
316 THE SCKIPTUKE KULE 
 
 the practice of his people, that our obliga- 
 tion should, be acknowledged to God by the 
 dedication of some part of our property to 
 him. My grandfather has told you what his 
 practice was — that on every special occasion 
 of increase to his property he gave a tenth 
 to God. I have done the same, but I have 
 also gone further. Early in life I was favor- 
 ed with a gracious revelation of the Lord, 
 and was much moved by it. Under the im- 
 pression which it made upon my mind, I 
 engaged that of all the Lord should ever 
 give me, I would give the tenth to him. 
 Sometimes in the occupations of this life I 
 forgot my vow, but God in his providence 
 reminded me of my duty, and roused me to 
 the performance of it. Thus I had the ex- 
 press approval of the Lord to my practice, 
 and so I continued to pursue it as long as I 
 lived. You may judge from my practice 
 what I hold to be the principles of the divine 
 word. Look into the law of Moses, and 
 you will find that he bears similar testimony, 
 and carries the claims of God further than I 
 have done. 
 
 MosES appeared, and presented himself 
 with the law of God, written by his express 
 command. He stated : Abraham and Jacob 
 have both correctly stated how it hath been 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 31T 
 
 from the beginning. A tenth is the propor- 
 tion in which it has been customary to serve 
 the Lord. But the world is grown older 
 than it was in the days of my fathers, and 
 its obligations to the Most High are increas- 
 ed. He has now given his written oracles, 
 and in them he has embodied, in the form of 
 law, and under the sanction of express stat- 
 ute, what it is his will that his people should 
 do. A tenth is the well-known proportion 
 that has been offered from the beginning, 
 and therefore it is recognized in the law — 
 but it is not merely a single tenth. There is 
 a tenth for the support of the ministry, a 
 tenth for the feasts and sacrifices, a tenth 
 every third year for the poor, a tenth from 
 every Levite for the priesthood ; and, as if 
 to render these offerings essential, the ser- 
 vices for which they are required are perpetu- 
 al ; they are the most various as well as con- 
 stant, and beyond all that are prescribed by 
 law, free-will offerings are expected from 
 every devout Israelite. The whole economy 
 is so planned as to train the Lord's people to 
 habits of generosity, and to overcome the 
 natural selfishness of the human mind. The 
 testimony w^hich I bear, therefore, is that a 
 tenth is the lowest proportion ever recog- 
 nized ; that the law goes far beyond it, even 
 
318 THE SCRIPTDltE EULE 
 
 to a fifth or a third, and that He who knew 
 what was in man laid it as an indispensable 
 obligation on the conscience of every man 
 thus to honor God with his substance. 
 
 The Apostles followed Moses, and told 
 how it was in their day. We were present, 
 say they, when Christianity was ushered into 
 the world, amid the glories of the day of 
 Pentecost and the effusion of the Holy Ghost. 
 We did not forget that we were Jews, and 
 amenable to the law of Moses. We were 
 taught that its mere ceremonies, having 
 served their purpose, were to cease. The 
 stars disappeared when the sun arose in the 
 heavens. Still the eternal principles of the 
 ancient law continued. In particular, the 
 duty of giving to the Lord remained in full 
 force. As our privileges were increased, the 
 demands were advanced ; and so powerfully 
 was this felt, that, in the emergency to which 
 the cause of Christ was then brought, the 
 disciples felt the obligation of disposing of 
 their worldly properties to contribute to the 
 cause of Jesus and the maintenance of liis 
 truth. Wherefore our testimony is, that 
 while none can give less than a tenth to 
 God, as ancient law and practice had it, 
 there is yet to be no express limit put to the 
 generosity of the Christian heart. 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTEESUTION. 319 
 
 The Great Apostle of the Gentiles rose 
 to confirm this testimony. — I was not pres- 
 ent, said Paul, on the day of Pentecost. I 
 was then the bitter enemy of Jesus, but he 
 revealed himself to me as I went to perse- 
 cute his followers. Blessed Jesus ! You 
 ask me how we should use our worldly prop- 
 erty for him. I can only reply, "We should 
 give ourselves to him. We are not our 
 own, being bought with a price. We should 
 live with the utmost frugality, that we may 
 have to give to Jesus and his cause. This 
 lias been the practice of his Churches from 
 the first. Those of Macedonia, even in a 
 season of great distress and poverty, still did 
 not relax in this duty. They denied them- 
 selves in many things, but they did not abate 
 anything of their contribution to uphold the 
 truth of Christ. I was taught by the Spirit 
 to inculcate the same duty strongly on the 
 rich Church at Corinth, and I did so. And, 
 in a word, I have left this for the permanent 
 rule of the Christian Church to the end of 
 time : " On the first day of the week let 
 every one of you lay by him in store, as 
 God hath prospered him." This is the 
 amount of my testimony. 
 
 All the Saints arose as soon as the Apos- 
 tle of the Gentiles ceased. Jews and Gen- 
 
320 THE SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 tiles united their testimony. At the erection 
 of the Tabernacle, said the Jews, we gave 
 cheerfully, — we all gave, men and women; 
 we gave what we possessed, and w^e had to 
 be restrained from giving. At the building 
 of the Temple we did in like manner. Our 
 kings, our nobles, and our people rivaled 
 one another in the offerings of gratitude and 
 love. The Gentiles claimed to say that they 
 had not fallen behind their brethren the 
 Jews. They adopted their Scriptures for 
 their guide, and conformed their conduct to 
 their requirement, not merely joyfully de- 
 voting their tenth, but whatever else besides 
 their circumstances enabled them to do or 
 give. Widows were there — the widow of 
 Sarepta, and she who had cast in her all to 
 the treasury of the Lord. They were in 
 great honor that day, as those who had best 
 expounded the law by obeying it. 
 
 The Bible, when these witnesses had 
 spoken, was laid on the table. This, said the 
 Judge, is the rule by which you are to de- 
 termine. Mark its precepts, note its warn- 
 ings, consider its promises, and enter into the 
 spirit of its predictions. With these before 
 you, my charge to you is to declare what you 
 believe to be its doctrine on the subject of 
 religious contribution — especially, what pro- 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBCTION. 321 
 
 portion of liis income a believer in reve- 
 lation should give to the cause of God. 
 And whether it is your opinion that in the 
 judgment of this book he can consistently 
 give less than a tenth, or whether he should 
 not give more, — in some instances much 
 more ? 
 
 Jesus Chkist presented himself when the 
 Judge concluded, and said — "Behold the 
 Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of 
 the world." "How much owest thou unto 
 thy Lord?" 
 
 To all who own themselves the followers 
 of this Divine Redeemer we now say, " Con- 
 sider of it, take advice, and speak your 
 minds." " Behold ye are all children of Is- 
 rael ; give here your advice and counsel." 
 In the light of the evidence adduced we de- 
 mand an answer to the question. Does the 
 Bible require that every man shall give at 
 least a tenth of his income to the cause of 
 charity and of Christ? There can be only 
 one answer — and there is not a demonstration 
 in Euclid based on clearer or more satisfac- 
 tory evidence — It does ! As for those who 
 dispute it, if there be any such, we refer them 
 to the j udgment-seat of Christ. We shall all 
 meet there, and give account to one another 
 and to him. Meantime let us inquire what 
 21 
 
322 THE SCKIPTURE RULE 
 
 is our present duty, considering what has 
 been said, and so have done. 
 
 1. "We cannot help saying, our first duty- 
 is to be convicted of sin. Well does it be- 
 come us to say, " We are verily guilty con- 
 cerning our brother Avhen we saw the anguish 
 of his soul, and would not hear." The law 
 of God has been in our hands, to a large ex- 
 tent, a dead letter. Under the perverse idea 
 that the gospel has released us from the pre- 
 cise demands of the law, thousands bearing 
 the Christian name and making a Christian 
 profession have felt no obligation to devote a 
 jDortion of their property to him. Either 
 tliey liave formed no opinion on the subject, 
 or they have entertained an incorrect one. 
 Some have given, but far more from impulse 
 than principle. They have been solicited 
 and contributed — but had they been let 
 alone they would have given nothing. 
 An opinion requires to be created in the 
 Church on this subject. And that it should 
 be so in this age of the world is full of guilt. 
 
 2. Let us confess our sin. As we have 
 much need, so have we also great encourage- 
 ment to do it. "If we confess our sins, God 
 is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and 
 to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This 
 gracious word, however, if not acted upon, 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 323 
 
 will greatly aggravate our condemnation. 
 Sin known and proved, but not confessed, 
 although God waits to be gracious, is very 
 aggravated. Let it not be ours. Let each 
 confess his own sin so far as he sees he has 
 not been careful to know what is the mind 
 of the Lord, or to act upon it. Let every 
 one weigh the matter well, in its unhappy 
 influence and fearful consequences, until his 
 spirit is stirred within him, as it ought to be. 
 Let us confess the sin of others, of the com- 
 munity, of the Church, and especially so far 
 as Ave may have contributed to it, either by 
 our neglect or evil example. It were a good 
 omen if a spirit of humiliation were given, 
 and sin was freely confessed to the Lord. 
 And until such shall be manifested there can 
 be little hope of amendment. 
 
 3. We should amend our ways. Confession 
 without amendment is hypocrisy. Humilia- 
 tion is good as a means ; but it is not an end. 
 We should humble ourselves and turn unto 
 the Lord. When Joshua abased himself be- 
 fore the Lord, as it was right he should do, be- 
 cause the people had been discomfited before 
 Ai, on account of some sin wdiich had not been 
 detected, the Lord said unto him, " Get thee 
 up ; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face ? 
 Up, sanctify thy people : — thou canst not stand 
 
324 THK SCRIPTURE RULE 
 
 before thine enemies, until ye take away the 
 accursed thing from among you." The sin 
 must be put away. This is the law of the 
 Lord universally. As Joshua set on foot an 
 investigation in the camp, and pursued it 
 till the offender was detected and destroyed, 
 so must we do. Let us try ourselves whether 
 we have kept the law of our God in this 
 matter or not. Have we given the tenth 
 to him at least? If not, say how much 
 owest thou unto him, and " pay what thou 
 owest." Do not delay this duty. Do it now. 
 You cannot liavc peace of mind till you do 
 so. It may cost you a struggle, but the end 
 will be peace. Having entered on the right 
 path, pursue it. You have got ]iold of the 
 right principle, and be sure you keep it. 
 Say with David, "I thought on my ways, 
 and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. I 
 made haste, and delayed not to keep thy 
 commandments." Act thus, and you may 
 add, " Blessed are the undefiled in the way, 
 who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed 
 are they that keep his testimonies, and that 
 seek him with the whole heart. They also 
 do no iniquity : they walk in his ways. Thou 
 hast commanded us to keep thy precepts 
 diligently." Be sure and determined that 
 as you have seen what the will of the Lord 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 325 
 
 is, you will conscientiously, faithfully, and 
 perseveringly abide by it. 
 
 4. It is our duty to endeavor to lead others 
 also into right views and practices. "^N'o 
 man livetli to himself, and no man dietli to 
 himself.*' We are accountable for all the 
 influence we are capable of exercising. The 
 education of the Church in right views of 
 giving to the Lord is yet to be begun. For 
 this purpose the school, the family, the pul- 
 pit, and the press, ought to be brought into 
 requisition. Every teacher of the young 
 should imbue them early with just views of 
 contribution founded on the word of God ; 
 every parent should train his household to 
 habits of giving, causing them to know this 
 is a duty which God has made to be as in- 
 dispensable as any other ; tlie minister of the 
 gospel should lift his voice like a trumpet, 
 and give no uncertain sound, showing to the 
 people the sin of withholding, and the duty 
 of giving ; the press should teem with tracts 
 and volumes until all would know what the 
 mind of the Lord is. Until the public mind 
 is thus learned, the present wretched penury 
 in all that pertains to the cause of God can- 
 not be overcome. Prayer and diligence, 
 however, with the promised blessing, will 
 accomplish it. 
 
326 THE SCRIP rUKE KULE 
 
 5. Finally, let us keep steadily in view 
 the great end ever to be aimed at in the con- 
 secration of our property to God. The mere 
 act of giving is good, for it is a useful exer- 
 cise of mind. The habit is one of the most 
 salutary which can be formed for our own 
 benefit. Still this is not the ultimate obj ect. 
 That is the subjection of the world to Jesus. 
 We give that he may be honored. We pray, 
 " Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, 
 thy will be done on eartli as it is in heaven," 
 and we use the means which Christ has ap- 
 pointed for the accomplishment of these de- 
 sires. We have o-reat encourao-ements and 
 powerful inducements to employ them at the 
 present time. ''The field is the world," and 
 God has opened it to his servants. Peace 
 prevails upon the earth. As when Jesus 
 came the temple of Janus was closed at 
 Rome to intimate that peace universally pre- 
 vailed, and as it was by that arrangement 
 of Divine Providence the apostles had access 
 to the nations around them, so now again, in 
 a greatly widened circle, men are at peace 
 with one another, and the way is opened to 
 the messengers of the cross, to whom God is 
 saying. Enter ye in and possess the land. 
 Who can tell how long it may so continue ? 
 If the opportunity is not embraced, it will 
 
OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTIOX. 327 
 
 no doubt be withdrawn. Tlien Iioav bitter 
 will be the remembrance of the lost oppor- 
 tunity !♦ If it is embraced, how blessed the 
 results ! The gospel with its benefits will be 
 conveyed to all men. '' Judgment shall 
 dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness 
 remain in the fruitful field. And the work 
 of righteousness shall be peace, and the efiect 
 of righteousness quietness and assurance for- 
 ever. And my people shall dwell in a peace- 
 able habitation, and in sure dwellings, and 
 in quiet resting-places." The highest condi- 
 tion of earthly prosperity and the universal 
 acclamation of honor to Christ shall encircle 
 the globe. "There shall be a handful of 
 corn in the earth upon the top of the moun- 
 tains ; the fruit thereof shall shake like Leb- 
 anon : and they of the city shall flourish like 
 grass of the earth. His name shall endure 
 forever : his name shall be continued as long 
 as the sun ; and men shall be blessed in him : 
 all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed 
 be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only 
 doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his 
 glorious name forever; and let the whole 
 earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and 
 Amen." 
 
 O Lord, wilt thou condescend to employ 
 us to accomplish a consummation such as 
 
328 THE SCKIFfURE KULE. 
 
 this ? "Wilt thou deign to accept our offer- 
 ings ? " The silver and the gold are thine." 
 We give them to thee. We lay them on 
 thine altar. May it sanctify the gift ! " Of 
 thine own have we given thee." Amen. 
 
 THE EBTD. 
 
Princeton Theological 
 
 Seminary-Speer Library 
 
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