^ttNINGro* 
 
 »t * »•«** j^ 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 ft 
 
 Presented by Mr. Samuel Agnew of Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Agnew Coll. on Baptism, No. 
 
 6cB 
 
the 
 
 DUTY AND PRIVILEGE OF CHRISTIANS 
 
 IN CONNEXION WITH 
 
 THE SUPPORT OF THE -ORDINANCES 
 OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 THE EEV. PETER'RICHARDSON, B.A., 
 
 DAILLY. 
 
 The Lord is their inheritance."— Djstjt. xviii. 2. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JAMES NISBET AND CO., 21 BERNERS STREET 
 
 M.DCCC.LYII. 
 
edinburgh : 
 
 printed by ballantymje and rumfanv. 
 
 pall's wopjc. 
 

 EXPLANATOEY NOTE. 
 
 A growing conviction, strengthened by careful observation and minute 
 inquiry, that the obligations resting upon members of the various sections 
 of the Church, in reference to upholding the ordinances of religion, are in 
 general very improperly discharged, induced the promoters of the 
 
 GLASGOW PRIZE ESSAYS 
 
 to call attention to the subject, by inviting members of all Evangelical 
 denominations throughout the three kingdoms to compete for two premiums 
 of £150 and £75, to be awarded for the best papers on 
 
 THE DUTY AND PRIVILEGE OF CHRISTIANS IN REGARD TO 
 THE SUPPORT OF THE ORDINANCES OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 The Adjudicators, who cordially accepted the appointment, were the Rev. 
 Dr Robert Buchanan, of the Free Church of Scotland ; Rev. Dr John Eadie, 
 of the United Presbyterian Church : and the Rev. Dr William Symington, 
 of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. The first of these gentlemen, after 
 devoting some weeks to the work of examination, Was necessitated to 
 relinquish all mental labour, and remove to another climate for his health . 
 The Rev. D. Patrick Fairbairn, Principal of the Free College, Glasgow, was 
 solicited, and at once acquiesced in assuming his place. 
 
 The number of Essays lodged for competition was eighty-one, of which 
 fifty-nine were from various parts of Scotland, seventeen from England, and 
 live from Ireland. Many of these papers contained highly valuable matter, 
 tending to elucidate and enforce the subject, and bringing out a great 
 variety of practical suggestions for the faithful discharge of this important 
 Christian duty. It is hoped that a few more of them may yet be given to 
 the public. 
 
 The Adjudicators, after careful and patient investigation, were unanimous 
 in awarding the two prizes respectively to the Rev. Dr J. A. Wylie, Edin- 
 
IV EXPLANATORY NOTE. 
 
 burgh, and the Rev. Joseph Parker, Banbury ; while they recommended a 
 third one for publication, being the production of the Rev. Peter Richard- 
 son, Dailly. The following is the digest of their report : — 
 
 " A considerable portion of the Essays are of inferior merit, but not a 
 few are distinguished by solid thought, careful examination, and a full 
 exhibition of scriptural principles on the subject of inquiry. Having 
 respect to the leading object in view on the part of the promoters of the 
 competition, the Adjudicators deemed it necessary to keep prominently before 
 them, when estimating the comparative merits of the Essays, their relative 
 adaptation to popular use ; on which account they were obliged to set aside 
 several which displayed vigorous thinking, and contained much valuable 
 matter, but which failed to present the subject in a manner fitted to interest 
 and impress the popular mind. The Essay that appeared to all the Adjudi- 
 cators to be the best for the purpose aimed at, turned out to be the pro- 
 duction of the Rev. Dr Wylie, Edinburgh. It proved more difficult to 
 decide upon the Essay that should be entitled to the second prize ; but after 
 conferring with each other, and comparing together the two or three Essays 
 that seemed to come nearest the point, a unanimous finding was arrived at 
 in favour of number sixty- two, the production, as shewn by the accompany- 
 ing letter, of the Rev. Joseph Parker, Banbury. Essay number seven 
 approached, in some respects, so near to this, and appeared so well adapted 
 for reaching a considerable class of minds, that the Adjudicators are dis- 
 posed to recommend also the publication of this Essay. 
 
 /PATRICK FAIRBAIRN. 
 Signed < JOHN EADIE. 
 
 I WILLIAM SYMINGTON." 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER I. THE GOSPEL BASED ON A CONGERIES OF FACTS, . 7 
 
 „ II. GOSPEL ORDINANCES, 12 
 
 „ III. THE DUTY, IN ITS BINDING OBLIGATION— RIGHTS 
 
 OF THE REDEEMER, . • . . . . 18 
 
 „ IV. THE DUTY, IN ITS BINDING OBLIGATION— INTE- 
 RESTS OF THE SOUL, 27 
 
 ,, V. THE DUTY, IN ITS BINDING OBLIGATION — WELFARE 
 
 OF POSTERITY, 31 
 
 „ VI. THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE— WITH 
 
 LOVE TO THE LORD JESUS— HUMILITY, . 38 
 
 ,, VII. THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE— CHEER- 
 
 FULNESS— REGULARITY, .... 45 
 
 „ VIII. THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE— IN FAIR 
 
 PROPORTION TO AMOUNT OF MEANS, . . 55 
 
 „ IX. THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE — EFFI- 
 CIENCY, 59 
 
 ,, X. THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE— ELE- 
 
 MENTS OF AN EFFICIENT SUPPORT, . . 03 
 
 „ XI. THE PRIVILEGE, IN ITS HONOUR — DIGNITY OF 
 
 ASSOCIATES— IMPORTANCE OF THE WORK, . 70 
 
 „ XII. THE PRIVILEGE, IN ITS ADVANTAGES— GRATIFI- 
 
 CATION OF CHRISTIAN FEELINGS, . . . 81 
 
/ 
 
 THE 
 
 DUTY AND PRIVILEGE OF CHRISTIANS, 
 
 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE GOSPEL BASED ON A CONGERIES OF FACTS. 
 
 The gospel is God's gracious proclamation of pardon, peace, 
 and blessedness to the world. This proclamation addresses 
 itself to the condemned, estranged, and miserable. It carries 
 in its bosom a tacit affirmation of the Fall. But while there 
 is one awful fact which it assumes, there are other facts on 
 which it rests. They are most glorious, beyond all thought of 
 creature. In heaven they will be for wonder and for praise 
 for ever. The offended God, in unutterable love, has Himself 
 brought salvation. The crisis was ever in the eye of Eternal 
 Wisdom. And so, also, was the remedy. It was no expedient, 
 occurring at the moment of need, formed in a surprise, un- 
 known in its efficacy, and uncertain in its operation. In the 
 very hour on which the heads of the new race fell from their 
 loyalty, the gracious One, in mercy, disclosed His purpose of 
 redemption. Through long ages light shone increasingly upon 
 it. At last, on the plains of Bethlehem, angels sung in the 
 shepherds' ear the glad news of " Glory to God, and peace 
 on earth." They pointed to a babe newly born in the inn of 
 the neighbouring village, as destined to win both blessings. 
 
8 THE GOSPEL BASED ON A CONGERIES OF FACTS. 
 
 That mysterious infant was the Son of God, incarnate in the 
 nature, and subject to the law, of His own creature. This 
 law, as the expression of the Father's will, He clasped fer- 
 vently to His bosom, yielding to it an obedience on all sides 
 perfect, and then bearing to exhaustion the penal agonies it 
 imposed. This matchless homage to the sacredness of Divine 
 authority, and the excellence of the Divine" will, is fraught 
 with saving efficacy for the depraved who could not yield it ; 
 and this great offering is fragrant before God on behalf of the 
 condemned, whose sacrifice of suffering in their own person 
 would have filled with woe the whole immortality of their 
 being. " God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, 
 not imputing unto men their trespasses." Glorious news for a 
 fallen and miserable world ! And this is the gospel. 
 
 Now, in looking on the gospel, as thus based on a series of 
 facts, several reflections naturally rise to the mind, embodying 
 important truths. 
 
 1. These facts must be known in order to be operative. We 
 limit not the resources of infinite Wisdom, or pretend to deter- 
 mine whether it may not be possible for sovereign grace to 
 work efficaciously in high independence of means, and aside 
 from the established order. But to us the command is unam- 
 biguous and imperative : " Preach the gospel to every crea- 
 ture," " Discijrfe all nations." It was gospel facts that early 
 evangelists proclaimed concerning " Christ and him crucified." 
 Nor is there any doubt or dimness about the channel through 
 which the heavenly life is appointed to flow into the soul : 
 " He that believeth shall be saved." This is the revealed way 
 of salvation. With this alone we have to do. By this alone 
 we are to regulate our conduct. The facts must be known : 
 " How shall they believe except they hear.*' 
 
 2. These facts operate by no magical influence, but by 
 appealing to the understanding, feelings, and conscience of 
 man. They are not things to be conjured with, working sud- 
 
THE GOSPEL BASED ON A CONGEEIES OF FACTS. 9 
 
 den wonders by dark signs and mystic names. The operation 
 is a process, not an act. The voice of these glorious gospel 
 events is calm and sober, though solemn, urgent, and authori- 
 tative. They claim far more than a passing glance, or a hasty 
 and unconsidered admission. They must be deliberately and 
 impartially weighed. The understanding must open to receive 
 them, the heart melt to embrace them. They must effect a 
 lodgment deeply in the faith : " He that believeth shall be 
 saved." Blessed Lord! His affluence of power is such that 
 virtue comes out of Him even at the faint touch of a trembling 
 faith. But it responds to nothing else. He, the great glori- 
 ous Centre of all gospel facts, must be known, loved, trusted. 
 The renewing Spirit alone can produce this result. But His 
 instruments are the facts of the gospel. 
 
 3. As a corollary from these two, — There must be some ade- 
 quate means of bringing these facts in contact with the mind 
 which is to be enlightened, and the heart which is to be re- 
 newed. They occurred on a certain spot of the earth's surface. 
 Glorious as they are in themselves, and pregnant with everlast- 
 ing issues, they were crowded into a few of this world's years. 
 Divine in their majesty and power, they are yet of earthly 
 tissue, transacted on the stage of ordinary life, and, therefore, 
 to be communicated from man to man by the usual channels. 
 The elements might possibly have been charged with the 
 weighty task of proclaiming them. They might have been 
 made to gleam in the lightning flash, and win their way by 
 miracle into the human consciousness. Strange voices might 
 have mysteriously whispered them at noon-day, or " when deep 
 sleep falleth on man." To angels the glorious task might have 
 been committed. They would have been honoured by it. 
 And we can fancy them speeding with it through the dwellings 
 of men, endowed with the new capacity of framing our gross 
 air into articulate sounds, and breathing them rapturously 
 forth into the ear of astonished men. But a miraculous 
 
10 THE GOSPEL BASED ON A CONGERIES OF FACTS. 
 
 ministry would not suit our present state of being. It would 
 interfere with man's free activities, and, therefore, with his 
 jirobation for eternity. Angels, it is true, in the dark days of 
 old, when heavenly light was feeble, and the Saviour yet to 
 come, stood forth from the invisible, and in corporeal form 
 uttered the will of God in the words of man. Once, too, on 
 the plains of Bethlehem they raised their exulting voices. 
 But when the incarnate Lord is introduced, and heavenly light 
 shines about Him, and the simple record of His marvellous 
 doings and vicarious endurance, vitalised by the Almighty 
 Spirit, has become the birth-power of the new and immortal 
 life, what need is there for any extraordinary ministry? The 
 sacred sphere of angelic agency remains untouched; but on 
 the stage of outward things they would stand in the Saviour's 
 way, obscure the glory of the Spirit's work, and disturb the 
 fixed look of faith at the message which they bore. 
 
 The gospel facts, then, must be brought within reach of the 
 human race, by human agency, and in the ordinary way. 
 
 4. The means to be adopted must be of a permanent char- 
 acter. First, as to the race. They must accompany the human 
 family in its progress through successive generations, for the 
 purpose of effecting in each the grand primary object of the 
 gospel, viz., the salvation and renewal of souls. On the breast 
 of each successive wave of the advancing race the heavenly 
 radiance must be thrown. Second, as to the individual. The 
 great gospel facts must be constantly held up in the eye even 
 of those on whom the saving and regenerating process has 
 been wrought. In the case of ancient Israel, the basement 
 facts of their national history were fruitful of mighty impulses 
 to holiness, through their whole subsequent career. The 
 mature life of the people was nourished by the grateful remem- 
 brance of those stupendous interpositions of power by which 
 a good God had guarded their feeble infancy. And strong 
 measures were adopted for keeping them vividly alive in their 
 
THE GOSPEL BASED ON A CONGERIES OF FACTS. 1 1 
 
 memory. Even so must the great events of our faith, more 
 glorious and more efficacious by far than all the wonders of 
 Egypt, be made to stand forth clearly and constantly in the 
 view of those " who have believed to the saving of the soul/' 
 Their nature is only partially reclaimed from its sinfulness. 
 The mainspring is new, but there is dust yet upon the wheels. 
 And as they ever need to " grow in grace," so these divinely 
 glorious facts are endowed with the unfailing power of nourish- 
 ing their growth. The Christian race must be begun and 
 continued to the goal, " looking unto Jesiis." Gospel facts are 
 never old and never feeble. Needed at first to right the 
 pilgrim through the wicket-gate, they are needed always to 
 refresh his weary heart and hasten his lagging footsteps. 
 
 So far this series of steps has brought us. Another series 
 will bring us to the very heart of our great subject. 
 
12 GOSPEL ORDINANCES. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 GOSPEL ORDINANCES. 
 
 All the means available for the permanent presentation of the 
 central facts of the gospel may not be open to our knowledge. 
 But there are certain kinds of instrumentality that commend 
 themselves pre-eminently as suitable and adequate. Let us 
 briefly survey them. 
 
 1. One agency of a powerful kind would be the committal of 
 these fundamental facts to the custody of a written document. 
 This has been done. The gracious God — blessed for ever ! — 
 lias become an author, for the benefit of His fallen creatures. 
 He has dictated a book. In it these facts have found a per- 
 manent record. And so rich is this book of God, in all that 
 the ruined creature needs, that it is " able to make wise unto 
 salvation," and then to be the "light" and " lamp," the "joy" 
 and " song " of a believer's pilgrimage. In its hallowed pages 
 the Saviour is enshrined and glorified. It tells, in simple and 
 artless words, the wondrous story of His birth and death, His 
 words of calm and majestic grace, and His works of holy 
 power. It adds to these the inspired counsels of followers 
 whom he commissioned and equipped as guides of the Church's 
 faith and life, so that by this heavenly volume " the man of 
 God may be made perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good 
 works." 
 
 2. Another powerful instrumentality for setting forth gospel 
 truths would be i ni ^ c observances. In these the social life 
 of the body of believers would find both expression and expan- 
 sion. Besides confirming their faith and deepening their 
 
GOSPEL ORDINANCES. 13 
 
 interest in the glorious facts of the gospel — binding round 
 themselves, as they do, the social affections — such public and 
 permanent institutions would bear, on their very front, the 
 character of witnesses for the truth. This provision also has 
 been made. The public meetings, and especially the sacra- 
 mental observances, of the Christian Church are pillars on 
 which gospel facts are sculptured. And though these monu- 
 ments are now venerable for age, they are not " dimmed," or 
 their " natural force abated." The blessed truths which they 
 have registered through many a dark and godless age, stand 
 forth still as clear hi tint and definite in outline as when the 
 disciples ate their first communion feast, or the gracious fare- 
 well words, " Go into all the world, teaching and baptizing," 
 fell from the lips of their departing Lord. 
 
 3. Another means of perpetuating a knowledge of the lead- 
 ing events of the gospel would be the setting apart of a fixed 
 portion of time, either expressly as a memorial or to give leisure 
 for their study. This has been done. The Sabbath serves 
 both purposes. That old venerable institute — memorial at 
 first of God's complacent rest when His " good " works were 
 finished — is continued in the new dispensation. The precise 
 day is changed, but the proportion of time remains. And the 
 sacred rest is hallowed now to a still higher and more glorious 
 purpose. It is a standing witness to the gladdening fact that 
 "the Lord is risen." Its silent calm proclaims redemption 
 finished, and points to the great Redeemer as risen in triumph 
 from the last blow of an exhausted curse, and standing forth 
 to the light of life again, the accepted Surety of His people. 
 Happy news for a condemned world ! Precious day, whose 
 every hour has a Divine mission to proclaim it! But the 
 Sabbath is more than a memorial. It brings to the busy 
 world time and opportunity for pondering deliberately over the 
 glorious event which it commemorates, and over all the other 
 facts which cluster round it. The holy day brings healing 
 
14 GOSPEL OEDINANCES. 
 
 balm to labour, and gives rest to the world's maddened brain 
 and throbbing pulse. And the leisure-space it leaves is cleared 
 for heavenly aims. " It is made," by a most gracious God, 
 "for man," the immortal subject of God — fallen now and con- 
 demned. And it provides refreshing and grateful repose for 
 meditating on all the circumstances of that wondrous mediation 
 whose successful issue it proclaims so sweetly. 
 
 But these three kinds of instrumentality do not exhaust the 
 means which might be adopted for bearing efficaciously on the 
 human mind. The Booh is divine all over, breathing a heavenly 
 majesty, and instinct with a saving, gladdening, and transform- 
 ing power. But a book speaks not, moves not, does not glow 
 again in sympathy with the emotion which it stirs. The out- 
 ward observances and the Sabbatic institute are most im- 
 pressive as memorials of important events, and most precious 
 as means of grace ; but they are only occasional in their opera- 
 tion, they need an interpreter, and the former at least, if not 
 both, assumes the intelligent comprehension and heartfelt 
 reception of gospel truth, making no direct provision, and having 
 only an indirect influence, towards the inbringing of " them 
 that are without," and the regular communication of instruction 
 for the solid and symmetrical growth of "the household of 
 faith." Hence the expediency of employing another kind of 
 instrumentality. The gospel is a royal proclamation, and 
 therefore it must have its heralds; the Church needs to be fed 
 with truth, and therefore she must have her pastors. 
 
 4. The institute of preaching. — In the old economy the 
 messages of heaven came through the hands of men. Pro- 
 phets lifted up their voice in the name of God. And still the 
 rule is, " Son of man, speak unto this people." In the bene- 
 ficent work of "publishing salvation," and promoting holiness, 
 the gracious Lord has enlisted the persuasive power of human 
 looks, and speech, and gestures. When His own personal 
 ministry ceased, and heaven received Him with songs into its 
 
GOSPEL ORDINANCES. 15 
 
 bosom, He left behind the precious legacy of "apostles and 
 prophets, pastors and teachers." And though now the apostolic 
 gifts and functions have expired, and all that is supernatural 
 has withdrawn from the outward ministry, all that is needed 
 for instruction and edification, for the supply of renewing and 
 sanctifying truth, remains still in the powerful agency of men 
 of God who have "given themselves to prayer and to the 
 ministry of the word." 
 
 The power of a minister is a combination of forces. It 
 may seem a paradox, but it is a truth, that the very sight 
 of a minister is a means of grace. Why so ? Because he 
 stands forth as a man separated from his fellows, consecrated 
 to a heavenly purpose, having all his distinctive connexions 
 with eternity, and dealing with its stupendous issues as his 
 proper business. He is an embodied gospel, peculiarly "a 
 living epistle." And if faithful, how mighty is he as an 
 instrument of God! There is in his pleading the melting 
 power of love, and the weight of authority as an ambassador of 
 Christ. There is in his ministry the might of a definite aim 
 pursued with a concentration of effort. As the counsellor of 
 his people, and the helper of their social and moral advance- 
 ment, he wins for himself a place in their grateful regards, 
 and for his message an earnest and favourable hearing. His 
 instructions have the accuracy and convincing power of expe- 
 rience, the weight of earnestness, the moving might of symjmthy. 
 And when a servant of Christ goes forth thus among his people, 
 his heart swelling with the love of the gracious One who bought 
 him with His blood, yearning for the manifestation of the Divine 
 glory, and the unlimited increase of saved souls to sing it, and 
 bask in it everlastingly, while the deep love of his heart wells 
 forth in his moistening eye, and speaks in his tender tones — 
 oh ! is there not here the mightiest instrumentality which this 
 world could furnish for moving the human heart ? This is the 
 grand ordinance of the Christian Church, not only in itself, but 
 
1 6 GOSPEL ORDINANCES. 
 
 because it embraces all the rest. The written record is the 
 preacher's text-book and treasury of truth, and his armoury 
 for its defence. It is the well of life at which his own spirit 
 drinks, and to whose healing streams he leads his thirsty flock. 
 The Sabbath is a sacred space kept clear for him, his labour- 
 day and seed-time. The sacraments are silent but impressive 
 seals of the reality and transcendent importance of the truths 
 that issue from his lips. The ministerial power is thus the 
 resultant of many forces — all acting in the same direction — 
 while it has also the peculiar advantage of constant action, 
 embracing the most favourable seasons for bearing efficaciously 
 on the heart. The servant of Christ is ever at hand to press 
 his appeals, to vary his arguments, to reiterate forgotten lessons, 
 and revive fading impressions. He can distil his gentle coun- 
 sels into the softened heart of suffering, and pour rich streams 
 of awakening and consoling truth into the mourner's melted 
 heart. With the young he deals at the forming period of their 
 life, when their curious minds are opening, and their simple 
 and trusting hearts are absorbing influences on every hand. 
 How great and multiform is a minister's power ! And how 
 wise in His kingly graciousness that Lord, who left it as a 
 legacy to His Church ! 
 
 We have thus presented the " glorious gospel'' as based on 
 facts, which to be operative must be known ; which appeal to 
 the mind and heart of man, and only thus become influential ; 
 and which must therefore have an apparatus of outward means 
 for publishing them through the world. These facts, and the 
 means actually employed by the Divine authority for publish- 
 ing them, have been enumerated more emphatically than 
 might have seemed necessary, but for the weighty reason that 
 the whole dynamic force of the gospel lies in the region 
 occupied by these facts and their instruments. By this pro- 
 cess of statement, the fountains of authority binding to the 
 discharge of all Christian duties have been laid bare. And in 
 
GOSPEL ORDINANCES. 1 7 
 
 the very presentation of the facts of the gospel, so boundlessly- 
 glorious, important, and interesting, and the ordinances of the 
 gospel, so numerous and varied, so beneficently powerful and 
 appropriate, there is a strong and authoritative appeal to all 
 Christian hearts for the efficient maintenance of the means of 
 grace. 
 
 We proceed now, more formally, in the endeavour to present 
 the argument for " the duty and privilege of supporting the 
 ordinances of the gospel." 
 
18 THE DUTY, IN ITS BINDING OBLIGATION- 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE DUTY, IN ITS BINDING OBLIGATION — RIGHTS OF THE 
 REDEEMER. 
 
 At the outset, one or two things fall to be noticed, as marking 
 out the limits of our field of inquiry : — 1. It is the duty of 
 Christians we have to ascertain and illustrate. 2. Of the two 
 leading functions of the Christian Church, self-preservation and 
 self-extension, it is the former only that is here referred to — 
 the maintenance, not the multiplication of means — their conti- 
 nuation in time, not their propagation over the earth. The 
 sphere of this duty is not the foreign, but the home field ; nor 
 this wholly, for the outlying masses of our native heathenism 
 are not here included, except in so far as they are within reach 
 of existing instrumentalities. The support of gospel ordinances 
 among ourselves ; this is the subject. 3. The support meant 
 is not attendance on ordinances, or any countenance given to 
 them otherwise; but contributions of worldly substance for 
 their maintenance. 
 
 On this field, so defined and narrowed, let us enter, by con- 
 sidering the obligation which binds to the discharge of the 
 duty. 
 
 This authority is threefold. Its sources are God, ourselves, 
 and our children; the rights of our Divine Redeemer, the inte- 
 rests of our own souls, the welfare of our descendants, imme- 
 diate and remote. 
 
 1. The rights of the Divine Redeemer. — He is King in Zion. 
 Royal rights are His. 
 
 Now, (1.) The maintenance of ordinances is a tribute to 
 
RIGHTS OF THE REDEEMER. 19 
 
 Him. The ordinances are memorials of the most important 
 events that ever occurred in this world or in any other — events 
 in which the incarnate Lord was the great actor, and all whose 
 glory gathers into a halo round His head. It is the glory of a 
 king. The ordinances are the means of displaying it. The 
 house of prayer ; with its weekly crowds of worshippers, offers 
 Him reverence. The Lord's Supper sets forth a conquering 
 love which endured all things, and a kingly power which won 
 its mediatorial crown from death. The Sabbath, heaven's 
 jubilee-day, Divine in its conception, its beneficence, and its 
 authority, bears in its holy calm the stamp of royal dignity. 
 Most lordly day ! Mark of God's great hand upon His finished 
 work ! A golden fillet round creation's brow, bearing the 
 reverent inscription, " Holiness to the Lord ;" not only, as in 
 days of old, consecrating to the " Lord of the whole earth " 
 the world's whole sum of plenty and garniture of beauty, but 
 now, with special emphasis, proclaiming the Redeemer risen 
 and glorified, and invested with " all power in heaven and in 
 earth ! " It is the witness of His glory, the celebration of His 
 triumph. The minister is servant of a king, not only proclaim- 
 ing the redeeming grace, but wielding the high authority of 
 Christ in the " kingdom of God." 
 
 Now, these ordinances, by their very nature, can be sup- 
 ported only by contributions of worldly substance, or its repre- 
 sentative, money. A house to worship in costs money. The 
 elements of a communion feast cost money. The servants 
 of Christ are creatures of flesh and blood, living, like other 
 men, on this world's food, bought with this world's money. 
 There must be the consecration of a portion of our means for 
 the maintenance of these ordinances. It is the Lord's tribute- 
 money. Dare we grudge it? Can we stint it? Oh, who 
 would grudge this poor peppercorn to the Lord who gives 
 us all ! 
 
 (2.) The maintenance of ordinances is enjoined by the Lord 
 
20 THE DUTY, IN ITS BINDING OBLIGATION 
 
 Himself. The twelve and the seventy whom He sent forth 
 during His own personal ministry bore with them their Mas- 
 ter's sanction to draw support from those to whom they 
 ministered. He might have supplied them from the common 
 purse. If the payment of their simple necessaries, or the 
 intromissions of the treasurer, made this impossible, yet He 
 who fed the multitudes by miracle would find no difficulty in 
 filling the scrip of His followers with all that they required. 
 But does He ? No. Designedly, deliberately, He takes an- 
 other plan. He sends them forth empty-handed. Their sup- 
 port must come from their employment. By His high authority 
 He made them free of their hearers' substance, up to the point 
 of a comfortable support. " Take nothing for your journey, 
 neither bread, neither money. Eat such things as they set 
 before you." 
 
 Nor did He mean His servants to be viewed as dependants 
 on public charity. They were not mendicants. The support 
 they received was not alms. All such degrading misconcep- 
 tions of their position and claims the far-seeing Lord, jealous 
 of His servants' honour, anticipates and condemns. "The 
 labourer is worthy of his hire." How generous and how wise ! 
 He knew how easily the claims of His messengers would slip 
 out of the sight of money-getting selfishness, and to what mis- 
 chievous extent even Christian hearts might lose, almost 
 unwittingly, the sense of their just dues, and throw, patron- 
 isingly, to them as a gift what they could claim as a right. 
 And to adjust once for all the proper place of His servants, 
 and secure them all due honour, He utters in the ear of dis- 
 ciples, and leaves to be engrossed in the inspired record of His 
 life, for use in all time coming, this classic sentence, " The 
 labourer is worthy of his hire" 
 
 The authority of the glorious Head of the Church is enough 
 to determine this as the fixed law of ministerial support. 
 Nothing could add weight to it. The royal will, once 
 
RIGHTS OF THE REDEEMER. 21 
 
 expressed, is decisive. But repetition adds impressiveness. 
 Hence the Lord Jesus has re-affirmed this law, and, by doing 
 so, has given it new emphasis. The great apostle, whose 
 "abundant labours" did more than those of any other for 
 shaping and consolidating the Church, was inspired to utter 
 loudly again this same fundamental law. Let us listen, 
 while the King of Zion speaks to us through His enlightened 
 and large-hearted servant. 
 
 "Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but 
 wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might 
 not be chargeable to any of you : not because we have not power" 
 &c. (2 Thess. iii. 8, 9). Mark here, first, Paul toils as a work- 
 man. No shame this; for labour is hallowed by the carpentry 
 of Him of Nazareth. But mark, secondly, Paul's toil is self- 
 imposed. He is under no obligation to labour with his hands. 
 He does it for a special reason. Thessalonian idlers need an 
 " ensample " of hard-working diligence. Paul sinks his right 
 to an independent maintenance, and gives it. How noble in 
 his self-denial ! Doubly honourable is that sweat which 
 bedews the brow of laborious and self-sacrificing love. But 
 this exception only throws new light and force upon the rule. 
 He had rights, though he sank them for the moment. He was 
 entitled to live entirely on the contributions of the Church. 
 It is the same still. The right on one side, and the obligation 
 on the other, continue. The apostle, then, affirms his right in 
 this matter. But what if we can shew that, at the same time, 
 he also exercised it ? This we can do. We find, by an 
 undesigned coincidence of the most beautiful kind, that at the 
 very moment when the apostle was declining to burden the 
 Thessalonians with any part of his support, he was receiving 
 freely and thankfully the donations of the Philippian Church : 
 " Even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again to my necessity " 
 (Phil. iv. 16). 
 
 Listen, again, to this "wise master-builder." His state- 
 
22 THE DUTY, IN ITS BINDING OBLIGATION 
 
 ment to the Corinthian Church is larger and more emphatic. 
 It occurs in his first letter to that Church (1 Cor. ix. 7-13). 
 In this powerful appeal he uses all manner of arguments. He 
 reasons from analogy : " Who goeth a warfare any time at 
 his own charges'? Who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of 
 the fruit thereof ? Who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the 
 milk of the flock"?" And again, " They which minister about 
 holy things live of the things of the temple ; and they which 
 wait at the altar are partakers with the altar." In the sphere 
 of ordinary life adequate and suitable remuneration is given. 
 The soldier, the husbandman, the shepherd, lives by his em- 
 ployment. So also did the officers of the sanctuary. They 
 earned their livelihood by their sacred ministry. Why should 
 it not be so with the servants of Christ ? 
 
 He quotes from Scripture: "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox 
 that treadeth out the corn " (1 Cor. ix. 9). A most merciful 
 statute in its immediate application, and fraught with important 
 symbolic meaning, as illustrating God's way of dealing with 
 His faithful servants. This from Moses. But listen again : 
 " Even so hath the Lord ordained, that they which preach the 
 gospel should live of the gospel" (1 Cor. ix. 14). A greater 
 than Moses is here. And the law He makes is not provisional, 
 but perpetual ; not for one region only, but for all. " The Lord 
 hath ordained" — yes, ordained, not as an interim act, or for a 
 special occasion, but as a fundamental law, which carries with 
 it all the majestic authority of Him " whose voice shook the 
 earth," and binds with an obligation as strong as the enact- 
 ments of Sinai. 
 
 Lastly, — He appeals to their own sense of what is fair and 
 equitable : "If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a 
 great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?" Words both 
 wise and weighty! Mark their outspoken frankness. The 
 great and honoured apostle would feel it no reflection, even on 
 his delicate and manly independence, to draw his support 
 
EIGHTS OF THE REDEEMER. 23 
 
 entirely from the members of the Church. Why so ? For the 
 substantial reason that by his services to them he was render- 
 ing more than an equivalent. The advantage would lie on 
 their side, not his. The benefit which he gave was large ; the 
 benefit he received was small. There was an overplus to his 
 account. And that overplus was infinite. Yes, there is no 
 propoiiion between the " carnal things r and the " spiritual." 
 Who would for one moment weigh a world's wealth, and all 
 the comforts, luxuries, and splendours it can buy, against even 
 the brief glimpses of joy that break from eternity upon the 
 melted heart of a new-born child of God? Who could call 
 his contribution a sacrifice, if, by supporting gospel ordi- 
 nances, it helped to dig at his very door a channel for the 
 river of life to flow in ? 
 
 We have thus seen how the apostle was inspired to write 
 regarding the maintenance of the servants of Christ, and, as 
 involved in this, of all gospel ordinances, at two periods of his 
 ministry, viz., to the Thessalonians, about a.d. 52, and to the 
 Corinthians, about a.d. 56. Let us hear him once more a few 
 years later. 
 
 1 Tim. v. 17, "Let the elders that rule well be counted 
 worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in word 
 and doctrine." Mark here, first, There were certain elders who 
 gave themselves to the work of teaching and its kindred duties. 
 These were the ministers of the Church. Secondly, The honour 
 referred to includes, as its bulkiest element, an honourable 
 maintenance. Is this doubted? Then read the next verse, 
 " For the Scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that 
 treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his 
 reward.'* His meaning is clear. And for proof he rests 
 again on the written Word. Again he appeals to the same 
 authorities. That old merciful statute, how fresh it seems in 
 the apostle's eye ! Does he not deal with it as if, in its em- 
 blematic import, it were a statute yet 1 He does. It involves 
 
24 THE DUTY, IN ITS BINDING OBLIGATION 
 
 a principle of permanent power, and of great importance. If 
 it were a mere illustration, lie would not place it side by side 
 with that other statute from the lips of our Divine legislator. 
 About it there can be no doubt Royal authority enacted it. 
 It is the great fundamental law of ministerial support, re- 
 appearing in all its force. 
 
 Again, in the case of Timothy himself, we find by example 
 what is the settled order in this matter. In 1 Tim. iv. 15, we 
 find the young evangelist enjoined to " give himself wholly to 
 reading, exhortation, and prayer." How was this possible, 
 unless his support had been drawn from those to whom he 
 ministered? Had he a private fortune to live on? Though 
 he had, would the apostle, with his noble forwardness in dis- 
 cerning merit and awarding praise, have omitted all mention 
 of it, quietly taking for granted that, as a matter of course, 
 his young friend would live upon it? Certainly not. That 
 would be an injustice to Timothy, and to his people a grievous 
 injury. It is plain this young minister lived entirely on the 
 contributions of the Church. And it is equally clear that he 
 continued to do so, for the same apostle, in writing to him long 
 afterwards, when his own " good fight" was nearly over, and 
 the " crown of righteousness" in view, tells him to devote to 
 his sacred work his whole time and unhampered energies : 
 " Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man 
 that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life." 
 
 We have thus seen that the maintenance of ordinances is a 
 tribute to the Lord Jesus, and is enjoined by Him on His 
 people. Let us now inquire, further, Is this tribute due? this 
 authority valid? To Christians this needs not to be proved, 
 but it greatly needs to be enforced. Let us calmly look at it 
 together. As creatures, all we have belongs to the great Pro- 
 prietor in the heavens. "All things come of thee." These 
 bodies, " fearfully and wonderfully made," are His. That 
 more wonderful intelligence within, so keen in vision, so varied 
 
EIGHTS OF THE REDEEMER. 25 
 
 in power, endowed with a kingly immortality, is the breath of 
 His "infinite understanding." It is, therefore, His sacred 
 right to have every faculty exercised for Him. These varied 
 blessings with which our lot is crowded — food and raiment, 
 comforts and luxuries, and the money that buys them — all 
 belong to Him. But has He not made gift of them to us? 
 Yes; but not unconditionally. They are ours/<?r Him. The 
 gift brings with it an obligation — the property, a burden. The 
 great King claims from us " suit and service." He deserves, 
 too, by His infinite excellences, what His creative power and 
 sovereign authority entitle Him to demand. And when we 
 consider this glorious Lord as a Redeemer, and the creature 
 as reclaimed by almighty grace from sin and ruin, does not 
 this added relationship immeasurably enhance the weight of 
 authority on the one side, and the force of obligation on the 
 other? Christians, look at it. For you the heavens were 
 moved. Over you the bowels of mercy yearned. Amid the 
 rush of sovereign motives impelling, and daring enormities of 
 sin provoking, to a vengeance that should glorify His omni- 
 potent purity, the offended One stayed His hand from punish- 
 ing. Nay, with an astonishing grace, which none but Himself 
 can fathom, the Sovereign Lawgiver stooped to human frailty — 
 bore a life of neglect and toil — became the meek sufferer of 
 mortal agonies. Amazing sacrifice ! And this is the price of 
 your deliverance. God is honoured now, and His law fulfilled 
 for you. The virulent power of evil within you is mercifully 
 broken. Your heart is quickened and purified by the Spirit. 
 Heaven's holy joys are won for you, and you are preparing for 
 them. Most blessed people, beyond all thought! But, oh! 
 that blood which bought you has dropped on all your duties, 
 enjoyments, and hopes. Your temporal blessings come from 
 the hand of mercy, and under the seal of mediatorial grace. 
 Favours forfeited have come again, all redolent with the fra- 
 grance of a Saviour's work. And does not the experience of 
 
26 THE DUTY, IN ITS BINDING OBLIGATION 
 
 this great salvation bring a mighty increase to the power of all 
 previous obligations'? Is not the glorious* Mediator invested 
 now with authority more weighty and more tender? You are 
 doubly His, for He has bought you back from death. You 
 are given into His hand, and with you all things else. This 
 mighty King, with many crowns, resting now in glory from 
 the toils of a painful and humbling Mediatorship, presses 
 closely on your heart His claims of sovereign authority. And 
 by all that He endured, and all that He bestows, He claims 
 the consecration to Himself of every feeling, every faculty, every 
 portion of worldly substance. Oh! can we grudge, dare we 
 withhold tliat little portion of our substance, needed for the 
 support of ordinances, which He deserves and demands as a 
 tribute to His high authority and glorious grace? 
 
INTERESTS OF THE SOUL. 27 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE DUTY, IN ITS BINDING OBLIGATION INTERESTS OF THE 
 
 SOUL. 
 
 The second branch of this obligation is that which refers to 
 the interests of our own souls. On this point one or two main 
 statements will serve to mark out the channel for our thoughts. 
 
 First — There is an obligation resting on all Christians to 
 promote the true interests of their souls. This will be denied 
 or doubted by no one. It is but a higher application of the 
 law of self-preservation. If the preservation of the mortal life 
 be a duty as well as an instinct, much more emphatically is it 
 so to seek the maintenance and growth of the spiritual life. 
 The duty is inseparable from the privilege. 
 
 Secondly — This obligation extends to all the means available 
 for the attainment of the end in view. This also needs no argu- 
 ment to make it good. An obligation to an end covers the 
 whole intervening space — with equal authority binding to the 
 provision and employment of means, where these are necessary 
 and attainable. 
 
 Thirdly — The ordinances of the gospel are fitted with Divine 
 wisdom for securing this object. Let us look carefully into this 
 statement. 
 
 The grand crisis of the soul, in which Almighty grace deals 
 with it, and determines to good the complexion of its endless 
 destiny, is unique in character and importance. Bringing a 
 glorious and happy reversal, it can occur only once. But the 
 vital processes through which the spirit passed in emerging 
 from wrath to favour, and from the corruption of the old nature 
 
ZO THE DUTY, IN ITS BINDING OBLIGATION 
 
 to the holy affections of the new, are continued still. While 
 the sovereign act of acquittal and acceptance is completed at 
 once, admitting neither repetition nor continuation, the faith 
 on which it proceeded is to be a standing exercise of the soul. 
 The genial penitence and tender love into which it melts the 
 heart are to be occupants of that heart for ever. All these 
 governing exercises of thought and feeling in which that new 
 life breathed at first are to be renewed and repeated every day. 
 There must be growth : " Ye are God's building." There must 
 be diligent cultivation : " Ye are God's husbandry. And inas- 
 much as this has to be prosecuted on a field not entirely cleared 
 of enemies, the life becomes a warfare. These enemies are 
 both within and without. Self-righteous pride would still lift 
 itself up in the sight of God. The crucified flesh strives for 
 mastery still. An infirm faith permits the facts of the gospel 
 to fall back from their commanding place in the heart. That 
 heart gravitates to evil. The new spiritual nature has to make 
 way amid and against all previous tendencies, prepossessions, 
 associations, habits of thought and feeling. And the condemned 
 world without, pursuing its own dark and godless way, grasping 
 madly at the hollow forms of happiness which rank and honour, 
 riches and fame, present, is pressing closely round to pollute 
 him with the contagion, and hurry him away in the tumult of 
 its eager rage for trifles. Amid this array of enemies, most of 
 them native to his heart, and at home there, beleaguering the 
 very seat of power, and getting easily within his guard, what 
 wrestling saint would not hail the help of a powerful ally 1 
 Christians ! that help is near. Our blessed Lord has lodged it 
 in the ordinances of His Church. The Sabbath calm is holy. 
 It reminds you solemnly of a holy Saviour, who, to " redeem 
 you from all iniquity," consented even to die. It gives you 
 leisure to weigh, fairly and deliberately, the nature and results 
 of these leanings to evil, while by its soothing power it so re- 
 fines and elevates, as to make the sensitive spirit recoil from 
 
INTERESTS OF THE SOUL. 29 
 
 sin as a gross and offensive thing. But more than the Sabbath 
 itself is its "meeting of saints," especially when outward 
 elements hold forth affectingly the condescending grace of the 
 gospel. The social prayer and praise, fostering faith and love, 
 heighten the holy breathings of each by the glow of a common 
 fervour. And more than the Sabbath, with its holy calm, 
 and worshipping multitudes, and solemn sacraments — because 
 embracing and employing all — is the preacher's living voice, 
 uttering the words of the living God. Your sense of sin is 
 unhealthily feeble — he strips from the vile thing its disguise 
 and apology, and quickens your dormant conscience to seize 
 and condemn it. You are struggling with some rampant vice 
 — he leads you to the high tower of a Saviour's strength, and 
 gives you good hope through grace of an eventual triumph. 
 You are battling, or perhaps almost ceasing to battle, with "an 
 evil heart of unbelief," that would throw a haze over all the 
 revelations of God, and lead you to distrust the Saviour's grace 
 — he comes with his weekly message, setting solemnly before 
 your mind the grand realities of the gospel, pressing on your 
 heart anew its wondrous display of love, making doubts disap- 
 pear, and suspicions flee, and the chilled heart melt and bend 
 before the majestic grace of Deity incarnate, and dying for our 
 deliverance. Oh ! is not this display of facts, so incomparably 
 glorious, by one who has felt their power, the best conceivable 
 means of recalling the heart from its wanderings, breaking the 
 spell of its worldliness, and giving it a mighty impulse in the 
 prosecution of its heavenward path 1 Christians ! all this is for 
 you. The Lord himself has given it. You are charged with the 
 support of it. Your soul's welfare is bound up with its continu- 
 ance. By all that high authority which binds you to be like 
 your Lord — by all that is ravishing in His smile, and terrible 
 in His disapproval — by all that is loathsome in sin, and lovely 
 in holiness, and desirable in the perfection of your spiritual 
 nature — you are bound to the maintenance of these precious 
 
30 THE DUTY, IN ITS BINDING OBLIGATION — 
 
 ordinances. You need not be reminded how important is the 
 place assigned in Scripture to these ordinances, and especially 
 how vast a range of beneficent operation the Christian minister 
 is represented as occupying. Do you need instruction ? he 
 " teaches every man in all wisdom : " encouragement ? he is 
 " the helper of your joy : " quickening ? " reprove, rebuke, ex- 
 hort," are his standing orders : nourishment ? he is both a 
 " shepherd " and a " nurse." So that over the whole breadth 
 of your spiritual being, and compass of your spiritual needs, 
 the servant of Christ " is set for " your effectual help. Most 
 precious institute ! The Lord himself has owned and blessed 
 it. It has been to innumerable souls the channel of heavenly 
 grace. It has been so to you. It must be so always. Your 
 thirsty soul must drink and drink again at this rill of " living 
 water," and never cease or slacken till it enter the land where 
 the Sabbath and the Supper last for ever — where outward 
 means and emblems are no more needed, and the little bands 
 of earthly worshippers unite to swell the "general assembly" 
 of "the just made perfect," and the preacher's rousing and 
 warning words are merged in the song of eternal triumph. 
 Till then the privilege lasts. Till then the obligation presses. 
 What Christian heart can grudge a liberal gift to the support 
 of ordinances which the Saviour blesses to the furtherance of 
 so glorious an issue? Who can contemplate without horror 
 the results of their cessation to his own purity, and progress, 
 and hopes of heaven ? By what name, then, shall we call the 
 refusal to render them any support ? Is it ingratitude ? Is it 
 folly? Is it blindness to the true interests of the soul? It is 
 all three in one. 
 
WELFARE OF POSTERITY. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE DUTY, IN ITS BINDING OBLIGATION WELFARE OF 
 
 POSTERITY. 
 
 The last ground of obligation to the support of gospel ordi- 
 nances is the welfare of the coming generation, and, through it, 
 of those that follow. The argument here must be addressed 
 mainly to parents ; for, though others are deeply interested, it 
 is in the case of parents that the duty culminates. 
 
 Children are " a heritage " from God. He has given them 
 in charge to the parents. The trust is weighty beyond all con- 
 ception. It involves a maintenance for the body, and the 
 careful development of the intellectual faculties. Most 
 important of all, it binds to the training of the moral feelings, 
 and to the employment of every instrumentality for renewing 
 the heart, and thus securing their true and lasting happiness. 
 A soul is at stake, with high powers and immortal being. Its 
 whole character and endless destiny are coloured and moulded 
 by parental influence. The parental obligation has in it, 
 therefore, the authority of a providential law, and the weight 
 of everlasting interests. Great need is there, surely, for the 
 diligent use of all means available for helping in its fulfilment. 
 High among these means rank the ordinances of the gospel. 
 It is true that a parent's primary duty is to exert his personal 
 influence with a child in the quiet circle of home. And his 
 advantages for this are manifold. His power is a combination 
 of influences. The filial instinct and the natural conscience 
 are on his side. Gratitude, reverence, affection, unite to make 
 the child's heart a softened soil, on which all warnings and all 
 
32 THE DUTY, IN ITS BINDING OBLIGATION — 
 
 lessons light. He is with his child constantly, and at the 
 forming period, in the fresh morning of life, when the curious 
 mind is opening, and its absorbents are in fullest vigour. 
 But the wisest parent will be the first to own the desirable- 
 ness, and to welcome the prospect, of other help. Outward 
 ordinances are most admirably suited to his purpose. For, 
 (1.) They are memoi'ials of facts, and facts are more level 
 to the understanding of children than doctrines, expressed 
 abstractly as such. It is matter of thankful joy that, under 
 the guise of narrative, the leading doctrines of revelation have 
 been so advantageously conveyed. (2.) They appeal to the 
 senses. Now, we know that in children the senses are in 
 liveliest exercise. Most of our mental furniture enters early 
 by the channels which they open up. Children reason little, 
 and comprehend reasonings less. The material of thought 
 pours in through every avenue, but the elaboration is a sub- 
 sequent process. They live mainly in the region of the 
 sensible. But all the more are their observant eyes awake to 
 everything around them. 
 
 In both dispensations of His grace, the Lord has condescend- 
 ingly consulted the good of children, by setting forth to the 
 eye striking memorials of important events, as the means of 
 stimulating inquiry, and unfolding and enforcing truth. Every 
 year, on a stated day, the Hebrew children saw — strange 
 sight — blood trickling down the door-posts of their dwelling. 
 And when they asked, " What meaneth this?" there was pre- 
 sented to the parents a most favourable opening through which 
 to pour into their earnest and excited minds the wondrous 
 story of selecting grace, and the terrors of a midnight vengeance 
 which left not one Egyptian dwelling without its dead. When 
 these same children saw the first-born of man and beast, with 
 solemn rites, devoted to the God of Israel, their curious minds 
 were again led back to the same impressive facts (Ex. xiii. 14). 
 
 For seven days in the year the thousands of Israel left their 
 
WELFARE OF POSTERITY. 33 
 
 stated dwellings, and lived in slim tents of palm and willow 
 (Lev. xxiii. 40). Strange conduct this ! But most striking 
 as a picture of the desert life of their fathers ; and to the 
 young of ail coming generations, a most impressive memorial 
 of the power and grace which led a feeble and rebellious multi- 
 tude through the perils of the wilderness. 
 
 Twelve stones, from the midst of Jordan, were laid together 
 on the site of Israel's first encampment in Canaan, to be for. all 
 time coming a sign to all; and to children especially, a stimulus 
 to inquiry, and a visible witness to that triumphant power 
 which dammed up the swollen river to let the ransomed people 
 pass (Josh. iv. 8). The weekly rest for the weary was full of 
 quiet suggestiveness, even to the young heart, presenting as 
 the ground of grateful thought the nation's happy escape from 
 bondage. 
 
 The ordinances of the Christian Church are fraught with 
 similar power of impression. The Sabbath-calm tells to all, 
 but to the young with special interest, the marvellous story of 
 a Saviour's victory. And, if rightly taught, what sight could 
 be to their susceptible hearts more striking and sublime than 
 this blessed ordinance, like a majestic bow spanning time's 
 whole expanse, with one end resting on the tranquil purity of 
 Eden, and the other melting in the eternal rest 1 The baptism 
 of a babe is a solemn and impressive spectacle, fitted to lead 
 little children to serious thought, and to anxious inquiries 
 about the origin and meaning of the ordinance. The sight of 
 earnest worshippers gathering to God's house, and, most of all, 
 sitting down to their communion feast, with serious air and 
 thoughts turned inward, and handing to each other bread and 
 wine, as if all strifes were hushed, and love had bound the 
 throng of guests into one band of brotherhood — is it not most 
 stirring and impressive ? Well may children cry, " What 
 meaneth this ? " And gladly will the Christian parent answer 
 by recounting the wonders of a " love stronger than death. " 
 
 c 
 
34 THE DUTY, IN ITS BINDING OBLIGATION 
 
 The presence of a minister, with kindly gravity, and words 
 of earnest affection, is full of power to waken the mind and 
 move the heart of the young. The conscience even of a child 
 is accessible to his remonstrances against sin; and when the 
 servant of Christ, with all his Master's authority, deals forth 
 saving truth from his place in the house of God, amid the 
 stillness, attention, and seriousness of listening worshippers, or 
 whispers soothing words of counsel and encouragement at the 
 sick-bed of a father or a mother, or strives with patient kind- 
 ness to lead his own young heart heavenwards, who can tell 
 with what deep impressiveness a ministry like this is fraught? 
 What would a Christian parent not give to preserve an instru- 
 mentality so powerful? What amount of worldly substance 
 would he not be prepared to surrender so as to secure its con- 
 tinuance ? These ordinances are the authorised and ordinary 
 channels of saving grace. The Lord himself has promised 
 His efficacious presence and blessing to all who rightly 
 use them. Christian parents ! this " promise is to you and 
 to your children." But even apart from the promise, and 
 taking into view only the facts of ordinary experience, is it not 
 a probable thing that the prayerful and assiduous employment 
 of gospel means, for the child and with him, will result in the 
 attainment of the proper end of the gospel, viz., the saving 
 of the soul 1 This is more than enough to bring a weighty 
 obligation, and to warrant decisive action in their employment 
 and support. How would you act in the sphere of ordinary 
 life % Suppose you inferred from the success of others, or 
 were told, on high authority, that in a certain river, within 
 certain prescribed limits, and by the diligent employment of a 
 certain apparatus, you had a favourable chance, amounting 
 almost to a certainty, of finding a nugget of gold, would you 
 not set to work at once in right earnest, and would not your 
 diligence, and the sum you were willing to lay out on the appa- 
 ratus, be proportioned to the expected size of the nugget ? 
 
WELFARE OF POSTERITY. 35 
 
 Christian parents ! the prize you seek is worth more than a 
 world of solid gold. The salvation of your child, deliverance 
 from a doom too fearful to contemplate, the purging of a cor- 
 rupt nature, enrolment among the sons of God, whose heritage 
 is in the heavens for ever, — oh ! is not this a blessedness worth 
 praying for, and labouring after, and supporting an apparatus 
 to secure % By what standard will you reckon the proportion 
 between the cost of ordinances and this prize of endless purity 
 and joy? There is no proportion. And the obligation to 
 support them is weighty beyond all calculation. 
 
 One word more on this point. Every instance of withhold- 
 ing or limiting unduly the support of Christian ordinances 
 tends towards their downfall. Let it become general, and their 
 cessation is inevitable. Now, what, in such an event, would be 
 the condition of the world — that world in which your children 
 and their offspring are to think and act 1 Look carefully at this. 
 
 These ordinances are not only helps for the Christian, and 
 to many the means of renewal and life, but they are the con- 
 servators of moral healthfulness in the general community. They 
 throw a mellow light on the whole circle of society — even on 
 those portions of it which never come within the sphere of the 
 peculiar power, purity, and joys of the gospel. They quicken 
 the public conscience. • They raise a protest against sin. They 
 hold up to the eye of guilty indulgence a condemning picture 
 of Divine righteousness. They recall the jaded world to 
 thoughts of a higher life. They fan and filter the public sen- 
 timent, and preserve a freshness in it. Mighty agents ! and 
 beneficent as mighty ! They keep down gross vices, in some 
 measure, and stop the impious mouth of braggart infidelity; so 
 keeping clear the soil in which your young ones are to grow. 
 But let these outward ordinances be suspended — let the 
 preacher's dues be withheld, and his voice silenced, and the 
 social feasts of Christians left unprovided for — how terrible 
 would be the eclipse ! The godless world itself would shudder 
 
36 THE DUTY, IN ITS BINDING OBLIGATION — 
 
 at the darkness, and for a short time gaze perplexedly upon 
 the blank. The Christian Church might " hang her harp upon 
 the "wallows," " because none come to the solemn feasts." Her 
 powerful voice is silenced. The salt has lost its savour. So- 
 ciety goes to corruption. Kank vices, the fungi of a degenerate 
 community, grow boldly up in the shade. Godly character, 
 clearly defined against the darkening mass of evil, stands forth 
 as a better mark for the scoffer; while the defence and encou- 
 ragement of a common faith and worship has fallen from the 
 hands of the Church. On such a soil, in such an atmosphere, 
 what Christian parent could bear to plant his child ? But this is 
 not all. If you withdraw the ordinances for which you pay, then 
 the ordinance for winch you do not pay will follow. You could 
 not preserve the Sabbath from obliteration. The sacred space 
 woidd collapse under the pressure of eager worldliness without, 
 when its holy furniture of social worship and sacramental 
 observances was gone. That isle of calm would sink in the 
 seething deep of the world's breathless trifling; and heathenism 
 Avould come again with deeper guilt and a heavier curse ; ancl 
 the rebellious earth, robbing God of His best witness, and 
 bereaving itself of the mightiest means of blessing, would be 
 prepared for final vengeance. 
 
 We say not, that this dark day of suspended ordinances and 
 crippled energies is coming on the Church. We know it is not. 
 The sovereign Lord in His grace has taken pledge of the future 
 that it shall not. Nor do we say, that such a catastrophe 
 enters into the calculations of those who sin by withholding or 
 stinting their Christian liberality. But we do say, that this 
 appalling result would follow if the sin became general. And 
 the perennial flow of liberality in others, kept up by Divine 
 grace, and insuring the maintenance of Christian ordinances, 
 abates neither the dangerous tendency nor the moral delin- 
 quency of our conduct in withholding or unduly limiting our 
 contributions. 
 
WELFARE OF POSTERITY. 37 
 
 Here, then, my friends, is our argument to you, the men of 
 this generation. 
 
 The future lies at your feet, waiting to receive at your hand 
 the impress of its character and destiny. You are charged by 
 God with the welfare of your children. The trust is binding as 
 the authority of God, weighty as the worth and immortality of 
 the soul. The obligation which it brings extends to the use of 
 all available helps for discharging it. The ordinances of the 
 Christian Church are a powerful means of advancing the highest 
 interests of your children — directly, by bearing on their own 
 minds, and, indirectly, by elevating the tone of general society — 
 and thus preparing for them a stage on which they will have to 
 do battle with a less virulent power of evil. By the authority of 
 God ; the claims of everlasting creatures whose felicity depends 
 on you, and whose best interests God has bound you as parents, 
 and ye have doubly bound yourselves as Christian parents, to 
 promote ; the yearnings of your own fatherly affections ; and 
 the aspirations of your Christian hearts after the perpetuation 
 of the Church of Christ, with all its fulness of blessing, you are 
 urgently called on to maintain in efficiency all the ordinances 
 of the gospel. 
 
38 THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE- 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE WITH LOVE TO THE 
 
 LORD JESUS HUMILITY. 
 
 Hitherto we have been opening up the great fountains of 
 authority on this subject. Now our attention must be directed 
 to the streams which issue from them. The obligation to 
 contribute of our worldly substance for the support of ordi- 
 nances has been proved; now we have to illustrate the mode 
 of carrying it out. Previously, the design was to stimulate the 
 conscience ; now, it is to guide it. 
 
 There are several properties the possession of which is 
 essential to the true, full, and acceptable discharge of this 
 duty. All our contributions of support to gospel ordinances 
 must spring from hearty love to the Lord Jesus, and attachment 
 to His service; must be characterised by humility, cheerfulness, 
 and regularity; and in amount must bear due proportion to our 
 means, and be sufficient to secure a comfortable maintenance to the 
 minister. 
 
 1. Our contributions must spring from hearty love to the 
 Lord Jesus. 
 
 This is a fundamental requisite. It is essential to the 
 validity of every Christian act, and of this among the rest. 
 The gracious Lord is the great centre of all the thoughts and 
 feelings that fill the Christian bosom. Self has been turned 
 out of the heart as its ruling aim and end. This old centre of 
 power is now drawn into the general movement round the 
 new. Christian feelings and acts are genuine only in so far as 
 they regard Him. Every true disciple of Jesus will admit 
 
WITH LOVE TO THE LORD JESUS — HUMILITY. 39 
 
 this — will rejoice in it. In Christian ethics it is an axiom. 
 But not the less do we need to be reminded of it. The heart 
 is ever swinging back to its old centre. We have need to be 
 on the watchtower daily, to detect and counteract the treacher- 
 ous movement. 
 
 The most common form which this wrong tendency takes, 
 in connexion with the duty of contributing, is to substitute 
 stealthily the desire of reputation among men for the true love 
 of Jesus. The Christian man goes about the duty calmly, 
 seriously, heartily, and with no apprehension of anything 
 wrong, or in danger of going wrong. At first his intention is 
 directed rightly. His eye rests adoringly on the self-sacrificing 
 Lord, and the eye affects the heart with joy at the thought of 
 yielding Him this tribute. Insensibly his eye relaxes, then 
 averts, its gaze. He goes on, however. By and by he bethinks 
 liim of looking inwards. And, lo ! he finds his heart almost 
 entirely occupied with thoughts pointing to the opinions of 
 men. Vile self is back again — a viper in the holy of holies. 
 This deceit is often practised ; and most adroitly. No marvel ; 
 the false " angel of light " has his hand on it, grudging Christ 
 the honour, and His disciple the holy pleasure, of such a 
 tribute. Christian men ! ye have need of circumspection here. 
 With all true devotion to your Lord, and love to His ordi- 
 nances, and high-minded desire to yield His servants a com- 
 fortable maintenance, there may creep in at the base of your 
 feelings a secret reference to the opinions and applause of 
 men. And as it is good men that will most readily present 
 themselves to the mind, the deceit is all the more delicately 
 perfect. Not less real, however, is the displacement of your 
 Lord, and the denial of His just rights. The approbation of 
 the good may be always prized and welcomed as the con- 
 sequence of Christian action — never sought as its end. Nor 
 does it lessen, but rather augment the subtlety, and, therefore, 
 the insidious power, of this self-seeking vanity, that a Christian 
 
10 THE DUTY, IN ITS EIGHT PERFORMANCE — 
 
 man can sincerely say, " I rejoice in giving. It refreshes me. 
 It will bring encouragement, perhaps stimulus, to others, when 
 they see it" If this Christian man will reflect, he will see that 
 he has, in these last words of his, followed his subscription into 
 the published list. And here he treads on dangerous ground. 
 For, from the point at which he contemplates this result of his 
 contributing, the transition is easy to a quiet complacency of 
 feeling in which his name seems gathering round it special 
 notice, and winning for its owner special regard. These public 
 registers of Christian liberality are useful, as log-books of the 
 Church, marking her rate of outward progress, and affording 
 also a theme of refreshing gratitude, as well as a means of 
 powerful stimulus. But there is need of watching that they 
 make it not too easy and too tempting a thing to " let the left 
 hand know what the right hand doeth." They give a mis- 
 chievous facility for gratifying the inferior motive. And is it 
 not to be feared that we can regard them as only approximately 
 representing the amount of genuine love to the Lord Jesus, 
 and desire to advance His cause? Can we doubt that the 
 space occupied by the contributions is considerably larger than 
 that occupied by the pure feelings? The appearance overlaps 
 the reality. The issue of notes exceeds the amount of bullion. 
 But what then ? If it be true, that in the whole sum of con- 
 tributions a certain proportion must be regarded as the sign of 
 unwitting or deliberate vanity — not of true affection to the 
 heavenly Saviour — shall not we strive with all the more wakeful 
 energy to bring our own feelings and contributions into better 
 correspondence? Let us prayerfully and studiously exclude 
 all side reference to the approbation of men. Poor worms of 
 the dust ! what avails the breath of their praise, though it 
 poured from the lips of a unanimous world. Let us fix our 
 eye more steadily on that glorious Lord who is in Himself 
 incomparably excellent, and is to us a mighty Redeemer from 
 wrath, the procurer of peace, and purity, and joy — a king, a 
 
WITH LOVE TO THE LORD JESUS — HUMILITY. 41 
 
 shepherd, a friend on earth and in the heavens for ever. 
 Blessed Lord ! to render Thee the outward gift, and withhold 
 the inward love, is to rob Thee of half Thy glory, and to lessen 
 the joy which Thou lovest best. 
 
 In thus pleading the paramount claims of the Lord Jesus, 
 as against the stealthy reference of the heart to mere human 
 applause, we are by no means to be understood as excluding from 
 the category of proper motives either affection to the Christian 
 minister, or anxious and deliberate reference to the interests of 
 the soul. A motive may be inferior without being improper 
 or unlawful. Both of these, if kept in their proper place of 
 subordination, are auxiliary, not adverse, to the grand ruling 
 affection. (1.) A minister is Christ's servant, and the respect- 
 ful love that greets him is reflected back on his Master. He 
 is a gift, and true regard to him embraces the heavenly Giver 
 with a love incomparably deeper. "He that receiveth you 
 receiveth me," said the Lord himself; and never did Chris- 
 tian heart glow with adoring love to Him without clasping 
 them in its cordial embrace. There is, indeed, a danger that 
 the heart's affectionate regard should stop short at the channel 
 of grace, leaving the Great Fountain without due tribute. 
 This is criminal idolatry of man, ungrateful robbeiy of God. 
 It soon punishes itself. There is attached to it a self-acting 
 power of retribution. It will stint the supply of grace, leave 
 the soul dry and unrefreshed, dwarf and enfeeble its growth, 
 and bring down deserved contempt on its puerile folly. He 
 who fondly worships a man must be content with what man 
 can furnish — dry husks of knowledge, cold arguments, arid 
 rhetoric, that have in them neither the fire nor the unction of 
 heaven. But let not the follower of Christ be driven by the 
 fear of abusing respectful and affectionate regard for the minis- 
 ter, to the neglect or suppression of this amiable and praise- 
 worthy feeling. Cherish and encourage the servants of Christ. 
 Hold them high in honour " for their work's sake." When 
 
42 THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE — 
 
 you contribute for their maintenance, let your personal regard 
 to them bear its part unblushingly among the moving impulses. 
 It is a just and generous feeling. Give it free play, — but 
 reverently, under the eye of the Great Master. It will do 
 your own soul a benefit. (2.) And surely it needs not be 
 proved that the welfare of our own souls is a legitimate motive 
 for the support of Christian ordinances. We saw before that 
 it is one of the grand fountains of authority binding to the 
 discharge of this duty. We are under solemn obligation to do 
 the best for our immortal souls, and to employ all available 
 means for securing this result. Fear not, then, to admit into 
 your view, as a distinct and powerful motive, the advantage of 
 your own souls. The Lord himself appealed to this true and 
 rational self-love. So did His apostles. So does the whole eco- 
 nomy of grace. It would be unnatural to forbid it. What other 
 fulcrum is there on which to rest the lever of gospel warnings 
 and gospel welcomes 1 The weight of eternal interests — the vast 
 and pressing necessities of an immortal spirit, with unimagin- 
 able capacities of joy and misery — oh ! what burden of anxieties 
 can be too heavy, what intensity of excited emotion too great, 
 for these 1 Give them their full influence. The more you are 
 overwhelmed with the sense of infinite need, the more will 
 you cast yourself without reserve and without pride upon 
 the glorious Surety. And this will kindle and fan a flame of 
 adoring and grateful love that will dissolve and dissipate all 
 the selfishness of the heart. Fear not to bring your desire of 
 good to your soul closely into contact with your Christian 
 beneficence. 
 
 2. The duty of supporting gospel ordinances must be per- 
 formed with humility. 
 
 It is natural for creatures, originally made to "live" by 
 obeying, to revert to this " law of righteousness." The bent to 
 obedience is in the nature still, even when the ability is gone ; 
 nay, even after the humbled heart has gratefully received the 
 
WITH LOVE TO THE LOED JESUS — HUMILITY. 43 
 
 righteousness of another. Self-righteousness lives yet, though 
 it does not reign. The treacherous heart slips back insensibly 
 to the original way of life — covertly building again in the 
 shade the foundation which it cordially demolished before. 
 Now, in this way, the offering of worldly substance made to 
 the support of Christian ordinances, may be abused into a 
 ground of confidence, a secret source of self-elevation. Do you 
 not sometimes find rising in your mind, without licence either 
 of your judgment, your conscience, or your faith, a warm and 
 pleasurable feeling, the analysis of which presents a large pro- 
 portion of self- approbation, and a hidden thought of deserving 
 something in the sight of God 1 True, the self-righteous basis 
 of this pleasure is far in the background. There may not even 
 be the consciousness of its existence. But it is there, and in 
 active operation, tinting and vitiating the whole springs of 
 Christian liberality. Yes, the vanity which stealthily seeks for 
 human applause is not more mischievous in its power than 
 the pride which covertly builds in the byways of the heart a 
 pile of merits on which it may get nearer, to invite the smile 
 of God. Fond and criminal folly ! It dishonours the incar- 
 nate Lord by impeaching His perfect righteousness, and robs 
 Him by diverting to another channel, however briefly, a por- 
 tion of His tribute of unfaltering trust and grateful praise. 
 Most costly folly! which brings present drought upon the 
 spirit, and for which the penitent heart must pay in shame, 
 and sharp regrets, and self-condemning humiliation. Oh! 
 there is need of wakeful tenderness in every act of Christian 
 liberality, to keep the fountain of feeling and action pure from 
 the intrusion of self, to suppress the first rising of that com- 
 placent feeling which would make us stand in the midst of our 
 contributions, like the Pharisee, whispering even in the ear of 
 God, " I pay tithes of all that I possess." Let us look hastily 
 away from our most " liberal devisings" and doings. They 
 are tribute-money, not purchase-money. A thousandfold more 
 
44 THE DUTY, IN ITS EIGHT PERFORMANCE 
 
 than all you have given, or can give, is due to Him, who, 
 " though rich'* in boundless joy and glory, " became poor for 
 us;" and who by His blessed life of purity, and death of 
 atoning virtue, left nothing for His followers to do but to trust 
 and love, to praise and serve Him, to make soul and body, and 
 the whole sum of feelings, powers, and possessions, a " living 
 sacrifice" to Him. Then let us strive and pray for the single 
 eye, as well as the liberal hand. Let all our contributions be 
 viewed as debts, not gifts — as offerings of gratitude and seals of 
 joyful subjection, not as the basis of a claim or the means of 
 recommendation to God. That was the right spirit of giving 
 which humbly exclaimed, in the midst of royal munificence, 
 and the abounding liberality of an exulting nation, " All 
 things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee." 
 The little rills that run from liberal hands into the treasury of 
 God, dropped first from the hand of heavenly bounty. 
 
CHEERFULNESS — REGULARITY. 45 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE — CHEERFULNESS 
 
 REGULARITY. 
 
 3. This duty must be performed with cheerfulness. 
 
 " God loveth a cheerful giver." So said His apostle, when 
 the wants of the poor were to be supplied. The same thing 
 may be said with truth when Christian ordinances, and espe- 
 cially that of the ministry, are to be supported. Cheerfulness 
 includes willingness, hearty interest, and ivell-pleased joyfulness. 
 He who gives thus enjoys that " love " which is " better than 
 life." The Infinite One, whose smile lights up heaven, looks 
 on him with complacent regard. How great the blessedness, 
 and how enviable ! But he who gives grudgingly, with his 
 longing eye looking wistfully after his gift ; or carelessly, throw- 
 ing his gift into the treasury, as he might a similar pittance 
 to get rid of a beggar's importunity ; or dejectedly, with the air 
 of a confessor, gazing on the gap which his contribution has 
 made — shall meet with no such approval. His gift will not be 
 accepted. No offering is welcome without the heart. Now, 
 as Christian men are accessible to these improper feelings — 
 though not altogether nor always under their power — and as 
 temptations to them are pressing in importunately on every 
 hand, it becomes a serious matter to direct aright their habit 
 of thought and feeling on the subject. Let us look into it. 
 
 God has emphatically shewn His love of cheerful giving in 
 the very structure of the Bible. How often has He turned 
 aside from the narrative of great battles, political movements, 
 national vicissitudes, to detail the peaceful triumphs of pious 
 
46 THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE — 
 
 liberality. He loved the cheerful givers. He blessed them at 
 the time ; and for all coming generations He registered their 
 deeds and preserved their honour. This is a most significant 
 fact. The Divine Spirit makes His one book for the human 
 race perpetuate the record of willing gifts for the support of 
 ordinances, through the whole period of the Church's history. 
 The entries date from Moses to Malachi; and a new series 
 begins with the open-hearted liberality of Pentecostal days. 
 These entries stand there still, and will stand while the world 
 lasts. God himself has become the chronicler of willing and 
 liberal contributions. It has been done with evident cordiality. 
 " The Lord loveth a cheerful giver." 
 
 But, apart from the power of these successive records as evi- 
 dences of the Divine feeling in the matter, the instances of cheer- 
 ful giving are in themselves full of refreshing and stimulating 
 power. " They are written for our learning." Let us glance 
 at some of them. When the Redeemer of Israel announced 
 his determination to "dwell in a tent," like His wandering 
 people, and opened the lists for their offerings, at once a tide 
 of spontaneous liberality poured in from the willing-hearted; 
 so that at last, amid distracting abundance, " the people were 
 restrained from giving." Strange perplexity ! Very happy, 
 but very rare ! And the abounding liberality which caused it 
 was of the most triumphant kind. Yes, triumphant ; for it rose 
 over great barriers. Not only did " wise-hearted " women spin 
 rich cloths for curtains, and the princes give costly stones; but 
 spices too, so needful for themselves in a desert, were freely 
 parted with ; and, most difficult of all, men and women of all 
 ranks gave up their jewels — though these were precious, as being 
 of gold and silver — prized, as comely ornaments — above all price, 
 as the memorials of that eventful morning on which their ran- 
 somed multitudes left the land of bondage, laden with the gifts 
 of vanquished enemies. 
 
 Long afterwards, another emergency called for a new national 
 
CHEERFULNESS REGULARITY. 47 
 
 contribution. The aged and venerable David had gathered a 
 vast and varied store of wealth to build "a palace for the Lord 
 God." And when he proclaimed among the assembled thou- 
 sands, " Who is willing to consecrate his services this day unto 
 the Lord?" the nation's heart responded eagerly, by tilling the 
 royal treasury with all precious things. Princes and people 
 " offered willingly;" and, to all, that day of liberal giving was 
 a day of exulting joy. The Lord rewarded the cheerful givers. 
 
 When Hezekiah cleansed the house of the Lord, and restored 
 His interrupted worship, the "free-hearted" brought their 
 offerings, and their tithes of field and flock, in overflowing 
 abundance. In the revival days of his great-grandson, Josiah, 
 it was the same. That brave young monarch, after carrying 
 his reforming movement northwards among the idols of the 
 rival kingdom, laboured " with all his might " to revive neg- 
 lected ordinances in his own capital; and for this purpose he 
 gave large offerings himself, and led the way to his princes, 
 who " gave willingly " to the Divine service. So was it in the 
 days of Ezra, when the captive Jews brought forth their 
 hoarded treasures, and " offered freely " " gold and silver and 
 precious things." 
 
 These instances are enough. They are full of power, and also 
 of reproof, as " ensamples " to us. The whole people gave with 
 hearty joyfulness; and the very record seems to glow as it ever 
 and anon repeats that favourite word, they offered willingly. If 
 they did so in the twilight of revelation — when truth spoke in 
 whispers from type and symbol, and when outward services 
 recalled the memory of events, which, though radiant with 
 Divine glory, brought only temporal blessings — how much more 
 cheerful should be our support of ordinances which are memo- 
 rials of far more glorious triumphs, and means more efficacious 
 for enlightening, moving, and sanctifying. So did the early 
 followers of Jesus feel; and so they acted, not only in the flush 
 of newly- awakened love, when every heart was full, and every 
 
48 THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE — 
 
 hand was open, " and they had all things common," so that 
 the company of apostles lived on the Church's cheerful bounty, 
 but afterwards, when gospel influences ran in ordinary chan- 
 nels. For then, as the record tells approvingly, the Churches 
 gladly maintained the Christian ministry, not even Thessalonica 
 refusing, though her contributions were declined for a special 
 reason ; and many a " Mnason, an old disciple, with whom 
 they lodged,' 1 and many a Gaius, the " host '" of early evange- 
 lists, was stirred up by his liberal heart to " devise liberal 
 things " for the sustentation of gospel agencies ; while from 
 Philippian hearts there seemed a perennial overflow of generous, 
 joyful, and willing-hearted contributions to the apostles' sup- 
 port and comfort. 
 
 But, looking now away from the history of cheerful givings 
 to the rationale of the cheerfulness, who does not see how 
 comely and how reasonable it is 1 
 
 Does not loyalty give freely and cheerfully ? Yes ; and it grudges 
 not to give the ruling power its fixed portion first. And 
 can we allot to God our King only the leavings of our means ? 
 Do we serve our queen so ? Would she submit to be served 
 so 1 Her dues are absolute. They depend on no contin- 
 gencies. They are liable to no deductions. And shall not 
 God's income-tax be apportioned first, ungrudgingly, from the 
 gross sum of our means? Can we permit the intrusion of 
 inferior claims, while the Redeemer's portion is unfixed '? 
 Shall we not rather give His ordinances the "preference share" 
 of our means, and make other interests shape themselves 
 accordingly ? Oh ! if we could but carry about with us the 
 conviction that our heavenly Lord has the first bond over our 
 property, it would make us render His tribute with a cheerful 
 heart and a ready alacrity. 
 
 Does not love give cheerfully ? Ah, yes ! By a mighty 
 affinity it draws out the heart, and makes it one with the 
 object loved, so that to give is no sacrifice but a pleasure. 
 
CHEERFULNESS —REGULARITY. 49 
 
 "What parent grudges to his child the best he has? What 
 loving child will not with cheerfulness repay the boon ? To a 
 husband's heart, are not his partner's wants his own, and his 
 substance hers ? Christians ! love has made you one with 
 Christ. That love is richer, deeper, holier than all earthly 
 affections together. And whenever it truly works within, you 
 cannot but give cheerfully. The warm affection expands till 
 the full heart overflow in deeds of joyful liberality. 
 
 Does not gratitude give cheerfully? It does; and feels it a 
 new favour to make acknowledgments of the old. Is there 
 any creature in the universe under so many obligations as the 
 Christian? None. His case is emphatically peculiar. Angels 
 can join him when he sings, "Worthy is the Lamb;" but 
 their harps are silent when his song proceeds, "Thou hast 
 redeemed us with thy blood." Pardon — a jewel from the 
 cliffs of Sinai — "peace that passeth all understanding'' — a 
 dawning purity that ranks him with the holy, and that will 
 one day burst into the sunshine of unsullied perfection — these 
 richest gifts in the treasury of God, most dearly won, most 
 freely bestowed — who can calculate their value ? What sum 
 of adoring gratitude can adequately acknowledge them ? Heir 
 of felicities like these! wilt thou not rejoice with exceeding 
 joy to support the ordinances that procure and augment them? 
 Oh ! is it not shame and sin to offer a grudging gift with care- 
 less or joyless heart ? 
 
 Lastly, Does not he give cheerfully who gets an equivalent ? 
 and more cheerfully he who gets more? The world's traffic 
 is just a giving to get more. Ay, and a man will give cheer- 
 fully with the hope only of getting more. A thousand casual- 
 ties lie between the giving and the getting. A ship's cargo 
 depends on the seaworthiness of the vessel, and the captain's 
 honesty, and the seaman's efficiency, and the motion of way- 
 ward winds. A fanner's gains are at the mercy of the change- 
 ful weather. But in supporting the means of grace there are 
 
 D 
 
50 THE DUTY 3 IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE — 
 
 no such casualties. He who lays out a little in maintaining 
 ordinances, and who uses these ordinances rightly, will infallibly 
 draw a large and immediate interest. Here is an investment 
 without risk God himself insures the returns. What Chris- 
 tian man will not most gladly give a little of "the carnal 
 things," that he may reap largely of the "spiritual?" Did 
 ever any hear a murmur about the support of ordinances from 
 the lips of one who drew from them spiritual refreshment? 
 The best recipe for cheerful giving is, Get more good — strive 
 more, pray more, to find these precious ordinances " wells of 
 salvation" — and you will feel it an honour and a joy to help 
 in digging them. 
 
 4. This duty must be performed ivith regularity. 
 
 The Jews of old paid annually to the temple treasury half a 
 shekel. The first-fruits and the tithes were given for the sup- 
 port of public ordinances. These were regular contributions. 
 The same regularity is enjoined by the apostle in collecting for 
 the poor : " Upon the first day of the week, let every one of 
 you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him" — a com- 
 mand as appropriate in the case before us. And what Scrip- 
 ture examples enforce, reason highly recommends. 
 
 The ordinances need continual support — our spiritual wants 
 need continual supply ; the support of ordinances must therefore 
 be continual. The holy feelings of loyalty, love, and gratitude, 
 and aspirations after good, from which this support flows, are 
 perennial, so also will be the support. 
 
 Regular contribution has, in many ways, the advantage over 
 its opposite. 
 
 First, It makes giving easier to those who have slender means. 
 " To the poor the gospel is preached ;" and by the poor, in largest 
 numbers, if not in largest amount of contributions, the gospel 
 is supported. Now, regular giving by little is, for such, far 
 easier than less frequent givings in larger sums. In the great 
 majority of cases, our labouring population are paid at intervals 
 
CHEERFULNESS REGULARITY. 51 
 
 of a week or a month, some every day; and those who are 
 paid at more distant terms have commonly some little ways of 
 bringing in money. Now, it is easy to see how much more 
 readily a certain sum can be raised by the gradual accumula- 
 tion of littles than by deducting it all at once from the pay- 
 ment of one week or month. In this way the industrious 
 poor may secure, at little sacrifice, the honour and the gratifi- 
 cation of raising great sums and doing mighty good. They 
 have clone so. In our day, the gathering of farthing to farthing, 
 and the associating of man with man, have done wonders in 
 the sphere of Christian liberality, as well as on the stage of 
 political action. Little rills of contribution, meeting and 
 mingling, have swollen to a mighty river; and the thirsty 
 land, "well watered" now, has drmik refreshing draughts. 
 Our own favoured country, over all its length and breadth, is 
 covered with the tokens and the triumphs of this regular 
 giving. That great growth of a Church — only thirteen years 
 old — has filled her marvellous treasury more from the syste- 
 matic liberality of the poor than from the rich gifts of the 
 wealthy. The sister Churches, running side by side in the race 
 of voluntary offering for the support of gospel ordinances, are, 
 some of them, perhaps even more distinguished for this per- 
 vasive liberality — in the measure of their means and numbers. 
 Most fervently we say, "Go on and prosper." "Much land 
 remains to be possessed." Let the toiling and sweating 
 Christians rise to the consciousness of their power, and put it 
 forth in adding mite to mite with persevering regularity, and 
 their united contributions, going far beyond the supply of 
 ministerial wants, shall provide for the world's white harvest- 
 fields a new and mighty increase of missionary labour. 
 
 But, for rich as well as poor, regular giving brings with it 
 great advantages. For, secondly, The regular discharge of this 
 Christian duty, as of every other, makes it easier. This is a 
 general principle, applicable in all cases and to every rate of con- 
 
52 THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE — 
 
 tribution. Habit makes the performance of the duty " come 
 natural" to the giver. A deep channel is worn in which mind 
 and heart move on almost involuntarily. There is a practised 
 readiness, a holy facility, in the movement. The original 
 friction, once overcome, gradually diminishes. He who gives 
 only an occasional contribution has, on every occasion, to con- 
 tend anew with this retarding influence ; while the man who 
 gives systematically is constantly increasing his own power of 
 motion, and diminishing the resistance. On his side there 
 is thus a double advantage. Besides, regular contribution for 
 the support of ordinances secures in its own favour an established 
 verdict of conscience. The mighty overplus of motives which 
 determined to action at first, the strong and heavenly obligations 
 which set the liberal hand aworking at the command of con- 
 science, are not called upon at every stage to make good their 
 authority. There is no fighting for power now. The reign of 
 these imperial motives and obligations is acknowledged; and, 
 with undisputed claims, they have settled in the seat of power. 
 It were well, indeed, if tins authority often shewed its sceptre 
 and proved its rights ; not as if at the demand of an enemy, and 
 for the purpose of having its claims questioned, but that the 
 unsteady heart might be, consciously and deliberately, brought 
 afresh under the shadow ef its solemn and quickening power. 
 And, in truth, its pressure is never absent from the Christian 
 heart, though it speak in muffled words. But that is the most 
 healthy and vigorous state of feeling in which conscience is 
 anticipated and outrun by love, and, therefore, does not need 
 to be always asserting its authority in a formal manner. Con- 
 tributions then flow naturally, in a continuous stream, from 
 the depths of a loyal and grateful heart. True Christian prin- 
 ciple is not an intermittent spring, but a perennial fountain. 
 No better test could we have of the sincerity of our principle 
 than its calm and durable power. Small regular givings are 
 too petty for pride, too troublesome for worldly indifference, 
 
CHEERFULNESS REGULARITY. 53 
 
 and draw in returns of praise too scanty for the appetite of 
 vanity. Self-righteousness would find a richer feast in one great 
 gift than in the aggregate of many smaller ones. An evil 
 conscience might sternly summon forth a contribution large 
 as the crime for which it sought expiation. But none of these 
 can, as a general rule, be reckoned equal to the task of 
 systematic self-denial, such as regular giving demands. " The 
 love of the Spirit" can alone produce this. The fountain 
 that sends forth a constant stream on earth must first have 
 drunk " water of the rain of heaven." 
 
 Thirdly, The regular discharge of this duty strengthens the 
 principles from which it flows. 
 
 In the natural world the stream would drain the fountain 
 unless fresh supplies poured in. This stream not only keeps 
 clear the channel, and flows with growing ease, but feeds the 
 hidden spring. It is the same with every practical duty. The 
 regular exercise of love in kindly offices gives it new vigour. 
 The doings of chcn-ity&dd power to the feelings of pity. Even 
 so systematic givings exert a backward force upon the heart — 
 strengthening there all its holy feelings of love, and gratitude, 
 and loyal devotion to the Saviour. Bodily exercise not only 
 strengthens the muscles, but warms the frame, purifies the 
 blood, quickens the action of the heart, diffuses over the whole 
 system a genial and healthful life. But to do this it must be 
 regular. And he who takes regular exercise in the path 
 of Christian liberality will find it making, not only givings 
 easier, but the fountains of giving deeper. Liberal doings 
 will foster liberal feelings. 
 
 Then let us gird ourselves for this labour of love. Let us 
 miss no season of contributing, either through indolence or 
 selfishness. Next time the omission would be easier. Beware 
 of the first gap.. Close it up quickly. Selfishness may 
 suddenly come in to perpetuate what forgetfulness began. 
 There is a perilous descent at the feet of every contributor. 
 
54 THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE 
 
 T-he first step may lead him on to shut his hand and seal his 
 heart. And what then 1 His shrivelled soul dies of s{)iritual 
 drought. Dreadful possibility! but real and imminent. To 
 save ourselves from it, to advance the systematic growth of 
 our spiritual nature, and to secure for the Christian Church a 
 large and solid revenue, shall we not resolutely set ourselves 
 to make our givings for the support of gospel ordinances as 
 regular as our receipt of blessing from them? 
 
IN FAIR PROPORTION TO AMOUNT OF MEANS. •>-) 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE IN FAIR PROPORTION 
 
 TO AMOUNT OF MEANS. 
 
 o. The support rendered must be such as to bear a fair proportion 
 to our means. 
 
 In the Christian Church, there is no law fixing the precise 
 proportion. The law of tithes binds no longer. But though it 
 commands not now, may it not instruct? Is it not to be held 
 as indicating generally the proportion which it would be reason- 
 able and proper to give to those who discharge now the duties 
 that devolved on the priests and Levites of old. At the very 
 least, this Divine law, as it passed away, has left behind an 
 emphatic intimation that the support should be highly liberal 
 
 The precise amount is, therefore, to be settled in the court 
 of conscience ; and into this point it is not the sphere of any 
 other man, or body of men, to pry. But there are certain 
 general principles which may help the Christian conscience in 
 determining its duty in this matter. 
 
 (1.) The proportion to be given for the support of ordinances 
 should be adjusted prospectively. It must be done with delibe- 
 rate look at the amount of our income. This department of 
 our expenditure must appear in our calculations alongside of 
 others. It must not be left to accident. Its portion must not 
 be " the crumbs which fall from the table." Who would dare 
 set the ministers of Jesus Christ to " gather up the fragments,* 
 after inferior claims had been satisfied ? Shall Christian men 
 live in easy indulgence, leaving for this most glorious object 
 only a possible margin? Shall they give a determinate place 
 
56 THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE 
 
 and provision to other demands, and leave this to lie, a Lazarus, 
 at their gate 1 This would be to dishonour and defraud the 
 King of Zion. Subjects of our Eedeemer, are you acting so 1 
 It is grievously wrong. " Ye shall eat neither bread, nor 
 parched corn, nor green ears, till ye have brought an offering 
 to your God." 
 
 (2.) The settled portion must not bear alone the burden of 
 unexpected claims. Such claims may appear without warning. 
 Unforeseen emergencies may bring them even to the most 
 sagacious and provident. What shall be done with them? Shall 
 they be laid for discharge at the door of this department of our 
 expenditure? We fear it is often done. The allotment for 
 Christ's house and servants, even when made at first in all sin- 
 cerity, and without reservation, is the first to feel the new 
 pressure. Why so ? Why should it be made to bear most 
 heavily, or perhaps to bear alone, the weight of these unfore- 
 seen claims 1 Is it not enough that it bear its own share ? 
 Ah ! let it be sacredly guarded, for it is a holy thing. Though 
 not yet actually " cast into the treasury," its destination to the 
 service of Christ should throw around it a protective charm. 
 Let it be touched reluctantly, and only at the demand of an 
 urgent emergency. 
 
 (3.) This sacred portion must take rank among the neces- 
 saries, and before the luxuries, of life. We condemn not luxu- 
 ries. As the index and means of refinement, as the products 
 of well-paid industry, as the triumphs and stimulants of art, 
 as the procurers of comfort, they are " the creatures of God, to 
 be received with thanksgiving." But if they be indulged in to 
 the extent of hampering or hindering Christian liberality, they 
 have passed their province. Sin begins at this point. Danger 
 begins long before. We need to keep the curb-rein tight upon 
 selfish indulgence. And in laying out the map of our expen- 
 diture, we must leave the details of bodily or mental luxury to 
 be filled in only after we have determined, deliberately and 
 
IN FAIR PROPORTION TO AMOUNT OF MEANS. Oi 
 
 conscientiously, the supplies due to the great ruling necessaries 
 of life, and among them the maintenance of a gospel ministry. 
 Yes! self-gratification, whether decking the person, ornament- 
 ing the dwelling, glistening in the equipage, lolling on the 
 couch, or feeding on frothy tales of tilings that never were, 
 are, or shall be, is a crime and a cruelty, when it drinks up 
 resources that should go to the supply of Christian ordinances, 
 and thus robs God of His tribute, our souls of the full benefit 
 of an efficient ministry, and the world of its mightiest means 
 of blessing. 
 
 (4.) The amount must be determined as a matter of indivi- 
 dual duty. Men too often "measure themselves by themselves." 
 Herein " they are not wise? Neither yet are they honest. 
 Their contribution is not the dictate of conscience and the 
 representative of its power. It is the sign of deference to 
 general sentiment, and measures the amount of their fear of 
 " singularity." Sometimes it is more than is meet ; for the 
 large givings of others are an incentive to vanity. Generally 
 it is less ; for the small givings of others are a blind to con- 
 science, and an apology for narrow selfishness. But is not this 
 trifling criminally with a solemn question and a momentous 
 interest 1 What matters it to me that my neighbour, who 
 might and should give a large contribution, gives only a small 
 one, calling it "the widow's mite"? Am I to be taken in 
 with this miserable self-deception] Must I go over the list to 
 see what he or others have contributed, and adjust my dona- 
 tion accordingly ? No, no ! It is unmanly. It is unchristian. 
 Let conscience have its perfect work. Let the weighty claims 
 of gospel ordinances be intelligently and impartially pondered. 
 Let the convictions begotten by this prayerful study bear 
 directly, and in full force, upon the decision of the question, 
 " How much is it my duty to bestow on an object so incalcu- 
 lably important V This will be a Christian act; and it will 
 meet Christ's approval. So acted the " poor widow." Her con- 
 
58 THE DUTY, IN ITS EIGHT PERFORMANCE — 
 
 tribution was manifestly the offering of the understanding, the 
 conscience, and the heart ; for it was her all, and was given in 
 quiet humility. The Lord is still " sitting over against the trea- 
 sury.'" Who would not give like her, to get again that approv- 
 ing smile of His? And does not His emphatic approbation of 
 her gift furnish a general rule for ours ? 
 
 But, lastly, our contributions must, in amount, be an answer 
 to the question, " How much would I feel bound to give in 
 order to prevent the withdrawal of ordinances altogether?" 
 If, by some mysterious providence, this dire calamity were 
 threatened, and it depended entirely on the amount of your 
 subscription whether tins mighty apparatus of heavenly grace 
 were to continue or to cease its working, what amount of 
 means would you sacrifice to secure its continuance? Gaze 
 into the tremendous vacancy which would be produced — see 
 " the ways of Zion" untrodden, and her holy rites uncelebrated, 
 and silent Sabbaths mourning the loss of the preacher's living 
 voice, with its words of warning, quickening, and comfort ! 
 What will you give to avert this catastrophe? How much of 
 the " carnal" are you prepared to surrender, that you may be 
 able to keep the "spiritual?" Christian men ! this question 
 presses for an answer. You cannot evade the high responsi- 
 bility implied in it. You cannot throw that responsibility on 
 others. You cannot, must not, ease conscience by looking at 
 the ordinances as existing now in vigour and with competent 
 provision, as if this lightened or removed your obligation in the 
 matter. What would you give to secure the maintenance, and 
 to promote the efficiency, of these blessed means of grace, if 
 both depended on you ? 
 
EFFICIENCY. 59 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE DUTY, IN ITS EIGHT PERFORMANCE — EFFICIENCY. 
 
 6. The amount must be such as will secure the efficient support 
 of ordinances. As before, it is ministerial support that is 
 mainly in question. Let us look closely at the matter in this 
 light. 
 
 It will be of advantage to gather our fundamental concep- 
 tions of what is implied in an efficient provision for the 
 ministry from the dealings of God with His servants under 
 the old economy. 
 
 First, The giving was universal : " None shall appear before 
 me empty." He who is too poor to afford a pigeon must give 
 one-tenth of an ephah of flour. 
 
 Second, The offerings were to be of the best quality : " Pure 
 oil," "fine flour," victims " without blemish." " All the best of 
 the oil, all the best of the wine, and all the best of the wheat." 
 
 Third, The amount was abundant. It was of two kinds, 
 fluctuating and fixed. Of the former were the innumerable 
 offerings made on special occasions. A great part of each 
 went to the officials of the sanctuary. Of this nature, also, 
 were the " second tithes," a sort of secondary assessment 
 which marked every third year with peculiar joyfulness ; for 
 the grateful people issued invitations freely to " the poor, the 
 stranger, and the Levite." 
 
 But the chief support of the servants of the sanctuary was 
 drawn from the fixed revenue. Every Jew gave his annual half- 
 shekel. Stated sacrifices were numerous — the first-fruits of 
 
60 THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE — 
 
 everything that were theirs, of fields, flocks, and herds — a 
 very large supply, from " a land flowing with milk and 
 honey." 
 
 The tenth part of all the produce of the country formed the 
 largest item of their support. This was given as compensation 
 for the loss of their share in the inheritance. It was the rent 
 which the Great Landlord took from the other tribes to give 
 to His ministers. It was theirs by right. There was nothing 
 eleemosynary in it. The wise Lord settled their claim to it 
 on an immoveable basis ; he made it a fundamental law of the 
 constitution ; and He demanded the regular and cheerful 
 payment of it as due in equity as well as due by His own express 
 injunction. Now, this supply was a most abundant one. This 
 is evident at the first glance. But there are two considerations 
 which shew it with peculiar emphasis : — The Levitical propor- 
 tion of the land would have been only one-thirteenth, whereas 
 a tenth was assigned them from its produce. To this add the 
 other fact, that the tribe of Levi was greatly less numerous than 
 any of the others — at their first numbering (Num. iii. 39) 
 mustering only 22,000 males from a month upward, while 
 Manasseh, the smallest of the others, was able to furnish 32,200 
 men above twenty. So that this small tribe had a large propor- 
 tion of the fruits of the land. 
 
 Nor is this all. Most generously the God of Israel, in 
 many ways, and on many occasions, enforced the claims of His 
 servants. At the very beginning of their official existence, 
 when a loose sum of money was to be disposed of, arising from 
 payments made by 273 first-born — the excess of that class 
 over the Levites — it was thrown at once, freely and without 
 condition, among the revenues of the sanctuary. — (Num. iii. 
 49, 50.) So delicately careful was He of their interest, that 
 He made the quantity and quality, nay the very time of the 
 offerings, matter of special legislation : " Thou shalt not delay 
 to offer thy first-fruits." What considerate tenderness in these 
 
EFFICIENCY. 61 
 
 few words ! And continually this same tender care comes out. 
 Through the whole system of laws there runs this chorus, 
 " Thou shalt not forsake the Levite." And it deserves parti- 
 cular notice, that a separate enactment was made in favour of 
 any Levite who, moved by a holy impulse, came to Jerusalem 
 to carry on his sacred ministry there. Let us mark it well. 
 A sufficient maintenance was to be assigned him on the spot, 
 " besides that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony." — 
 (Deut. xviii. 8.) His sustentation allowance was quite indepen- 
 dent of his private fortune. No inquisitorial calculation of other 
 means was permitted — no deduction from his dues made on 
 that account. A fair remuneration was given, and no ques- 
 tions asked. 
 
 So much as to the maintenance ; now as to the dwelling. To 
 the priests were allotted thirteen cities, and to the Levites 
 thirty-five — a very large proportion — and not bare habitations, 
 but with large* suburbs attached, containing hundreds of 
 acres, for gardens, offices, and pasture land. Both lands and 
 houses were inalienable. 
 
 Now, looking at the whole of this provision, are we not pre- 
 sented here with a most beautiful picture of manses, glebes, 
 and liberal stipends? It is of God's drawing. He means it to 
 be copied. Did He deal so generously and so honourably with 
 His servants of old, and shall not we imitate Him in our treat- 
 ment of His servants now % Did He bind the whole nation to 
 supply them, not with a competence merely, but with abun- 
 dance — with delicate care affirming their right to it, demanding 
 prompt payment of it, and often and earnestly reminding the 
 people of their claims — and can we narrowly stint the allow- 
 ance and begrudge the comforts of the ministers of Christ 1 ? 
 
 * Estimates of their extent range from 300 to 2000 acres. There is to us 
 much obscurity in the commanded mode of measurement. — (Num. xxxv. 4, 5. ) 
 The writer is inclined to suppose the space surrounding each city to have 
 formed a circular annulus of about 900 acres. 
 
62 THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE 
 
 It is not just. It is not generous. It is not wise. But, worst 
 of all, it contravenes what we have seen to be God's views of an 
 efficient ministry. 
 
 It was manifestly the design of the great King of Israel to 
 set priests and Levites high in a position of honour and 
 influence. And for this purpose He was careful to bind over 
 to them an amount of temporal support which gave them an 
 honourable independence, and afforded peculiar facilities for 
 cultivating their own minds, and for communicating to the 
 tribes among whom they were scattered a high rate of instruc- 
 tion from a commanding elevation. The Levite was a man of 
 consequence. There was power in his social position ; there 
 was power in his high culture of mind. Both were hallowed 
 and deepened by his sacred character. He was the literary 
 man and the theologian, the teacher, and often the judge, of 
 the district ; and a generous God gave him the means of pre- 
 serving his dignity and influence. 
 
 From this liberal dealing of God with His servants under 
 the Old Testament economy, there results an important infer- 
 ence, which is also, on its own independent grounds, a dictate oj 
 right reason and of enlightened experience. But it deserves a 
 separate chapter. 
 
ELEMENTS OF AN EFFICIENT SUPPORT. 63 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE EFFICIENT MAINTENANCE OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 
 IS SUCH AS WILL SECURE THE PRESENCE IN IT OF THE 
 GREATEST NUMBER OF INFLUENTIAL ELEMENTS IN THE 
 GREATEST VIGOUR. 
 
 These elements are numerous and varied. We shall best 
 learn them from God's own Word. The Levitical institute 
 supplies a list of them. Man's highest wisdom affirms their 
 importance. They are such as these — social standing, comfort, 
 freedom from corroding anxieties, leisure and means to pur- 
 sue the cultivation of his mind and the acquisition of needful 
 knowledge. 
 
 1. Social standing. — The idea of a minister of Christ 
 depending for his efficiency, even in the smallest degree, on 
 his position in society may be jeered at by the unthinking. 
 We have known the thoughtful stagger at it. " Position, 
 indeed ! What position had these rough fishermen, with their 
 homely garb and simple habits 1 What position had the tent- 
 maker, humbly pursuing his craft in Corinth among the throngs 
 of the titled and the wealthy? Would they have used it as a 
 means of influence % The cause was spiritual — this influence 
 is carnal." 
 
 You reason plausibly. But reflect a little. They had what 
 to them was more than high social standing — they were 
 endowed with healing powers. Now, mark, this was not 
 essentially different in character from social position as a 
 means of influence. Neither can touch the heart ; neither can 
 
64 THE DUTY, IN ITS PJGHT PERFORMANCE — 
 
 savingly impress the truth. Both can call attention to it ; 
 both can recommend it. In measure of power they are very 
 different; in nature they rank together. Both set the Chris- 
 tian minister on a vantage-ground. And if the " carnal " 
 influence enforce gospel truth, is it not ha/lowed by the holy 
 service ? 
 
 But let us admit that the objection has a tincture of truth 
 in it. This social standing may be abused to pamper lordly 
 pride, or be made a conspicuous stage for vanity to strut on. 
 But this has no weight against its legitimate use. 
 
 It is also true, on the other hand, that high powers of mind, 
 hallowed by a lofty aim, and moved by the mighty impulse of 
 a heavenly love, will overleap all barriers of social distinction, 
 and win an exalted place even among the world's " wise, and 
 mighty, and noble." The exhibition of pre-eminent godliness, 
 or fervent zeal, or laborious and self-forgetting disinterested- 
 ness, or melting eloquence, will make room for a man in any 
 rank, even though his means be scanty, and his garb homely, 
 and his dwelling humble. But the grand question is not, 
 Can a minister be efficient without the advantage of social 
 elevation 1 but, Will he not be more efficient ivith it 1 And on 
 this point there can be no doubt. The accessories of dress, 
 dwelling, manners, are indeed very small things compared with 
 a minister's true dignity, sacred authority, and themes of 
 momentous import. But, though weak as a lever, they are 
 mighty as a fulcrum. Though weak as a main stream of 
 influence, they are mighty as auxiliary rills. Both among the 
 upper and lower classes, a Christian minister will find his social 
 consideration investing his religious instructions with additional 
 weight. 
 
 Among the upper : For, ranking alongside of them, he will 
 be above the level of operation of those prejudices, incidental to 
 their position, which tend to hinder the reception and mar the 
 efficacy of gospel truth. Are these prejudices weak and 
 
ELEMENTS OF AN EFFICENT SUPPORT. 65 
 
 unreasonable ? Some of them may be so. But they are not 
 the less pernicious. And who would not gladly " fetch a com- 
 pass" round a prejudice, if thereby he may save a soul? But, 
 indeed, when we reflect that cultivated taste and feelings, as 
 well as that unshackled freedom of thought and bearing which 
 commands respect, and exerts a kingly influence, are intimately 
 connected with an independent and honourable standing, we 
 see at once how indispensable is the latter for a Christian 
 minister. To be efficient among men of this stamp he must 
 have a corresponding cultivation of taste and feeling. The 
 moral affinity is necessary; so also is the social parity. 
 Among the lower classes this social position is at least equally 
 influential. Respect for superior station is not only a duty, but 
 a dictate of nature. Among the mass of men it has the power 
 of a habit, if not of an instinct. And when this strong 
 influence blends with the authority of an ambassador of Christ, 
 how mighty is the efficacy it adds ! Uniform experience 
 proves it. A high social standing makes a minister doubly 
 effective as a power of warning, rebuke, or encouragement. 
 
 And does he not deserve to hold this honourable place ? He 
 is the servant of a King. He is the benefactor of his people. 
 Has he not dearly won his honour by weary vigils, manifold 
 studies, a long, laborious, and costly probation? Christian 
 men ! can you grudge or stint it % For his sake, and for the 
 sake of your own and your children's spiritual welfare, we 
 earnestly beg you to put him cheerfully in this high place of 
 honourable independence. The God of Israel claimed this for 
 His servants of old. The King of Zion claims it for His 
 ministers now. And the honour you give them will be 
 graciously accepted by Him. It will be highly valued. It 
 will be well repaid. For you will thus serve yourselves heirs 
 to His rich promise, " Them that honour me I will honour ;" 
 and invest with a more commanding influence for good the 
 lessons of " them who are over you in the Lord." 
 
 E 
 
66 THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE 
 
 2. Comfort. — Here again it may be said, " Why speak of 
 comfort for a minister of Christ? What comforts had the 
 Master himself? He had not where to lay His head. He 
 suffered hunger. He toiled in thirst and weariness beneath 
 the burning beams of an eastern sun at noon. And did He 
 not tell His apostles to make up their minds to ' bear the 
 cross ' ? And did they not both echo the language and exem- 
 plify it ? ( Endure hardness,' said Paul. He did so himself. 
 What comfort had he in a wandering life ? what comfort in the 
 craftsman's weary toil, and the prisoner's cell, and the horrors 
 of shipwreck, and the shame of bodily chastisement?" — But 
 stop, my friend ; in the first place, the inference which you 
 draw about " taking up the cross " is wider in its range than 
 suits your comfort, or helps your design ; it applies to you also. 
 Yes; and if you acted upon it in pecuniary matters, your 
 minister's cross would be much lighter. In the second place, 
 your analogy fails. The conclusion is not in the premises. 
 There was a peculiarity in the position and work both of the 
 Master and His first servants, which puts them where no fair 
 inference can be carried over from them to ministers now. 
 Was not the Master toiling under the burden of a curse, which 
 spread its dark shadow over the whole breadth of His mortal 
 life? Yes! and He was wearing humanity in its bare and 
 simple form, stripped of all accidents of wealth, and rank, and 
 means of comfort; that He might meet man's doom at the 
 lowest, and be a brother of the meanest, and learn sympathy 
 with the miserable. His first servants were missionaries more 
 than ministers ; and to gird themselves for fierce conflict with 
 enemies, and painful endurance of sufferings, was a funda- 
 mental necessity of their office. .And their spirit is living yet. 
 Erainerd and Judson, Martyn and Williams, and a host of 
 living heroes, have entered the fire willingly when it was 
 needed. But why make martyrs without necessity? Why 
 subject a minister, in the quiet and regular discharge of pas- 
 
ELEMENTS OF AN EFFICIENT SUPPORT. 67 
 
 toral duty, to hardships proper only to pioneers in the gospel 
 work? The position and the duties are entirely dissimilar; and 
 no inference from the one to the other is valid. 
 
 Thus are we left free for the consideration of the proposition : 
 the possession of comfort contributes powerfully to the efficiency of 
 a Christian minister. In the case of other men, this is true, 
 avowedly. In a settled community, comfort is one of the con- 
 ditions of healthy, well- toned, regular, and sustained activity. 
 Especially is this the case in connexion with those whose labour 
 is mainly mental. Who does not know this? Who has not 
 felt how much outward inconveniences and discomforts lower 
 the integrity — the coherence — the continuous power of our 
 mental operations ? Bodily ailments mysteriously impair the 
 health of our better and nobler part. A damp house, a smoky 
 chimney, insufficient clothing, unsubstantial food, fuel doled 
 out by niggard handfuls — these are small things, perhaps; and 
 it is a minister's duty to bear them heroically without murmur. 
 But though small to most men — small to every Christian, when 
 considered as private crosses for faith and patience to struggle 
 under — they are not small when viewed as impediments in the way 
 of ministerial working. Insensibly they lower the spirits, fret 
 the temper, mar the mind's buoyant and healthful tone, and 
 spread an enfeebling influence over all its exercises. This holds 
 true of ministers more than of most other men. Generally 
 they are men whose preparatory studies have worn down their 
 strength, and thus made comfort more than usually needful for 
 them. We plead not for them as if they must be tended like 
 children, or nursed as sickly plants. Far be this folly from us. 
 They themselves would be the first to repudiate a treatment so 
 detrimental to true humility, manly vigour, and real spiritual 
 prosperity. But this danger is very rare. The rock ahead of 
 most ministers lies in the opposite quarter. And we desire to 
 "blazon it abroad," that the mind is the ministers instrument; 
 that it is keenly susceptible of impressions from without; that 
 
68 THE DUTY, IN ITS EIGHT PERFORMANCE— 
 
 whatever affects its healthful and vigorous working, to the same 
 extent affects the efficient discharge of ministerial labours; and, 
 last of all, that there are, in fact, many servants of Christ in our 
 land at this moment, faithful men, ennobled by their silent 
 sacrifices, honoured of God as the channels of His redeeming 
 mercy, destined yet " to shine as the stars for ever," whose 
 spirits are crushed, whose energies are broken, and whose use- 
 fulness is sadly hindered by the niggardly maintenance allotted to 
 them, and even more by the display of unjust, unkind, unge- 
 nerous feeling which it affords. 
 
 Members of the Church of Christ ! your ministers " are men 
 of like passions with you." Comfort acts on them as it does 
 on you. Kind deeds done to them will waken gratitude, and 
 cheer the heart, and stimulate effort, and thus come back in 
 blessings on your head. Oh ! would that Christian hearts 
 learned to compute more accurately the loss of holy power 
 caused by the deficiency of outward comfort ; and realised it 
 more thoroughly as a fact that the withholding of a minister s 
 dues in this respect is not only a dishonour done to Christ, 
 and an injustice to His servant ; but a mischief to themselves, 
 a subtraction of spiritual benefit, a straitening of the channel 
 in which the river of life flows to their thirsty souls. Do you 
 really expect that a cheerless home can yield you an efficient 
 minister 1 Under the pressure of discomfort and difficulties, 
 do you really believe that his mental powers will play freely — 
 for your instruction; or his spiritual culture proceed unhindered 
 — for your imitation ; or his buoyant spirit maintain its energy 
 — for the prosecution of his pastoral work among you ? Then 
 you are both unkind and foolish. You seek figs from thistles. 
 You would gather where you have not strawed. If you truly 
 desire the efficient agency of your minister, then give him 
 a comfortable home \ give him a comfortable maintenance ; 
 let the outflowings of your grateful kindliness, whether in 
 word or deed, refresh his spirit. Your reward shall be sure 
 
ELEMENTS OF AN EFFICIENT SUPPORT. 69 
 
 and speedy. Sowing bountifully, ye shall reap also boun- 
 tifully. 
 
 3. Freedom from corroding anxiety. — We refer here mainly 
 to the support, comfort, and education of a family. Anxiety 
 on these points has a depressing effect on the mind. This is 
 beyond question. It is equally certain that the depression is 
 doubly injurious to one engaged in quiet pursuits, in which 
 thought is mainly exercised. While the bustle of business and 
 the labour of the hands call the attention from within to fix 
 its solicitous efforts on outward things, the minister's study is 
 a quiet nook for anxiety to nestle in. The mind, too, being 
 his instrument, has its temper dulled and its edge blunted by 
 depressing " carefulness." Besides, he is more constantly than 
 most in the midst of home occupations, and under the influence 
 of home circumstances. Now, if the maintenance allotted to 
 him be insufficient, and he be doomed to look daily on loved 
 ones lacking comfort, sinking in health, or at the least drooping 
 in spirit, under a felt inability to provide outward decencies 
 befitting their social station, and necessary to their social 
 influence — who does not see how mighty for evil will be the 
 pain of the saddening sight? Yet it is often experienced. 
 The amount of support given to the greater number of oui? 
 ministers is very insufficient. Many of them it has sorely 
 crushed. But they have nobly borne themselves under it. 
 So also have their wives. All honour to these " helpers," whose 
 heroic sacrifice of self has done so much. Yes ; we could tell 
 of toil verging on drudgery — of unmurmuring privation — of 
 the willing, though tearful surrender of articles that were not 
 only valuable as specimens of art, but dearer far as memorials 
 of mother, sister, and brother. These are facts. We speak 
 what we do know. Comforts, luxuries, gratification of tastes 
 — all have gone — : sometimes to supply necessaries, often to 
 feed the poor, frequently to help the contribution. All this 
 the minister knows ; and it causes him exquisite pain. But 
 
70 THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE — 
 
 what can lie do ? Alas ! that the pangs of wounded sympathy 
 should sometimes be permitted to prove that they are keener 
 than the dishonour of debt. Now, Christian friends ! is this a 
 position to put a minister in % Is it 1 Can his mind be 
 healthily buoyant, and his step light, and his Christian joy 
 abundant, so as to overflow into his ministrations, and give 
 them effective energy 1 It is impossible. 
 
 But the case is worse still. His children need education. 
 Now, omitting the question how his daughters are to get this, 
 in a way at all befitting them, or him, or their social position, 
 let us look at the matter in connexion with his sons. It has 
 been wisely said that every man should be so remunerated as to 
 enable him to educate his son for the occupation which he follows 
 himself Social justice seems to demand this. Common 
 equity generally yields it. But ministers are an exception. 
 Is this doubted 1 ? Look and see. Assign to each XI 20 or 
 £140. Watch the disbursement. See him paying taxes — 
 supplying home wants — meeting public claims — shewing an 
 example of liberal giving to the poor, and to the great enter- 
 prises of Christian benevolence — besides supplying his library 
 with necessary books, and defraying heavy expenses incidental 
 to his sacred office. What sum remains to invest in the edu- 
 cation of even one boy for the ministry 1 Ah ! the question 
 is a mockery. Bemember, the training for this great work 
 extends over seven or eight years. Public feeling, in this 
 part of the country at least, demands it. The preference for 
 "college-bred" men is proverbial. Very good. But surely 
 it is not generous, it is not just, to insist on qualifications, 
 without supplying the means of acquiring them. If we demand 
 a thoroughly educated ministry — which must always, as society 
 is now constituted, be an expensive one — are we not bound, in 
 common fairness, to render a support adequate to its supply j 
 If it is withheld, does not the minister do well to be sorely 
 grieved 1 Can he help it 1 Every parent will sympathise 
 
ELEMENTS OF AN EFFICIENT SUPPORT. 71 
 
 with his feeling. Neither Scripture nor conscience condemns 
 it. Most reasonably may his feelings be wounded when the 
 noblest aspiration of his heart, as it pants after the promotion 
 of the glorious gospel, and yearns to devote its best-beloved to 
 the sacred service, is thus cruelly quenched. 
 
 Need we wonder that such pains and anxieties regarding 
 the present comfort and future welfare of his family, should 
 hang heavy on a minister's heart? If the husband, the parent, 
 the Christian, be galled by their pressure, will the minister 
 remain unaffected? Impossible. As is the man, so will be 
 the minister. Free him from these crushing anxieties, and 
 you will make faith firmer; you will unfetter love; you will 
 unburden joy; you will fill his grateful heart with freshened 
 power, and give new life and energy to his labour of love. 
 
 4. Leisure and means for pursuing the cultivation of his 
 mind, and the acquisition of needful knowledge. 
 
 The former is commonly secured to ministers in our country. 
 Public opinion insists on their exclusive devotion to the sacred 
 functions of their office. Herein it is right. God's rule is, 
 " Give thyself wholly to them." But this duty of entire sur- 
 render of time and faculties brings with it a corresponding 
 right to competent support. Consistency requires that they 
 who insist on the one should yield the other. 
 
 The question of means for pursuing this mental culture and 
 acquirements is of more pressing importance. Let us look 
 into it. 
 
 The Inspired Book must be a minister's principal study. 
 Nothing but "meditation on it day and night" will keep 
 "his leaf" from "withering," and teach him the mind of 
 the Spirit, and bring into his heart, as forces to move the 
 machinery of his ministerial life, impressions of the solemn 
 grandeur of eternity, the unutterable guilt and folly, danger 
 and wants, of an immortal rebel against God, and the attractive 
 glories of redeeming mercy. Nothing but this will give him 
 
72 THE DUTY, IN ITS EIGHT PERFORMANCE 
 
 such a mastery over its varied contents as shall make him 
 " mighty in the Scriptures," for the benefit of his people. 
 
 But it is not an enlightened regard to the efficiency of the 
 Christian ministry that would restrict it to this. In an age 
 like the present, of advancing science and widely-diffused 
 intelligence, it would be suicidal for the sacred office to be found 
 lagging in the rear. It would lose respect, and, therefore, 
 influence. It would be unable to sympathise with the feelings, 
 to comprehend and to meet the arguments, or to solve the 
 doubts, of highly cultivated minds. A minister, to be fully 
 equipped for his work in these last days, must be able at least 
 to stand near those great discoverers who are ever pressing out 
 the limits of the circle of knowledge upon the surrounding 
 darkness, and who, with all their candour, are ever lighting on 
 new and startling problems — sometimes on staggering facts 
 — which seem to conflict with the clear revelation of eternal 
 truth. He may not be able to discover, but looking where 
 these explorers point, he may be able to explain, reconcile, or 
 vindicate. Guardian of the sacred region, which science may 
 not touch, how can his protectorate be intelligent and effective 
 unless he know something of the processes and general facts of 
 science] He cannot be a "defender of the faith," unless he 
 knows something of the weapons of assailants, and be able, if 
 not to throw them back, at least to turn them aside. To 
 scowl an ignorant defiance against them will as little protect 
 the interests of truth as the fierce lions we sometimes find 
 grinning on stone from the top of an entrance gate will scare 
 a robber from the rich mansion within. 
 
 So much for the defensive use of knowledge. Besides this, 
 it serves also a most important purpose, in whetting the mind, 
 and enlarging as well as quickening its powers for other and 
 higher services. 
 
 And, last of all, every new disclosure of the nature, relation- 
 ships, powers, and movements of the material objects around 
 
ELEMENTS OF AN EFFICIENT SUPPORT. 73 
 
 us, is a new demonstration of the unlimited power and mani- 
 fold wisdom of God, and may thus be serviceable, not only in 
 helping us to loftier conceptions and lowlier adoration of the 
 blessed and only Potentate, but in crowning with new glory 
 the head of Him "to whom all things are committed;" and in 
 illustrating to the heart of His followers the might, and the 
 majesty, and the exhaustless resources of that royalty to which 
 our Redeemer has been raised from the toils of His earthly 
 sojourn. 
 
 But there are other departments of knowledge even more 
 directly necessary and profitable to a Christian minister, 
 because shedding light on that heavenly Book whose contents 
 it is his main duty to explain, illustrate, and enforce. There 
 is a vast store of learned and useful writing connected with 
 the elucidation of the true meaning of Scripture from the 
 original languages; and with these treasures of Scripture 
 exegesis a minister must have some acquaintance. The history 
 of the Christian Church, and the doctrinal discussions, helpful 
 in settling and clearly defining our views of truth, which have 
 filled so large a portion of it, must be in some measure 
 familiar to his mind. 
 
 The ancient customs and manners of the Jews, and of sur- 
 rounding nations, must be carefully studied — under the head 
 of biblical antiquities. 
 
 The researches of modem travellers ought to be, at least in 
 their substance, before the mind, as casting a wonderful light 
 on Scripture narratives. 
 
 Besides all this, a minister must have some acquaintance 
 with general literature; for how otherwise can he learn the 
 world's tone and temper, and be able to adjust his teaching 
 and his warnings so as properly to meet its wants and coun- 
 teract its evils ; ay, and share, too, in the quickening breath 
 which is moving the modern mind ] 
 
 But enough of this general statement. Take one specific 
 
74 THE DUTY, IN ITS RIGHT PERFORMANCE — 
 
 example of the benefit of enlarged information. Very re- 
 cently, buried cities have begun to take their place among 
 conspicuous witnesses for God. Nineveh and Babylon have 
 uttered awfully from their opened graves the holy truthfulness 
 of God ; and painted brick and sculptured slab have tri- 
 umphantly proved the accuracy, and shed new light upon the 
 meaning of the sacred oracles. Who does not see that the 
 minister, whose means are not too scanty to put this know- 
 ledge in his power, has a mighty advantage for explaining, 
 illustrating, and vindicating the statements of the Divine 
 Word? 
 
 Is it not clear, then, from all this, that thorough equipment 
 for the work of the ministry in our day implies large infor- 
 mation and much study 1 For this, books are necessary. Books 
 cost money. Every minister should be put in possession of 
 the means of procuring them. We know that there is danger 
 both of a plethora and a parade of learning. But these are 
 abuses. Solid and skilfully-used acquirement, hallowed by a 
 heavenly aim, is a powerful handmaid of truth, and helper of 
 ministerial usefulness. God's booh stands yet, and will stand 
 till the mystery of time is finished, without a rival, as the great 
 treasury of saving truth. But side-lights are kindling all 
 around. The God of providence is presiding at this great 
 illumination. Modern discoveries are His gift. He designs 
 them to be used for His glory. We neglect them at our peril. 
 Ministers who " know the times " will study to use them well. 
 " Men of understanding " among their hearers will gladly fur- 
 nish the means of doing it. 
 
 Note. — Another characteristic of the support due to a 
 Christian minister, though not lying altogether within the 
 limits of this chapter, is yet of great importance. That sup- 
 port must be such as will not operate as a preventive check on 
 Christian devotedness. If it be so inadequate as to yield 
 
ELEMENTS OF AN EFFICIENT SUPPORT. 75 
 
 neither comfort nor efficient energy, then it may become a 
 lawful question to a pious youth, whether he might not reach 
 a maximum of good-doing, and thus serve the Saviour better 
 in another walk of life. And although his young heart, in 
 the flush of its first affections, may scorn all such hinderances 
 as sordid and unworthy, yet who shall guarantee the acqui- 
 escence of the parents ? It is vain to talk of " apostolic 
 fervour," and point to " apostolic self-sacrifice," as if a man 
 could not be a Christian, and therefore should not be a minis- 
 ter, unless he were prepared also to be a martyr. The amount 
 and temperature of Christian feeling actually existing must be 
 dealt with as it is. And it is beyond- doubt that both the 
 quantity and the quality of ministerial Supply from among the 
 youth of our churches, will depend much on the amount of 
 provision made for securing to them an honourable and com- 
 fortable independence. If it is insufficient, pious devotedness 
 will be discouraged, and the weight of social standing will go 
 over to other professions. 
 
76 THE PEIVILEGE, IN ITS HONOUR 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE PEIVILEGE, IN ITS HONOUR DIGNITY OF ASSOCIATES 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF THE WORK. 
 
 We have dwelt at much greater length on the duty than it will 
 be possible to do on the privilege. Not that we regard the 
 latter as of inferior importance, but (1.) because it has been 
 aimed at all along to present the duty as invested with the 
 attractiveness of a privilege, and as bringing with' its right dis- 
 charge large and varied blessings ; and (2.) because it naturally 
 calls for greater effort to enlighten the understanding, and to 
 direct and stimulate the conscience, than, after this, to move 
 and quicken the feelings. He who knows his duty, and does it, 
 will need no argument to prove that it is a privilege ; but he 
 may stand seriously in need of having this high privilege held 
 up before him, magnified to his eye, and pressed upon his 
 heart. There cannot be a doubt that the Christian commu- 
 nity is, at this moment, precisely in such a position. There is 
 in the heart of our contributors too little of the sap of happy 
 and grateful feeling. It is right, it is incumbent, to feel that 
 there is a commanding authority on one side, and should be 
 unquestioning submission on the other. Happy were it for 
 the body of Christ, in all its members, if this submission were 
 deeper and broader, more reverential and more practical. But 
 were this all, it would be comparatively a dry, cold, and fruit- 
 less relationship between the King of Zion and the givers of 
 His tribute money. Blessed be His name, He has made this 
 duty more than an abstract and narrow question of right. It 
 
DIGNITY OF ASSOCIATES — IMPORTANCE OF THE WORK. 77 
 
 is a highway for the traffic of heavenly influences — a broad 
 path of enjoyment, skirted with flowers, and overhung with 
 clusters of grapes. He who discharges the duty best will 
 enjoy the blessings most. And if we would but learn to look 
 on every contribution as an honour, and feel it as a boon, to 
 ourselves, it would make the heart lighter, and the hand more 
 open. 
 
 This word "privilege" has it not two sides, representing 
 "two manner of" ideas? If analysed, would it not yield 
 these components — honour and advantage? Assuming the 
 accuracy of this analysis, let us look briefly at the two points 
 in their order. 
 
 I. It is an honour to be a contributor for the support of 
 gospel ordinances. Why is it so 1 Because of the dignity of 
 our associates, and the importance of the work. 
 
 The dignity of our associates. — To be linked with the great 
 is felt as an honour. The distinction belonging to them 
 descends to envelop all about them. To be the servant of a 
 king is a more coveted honour than to be the master of many 
 others. To be joined in some common enterprise with one 
 of rank, reputation, or intellectual and moral eminence, is 
 reckoned a matter of just pride. Who is there that would 
 not regard it as a gratification and a distinction to act on a 
 committee with a nobleman, and feel his visit to a hovel dig- 
 nified by the presence of a coronet, and proudly give his time, 
 his arguments, and his money for the promotion of a cause in 
 which royalty was embarked 1 
 
 The feeling is natural and universal. It should operate 
 Godward, with a strong and sacred intensity immeasurably 
 greater. 
 
 In contributing to the maintenance of gospel ordinances, we 
 are associated with God. The great remedial scheme originated 
 in the Fathers love and wisdom, and advanced to completion 
 under the eye of His watchful providence. The Son, in His 
 
78 THE PRIVILEGE, IN ITS HONOUR 
 
 fleshly nature, lived and died, and thus became the Saviour of 
 the world, and the great theme of ministerial study and teach- 
 ing. The ministerial office and endowments are both His gift. 
 " He holdeth the stars in His right hand." He allots their 
 stations, supplies their strength, sovereignly bestows their suc- 
 cess. The Almighty Spirit brings Him and His glorious work 
 into vital contact with the soul — originating and perfecting all 
 the effective impulses that make the depraved Creature " new 
 in Christ Jesus." And ministers are His agents. He makes 
 the stream of life pour along the channel of gospel facts pre- 
 sented by them. And all the high equipments they possess — 
 their holy aim, their heavenly love, their self-forgetting zeal — 
 their faith, which trusts, and prays, and works, and brings 
 down the might of omnipotence into their human words — all 
 come from His quickening breath. So that in the great work 
 on which ministers are engaged the glorious Godhead is em- 
 barked. Christian men! I ask you to look at this. It is 
 true ; yes, it is true, that the " eternal God, the Lord, the 
 Creator of the ends of the earth," has come very near us. The 
 very God who made your wondrous frame, and endowed you 
 with mysterious mind; who made man's dwelling beautiful 
 with grass and flowers, with stream, and wood, and mountain ; 
 whose hand sprinkled that awful void around us with its 
 shining worlds ; and to whom the wide creation is but a har- 
 vest field, from which He gathers glory; He opened His 
 bosom, and the Son of His love came forth, to dwell among 
 us. Amazing grace ! It well may make the wondering heart 
 leap for joy. And ministers are his " ambassadors.'''' Oh ! is 
 it not an honour to be permitted to support them % It is to 
 stand beside the King of kings. It is to be " a fellow-worker 
 with God." Who would not exultingly hail it as a distinction 
 and a glory ! 
 
 Nor must it be forgotten that the Lord had no need of us, or 
 of the ministers whom we support. He whose realm is 
 
DIGNITY OF ASSOCIATES — IMPORTANCE OF THE WORK. 79 
 
 peopled with strong and pure intelligences, to whom obedience 
 is rapture, and benevolent activity double blessedness, could not 
 have wanted heralds to proclaim His mercy. But in gracious 
 wisdom, He passed by " principalities and powers," and gave 
 His high commission to saints of fleshly mould. Nor is this 
 all. He was as independent of the people as of the minister. 
 He could have given His servants a miraculous sustentation, 
 binding both land and sea to supply them, making manna drop 
 upon their path, or filling the raven's mouth with their daily 
 bread. But He has not done so. Wiser, tenderer far is His 
 care for us. He has ordained that every member of the Church 
 shall have the right of helping in the holy work. Blessed obli- 
 gation which binds to such a privilege ! " And this honour 
 have all the saints." It is God's free gift to all. It is their 
 chartered heritage. Oh ! sell not this precious birthright. 
 Let it not lie unused. It is your crown and glory. Angels 
 well may covet the distinction. Yes ! and, behind the scenes, 
 they enjoy it. We trace their dim figures mingling with early 
 patriarchs. They carried messages to holy prophets. They 
 heralded the Saviour's birth, ministered to Him in life, watched 
 in His empty grave, consoled His sorrowing disciples, delivered 
 His imprisoned servant. And even now, in the world's far- 
 spent day, their sacred work is going on. " They are all minis- 
 tering spirits,, sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs 
 of salvation." What an honour to be in company like this ! 
 Christian brother ! if, in the right spirit, you give but " a 
 widow's mite," you become an angel's fellow. 
 
 But again : it is an honour to contribute for the support of 
 the Christian ministry, because it is helping in a work of infinite 
 importance. 
 
 What is a minister's work 1 Listen to his words. He speaks 
 of things strange, awful, and glorious. He tells that this great 
 world of men has fallen from the fellowship of the holy, and is 
 lying now under the hoof of a spiritual tyranny, whose powers 
 
80 THE PKIVILEGE, IN ITS HONOUK, ETC. 
 
 are wielded by fallen angels, strong and subtle, desperate con- 
 victs, banished from heaven, and now warring with it. He 
 tells, too, of a mighty champion of fallen men, who, when the 
 ripe world was ready, entered it a man, breathing our very air, 
 living our very life, mingling with common men, yet uttering 
 heavenly counsels, and from His human lips dropping omnipo- 
 tent words upon the seething deep, and it calmed — upon dis- 
 ease, and it fled — upon the demoniac, and he smiled in peace 
 — upon the silent grave, and its pale slumberer woke. He tells, 
 further, how this lordly power was hidden, and the Almighty 
 One let himself down to shame and mortal agony, only to rise 
 in power, and ascend to the glories of a heavenly throne. This 
 holy life and this awful death are the means of salvation. They 
 have already given glory and blessedness to ransomed millions. 
 Millions more await His saving touch. The glorious gospel 
 must be brought to them. It is the minister's task to tell of 
 this redemption, and by warning, welcoming, instructing, to 
 carry forward the designs of sovereign mercy toward these 
 destined millions. Momentous work ! Glorious and blessed 
 as the heaven which it peoples with the hosts of u the just 
 made perfect." What an honour to join in it ! What a prize 
 for ambition ! Who would not exult in the thought of sharing 
 in it 1 We shall share in it, if we contribute to the support of him 
 whom the Redeemer employs to perform it. 
 
THE PRIVILEGE, IN ITS ADVANTAGES, ETC. 81 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE PRIVILEGE, IN ITS ADVANTAGES' GRATIFICATION OF 
 
 CHRISTIAN FEELINGS. 
 
 This is only a special exemplification of a general rule. All 
 duties well discharged return in blessings. So is it in 
 nature: water rises in vapour, and falls in rain; the land 
 drinks from the sea, and pays it back in riverfuls. So is it in 
 providence: the deeds of benevolence distil in blessings on the 
 heart and lot of the good-doer. God's works are full of these 
 circles. 
 
 But let us see what advantages are bestowed in the ease 
 before us. 
 
 1. Temporal blessings. — In the case of Israel the connexion 
 between the liberal support of ordinances and the inflowing 
 of temporal prosperity was close, constant, and conspicuous. 
 It was a principle in the constitution: " The Levite," &c, " shall 
 eat and be satisfied, that the Lord thy God may bless thee," 
 etc. In their history it was ever receiving fresh illustrations : 
 u Mine house lieth waste, therefore the heaven over you is 
 stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from his fruit" 
 (Hag. i. 9, 10). But when the temple begins to rise from 
 its ruins, " From this day will I bless you." And almost the 
 last words that fell from prophetic lips were these — "Bring 
 ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat 
 in mine 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 
 
82 THE PRIVILEGE, IN ITS ADVANTAGES * 
 
 it." Most pregnant words ! and true in many ways. They 
 are sounding yet in the ear of all the churches. When the 
 tithes are withheld, and the ministry sinks in power, public 
 morality, deprived of its best defender, will yield to the 
 assaults of worldly, infidel, and anti-social influences. And 
 when the public conscience is debauched, who shall be blind 
 or bold enough to believe in the permanence of that regard for 
 law which gives to a government its stability, and to a com- 
 munity its order, safety, and peace 1 ? The efficient maintenance 
 of Christian ordinances — a cultivated conscience — healthy social 
 feelings — order, peace, and prosperity — these "hath God joined 
 together," and no man can put them asunder. 
 
 But what we must look at mainly here is the experience of 
 individual Christians, and the effect of contributing on their 
 temporal comforts. Most confidently may this appeal be made. 
 Many grateful hearts can testify that liberal givings have brought 
 a blessing on their basket and their store. Sowing bountifully, 
 they have reaped bountifully even in " carnal " things. Not 
 only did they reap a richer joy from the portion they retained, 
 but it grew upon their hands in a way before unknown, and 
 thus, in their happy surprise, prepared for them a new enjoy- 
 ment. And is it not reasonable to suppose that He whose 
 hand is on the springs of nature, and on all the powers of 
 providence, should know how to make all blessings fructify 
 beneath His smile ? And shall not He be willing to do it who 
 twice made little handfuls grow mysteriously into food for 
 thousands'? "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth." 
 Christian men ! pour out ungrudgingly the oil that sustains 
 the prophets of the Lord; there will be a blessing in the 
 cruse. " Honour the Lord with thy substance, so shall thy 
 barns be filled with plenty." 
 
 2. Gratification of Christian love and gratitude. 
 
 He who feels love desires to express it. Instinctively the 
 heart yearns to unfold it. It is felt as a high privilege and 
 
GRATIFICATION OF CHRISTIAN FEELINGS. 83 
 
 pleasure ; and he who will suggest or provide a channel of 
 outlet and manifestation is regarded as conferring a favour. 
 
 So is it in regard to the feeling of gratitude. Suppose an 
 unknown benefactor did you some signal service which filled 
 your heart and home with happiness. You would wonder at 
 the retiring modesty that blessed your lot but hid itself from 
 your affection, and you would be ever on the alert to discover 
 the land incognito, and you would carefully scan the face of 
 every friend, and put many a dexterous question to draw forth 
 the cherished secret. Nay more, would not your ignorance 
 give pain as well as perplexity 1 It would. And he would be 
 reckoned a new benefactor who should reveal the old one, and 
 thus relieve the irksome fulness of your heart by letting out 
 its gratitude. 
 
 Christians ! you love sincerely Him who is " altogether 
 lovely ; " and you are bent down with the felt weight of obli- 
 gations boundless as the value of the offering that bought 
 you, and the brimful happiness of the heaven to which you are 
 journeying. And as you walk about on a world that has drunk 
 atoning blood, and think of the sweet forgiveness you enjoy, 
 and the happy penitence that bedews your spirit, and feel the 
 gentle breathings of the Holy One within, and hear the bliss- 
 ful echoes that sometimes break in upon you through the 
 parted cloud which hides the harpers on the sea of glass — oh, 
 are you not pained to give vent to your labouring gratitude ? 
 But how shall it be done 1 Gracious Lord ! he has earned 
 a new title to this gratitude by providing a way of expressing 
 it. Go, minister to the needs of His servants. They are His 
 representatives. They are His instruments. His glory is the 
 grand result of all their services. He will accept your offer- 
 ings as rendered to himself. Happy people ! who can reach 
 so readily the Master's heart, and pour, even yet, the box of 
 ointment on His head. 
 
 3. Fostering of the feelings from which contributions flow. 
 
84 THE PRIVILEGE, IN ITS ADVANTAGES 
 
 Faith. — You give a subscription. It is the fruit and 
 evidence of your belief in certain things. It confirms your 
 belief in them. It is a " sensible sign" of them, brings them 
 anew into full, deliberate view, and claims for them again the 
 seal of your calm, practical acknowledgment of their reality. 
 In fact, it compels you to do as did that sagacious general 
 who landed once on our unconquerable shores — " burn your 
 ships" — throwing new difficulties in the way of retreat, and 
 securing consistent steadfastness. Nay more, like that other 
 warrior, who threw forward the royal heart among the ranks 
 of enemies that he might be nerved with more desperate 
 courage, these contributions which you have made, and are 
 now making, give you a stake in gospel enterprises, forming a 
 mighty interest in advance which attracts you ever onward. 
 Yes ! contributions are a means of grace. They react mightily 
 on the conviction which produced them — giving it sharper 
 outline and firmer texture. And when at any time the treach- 
 erous heart is ready to let slip the things unseen and spiritual, 
 our givings bring them back. Precious chains ! of earthly 
 mould, yet binding us to the great eternity, and forming 
 sacred avenues along which fresh impulses may travel from 
 the glorious verities of the gospel. 
 
 Grateful affection. — We have seen that givings for the sup- 
 port of Christian ordinances form an outlet for the Christian 
 feelings of love and gratitude. But they are also means of 
 growth. Love is produced by looking on attractive qualities 
 of person or of character. It is strengthened by the same 
 process. It thrives by exercise ; and the way to exercise it is 
 to present its object. Especially is this the case when grati- 
 tude for benefits is added to affectionate esteem for character. 
 
 In no other way can the love of Jesus be kindled and kept 
 glowing. It obeys ordinary laws. To have an ever fresh and 
 dominant affection for our holy Benefactor, we must stand 
 often near Him, to gaze in mute wonder on the glories of His 
 
GRATIFICATION OF CHRISTIAN FEELINGS. 85 
 
 perfect character, and the matchless achievements of His love. 
 The eye affects the heart. The well-springs of love gush forth 
 at the touch of faith. And inasmuch as regular contribution 
 for the support of the ministers of Christ is a powerful means 
 of quickening and invigorating fa ith, in the same measure it is 
 a means of stimulating love. Eecalling and enforcing those 
 forgotten facts which form the most marvellous display of 
 heavenly love that the universe ever witnessed, or has materials 
 to furnish, it brings close to the heart the mightiest instru- 
 mentality for kindling and feeding its love. Who has not felt 
 that a little money laid out in helping to rear a monument 
 to some cherished friend bears high interest in making his 
 memory dearer still? And if the money w r ere expended for 
 some object on which his heart was set, and guided the warm 
 thoughts back to rich and varied gifts with which his liberal 
 kindness had lighted up our heart and home, would not that 
 little payment be a mighty stimulant of grateful affection? 
 Assuredly it would. And every instalment that we paid 
 would be like bringing in his picture — reviving and prolong- 
 ing in our heart the image which his love had left imprinted 
 there. 
 
 So is it in the case of that tenderest, wisest, kindest Friend 
 of all. Our givings bring Him into view, fix our thoughts 
 upon His glorious person, and lead to grateful and refreshing 
 views of that depth of pity and that wondrous grasp and 
 compass of love, that could reach its objects in spite of so 
 much sin and through such floods of suffering. By the very 
 contrast between the little that we give, and the boundless 
 grace to which it is a tribute, the heart feels more deeply, and 
 learns more accurately to estimate, that love " which passeth 
 knowledge." 
 
 Oh ! who would grudge a box of perfume to such a Friend 
 as this? Nay rather, what Christian heart will not receive as 
 a blessing, and cherish as a privilege, the opportunity of pour- 
 
86 THE PRIVILEGE, IN ITS ADVANTAGES — 
 
 ing it upon His head? Mary loved tlie most because she had 
 been forgiven most ; nor can we fail to see that she loved the 
 more because she had given much. 
 
 Desire of advancing the Divine glory. — This is a funda- 
 mental feeling in every Christian bosom. It is one grand 
 peculiarity and distinction of the " new creature." Any means 
 of increasing it in amount and power will be gladly welcomed, 
 and used as a privilege. Whatever illustrates that glory, and 
 holds it forth impressively, is feeding the main stream of 
 spiritual life. Now it is, no doubt, true that all creation is a 
 mirror of His greatness. Wonders of almighty wisdom lie 
 hid in every leaf. That pale primrose on the window-sill; the 
 rounded hills on which the eye rests beyond ; these spreading 
 trees that clothe them ; that powerful radiance which lights up 
 flower, and hill, and tree; and these twinkling worlds that 
 wait to light our sphere when it is gone — all, all speak loudly 
 of His glory. But mostly in the work of grace, by which 
 rebels are restored, and the wretched raised to happiness, and 
 the depraved made new in Christ Jesus, is His boundless glory 
 shewn. Now, this is precisely the minister's theme. And 
 when I give my money to support him, am I not providing an 
 instrumentality for holding forth this glory, and, in the very 
 act, fixing my attention on it, and bringing my heart again 
 within the range of its heavenly power? Nay more, the 
 minister is the Saviour's servant, maintaining His sovereign 
 rights, proclaiming His saving mercy, and every sum given to 
 him is a tribute to his Lord. In the payment of this tribute 
 I bend my neck again to His gracious yoke, and add to my 
 loyal obedience the settled force of habit. Most precious pri- 
 vilege ! It helps the wrestling saint against his own pride, 
 deals a new blow on the head of his guilty independence ; and 
 thus laying him at the feet of Jesus, where only peace is found, 
 hastens forward that grand process of humiliation which leads 
 him in at last among the throng of worshippers who cast their 
 
GRATIFICATION OF CHRISTIAN FEELINGS. 87 
 
 crowns before the throne. Blessed people ! whom their Lord 
 thus trains for heaven ! Most gracious Saviour, to whom " the 
 silver and the gold" belong of right, but who has made the 
 rendering of them a means of heavenly grace, and thus trans- 
 figured duty into a priceless blessing. 
 
 Breathings after holiness. — What Christian does not daily 
 feel deep longings to be " holy as God is holy " ? The instinct of 
 the new-born nature craves after it. But it is met by counter- 
 cravings. The crucified flesh struggles fiercely still. It is a 
 terrible war that ends not but with life. Never shall the tainted 
 nature be pure till, like the leprous house, it be taken down. 
 But duty binds to this. The heart yearns after it. For this 
 high end heaven and earth were moved. The incarnation, 
 and the life, death, and glory that followed, were the mighty 
 means of vindicating, exhibiting, and procuring holiness. 
 Gospel ordinances are an apparatus for producing and pro- 
 moting it. The Christian ministry is a gift for the special 
 purpose of " perfecting the saints." Now, in contributing to 
 the support of the ministry, we are not only maintaining a 
 machinery of sanctifying power which may, and we trust shall, 
 effect its momentous purpose in us, but, in the very act, we 
 are swaying over to the side of holiness, and helping the infirm 
 will to a more determined bias in that direction. Is it not a 
 fact of familiar experience that men are interested in, inclined 
 towards, bound up with, any cause for which they have given 
 subscriptions? When the hand of Scotland opens to rear a 
 memorial to some great champion of her freedom, does not 
 her patriotic heart glow with new fervour, and cling with 
 freshened fondness to those sacred principles in whose defence 
 he joyfully enlisted the energies of his brawny arm, and lion 
 heart, and incorruptible integrity? Yes, and most naturally; 
 for the public eye is turned again to peruse the record of his 
 noble deeds, and every patriot, by contributing to his honour, 
 is not only bound in consistency, but inclined in feeling, to 
 
88 THE PEIVILEGE, IN ITS ADVANTAGES 
 
 maintain the chartered liberties for which he toiled, and fought, 
 and died. 
 
 Even so the grand spiritual end of the gospel ministry will 
 be realised more palpably, and set before the mind more for- 
 cibly, by the habit of contributing. The very act of with- 
 drawing a portion of our means from other objects, and 
 devoting it to this, will foster, though it never could beget, a 
 projyension of mind and heart towards it. Just as the patriotic 
 feeling, if true and hearty, finds fuel in every payment, so the 
 Christian feeling, which craves after greater holiness, if true 
 and hearty, will thrive on every disbursement for the mainte- 
 nance of those ordinances whose grand object is " the perfect- 
 ing of the saints." Christian men, is not this true 1 Do not 
 your contributions make you gravitate to holiness, and bind 
 you more firmly in its interest ? Have you not found them 
 separating you, in your deepest sympathies, from the perish- 
 ing trifles of earth — certifying to your consciousness afresh that 
 your weightiest duties and truest interests are in a world un- 
 seen — stamping you, not only to the outward eye, but in your 
 own approving heart, as members of that " holy nation " 
 whose King is the holy Saviour, whose coveted rest is the 
 " holy heaven," and who reckon money as doing its noblest 
 work when it honours that Saviour, and prepares for that 
 place of purity. 
 
 Is it so ? And have you blessed God for the privilege of 
 being permitted to contribute 1 Most wisely has He thrown 
 the maintenance of the outward machinery of His gospel on 
 the religious sympathies of those whom it has saved and sanc- 
 tified — just that these holy feelings might be called forth into 
 more vigorous play and more sacred authority. He has given 
 them an interest in it. He has identified them with it. Oh, 
 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and grace of our 
 God ! Oh, the honour, benefit, and blessedness of being asso- 
 ciated with Him in such a work ! Who would not joyfully 
 
GRATIFICATION OF CHRISTIAN FEELINGS. 89 
 
 support those ordinances through which the Mighty Spirit 
 breathes life into the dead, and new vigour into the living, 
 and a sweet scent of heaven into the heart of ripening godli- 
 ness; nay, more, which are so like their gracious Giver in 
 affluence of power, that "virtue goes out of" them to refresh 
 and quicken every heart whose love has given its " mite " to 
 sustain them? 
 
 But our pleadings must now close. Whether they have 
 been effective or not, rests with others to determine. This, at 
 least, can be said — that they have in themselves the majestic 
 authority of God, the solemnity of eternity, the weight of 
 infinite and unending interests. 
 
 Christians of Great Britain ! suffer one parting word. Ye 
 dwell in " a land which drinketh water of the rain of heaven." 
 It is the home of peace, the bulwark and asylum of freedom, 
 the anchor of the world's stability, and the light of the world's 
 onward way. What has made it so ? Christian ordinances, 
 radiating the pure and healing light of the gospel. And these 
 same ordinances are the hope of the future, as they have been 
 the strength and sunshine of the past. At this moment loud 
 voices urge you to give them efficient maintenance. The 
 world's pace is marvellously quickened. A spirit of impatient 
 onwardness has breathed on everything. In hasty growth 
 there is great danger. The means of guidance and counter- 
 action must be all the more vigorously applied. Amid the 
 eager rush of scientific adventurers, digging for truth among 
 sepulchral rocks, or bringing it home from far-off worlds, but 
 sometimes heaping their gifts on the altar of an unknown god, 
 the saving truths of that blessed book, which is abreast of 
 every age, must be boldly proclaimed by an earnest and ac- 
 complished ministry. When the tide of rampant infidelity, 
 mingling with a mysterious back-current of superstition, is 
 beating against the barriers of our faith, and grievous im- 
 moralities disfigure our practice, and a dead sea of callous 
 
90 THE PRIVILEGE, IN ITS ADVANTAGES, ETC. 
 
 indifferentism, which has sunk down from the sphere of holy 
 aspirations, and seeks no heaven but the gratification of its 
 physical appetites, is growing with portentous rapidity round 
 our cultivated fields ; and " the cares of the world and the 
 deceitfulness of riches " are pressing in upon the heart, and 
 engrossing the energies of eager multitudes — with what power 
 .shall we hopefully confront these banded influences of the 
 world ? How shall we infuse into society a hearing life, and 
 a hallowed aim, and a reverent spirit ? How shall we make 
 its quickening energies, and growing knowledge, and manifold 
 conveniences, and multiplied means of power, the instruments 
 of God 1 Christians of this great empire ! with you rests the 
 power to do it. Pour into the treasury of the Lord your 
 willing offerings ; follow them with your prayers ; second them 
 with your labours. Pour on till the treasury overflow. The 
 streams will go to water the wastes elsewhere. Never shall 
 that Lord who sits over against it say, " it is enough," till the 
 " gains of the whole earth be consecrated to the Lord," and 
 the great Jericho of this world's ungodliness be compassed by 
 the armies, and fall by the breath, of the living God. 
 
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