SERMON XIII.

"Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine."-PROVERBS iii. 9, 10.

The most unwelcome of all subjects of appeal from this sacred place, is probably the duty contained in the

text.

Yet, it is incumbent on ministers to urge their people to great liberality. The rich, we are to "charge that they be ready to give, and glad to distribute;" the poor, that they "cast in their mite into the treasury" of the Lord; and all men, that they "minister as of the ability which God giveth."

Until we have declared this duty, we have not declared the "whole counsel of God;" and we would not for the world that any should charge it upon us, that they had not visited or relieved Christ in his suffering members, or that they had rendered little or no service to his kingdom in the world.

To rouse benevolence from its slumbers is a noble task, and would do honor to an angel's powers. It is a venturesome task, so deeply seated is "the love of money in the human heart." Though we thus speak, my dear hearers, we do not intend to accuse you of repugnance to the subject more than others; far from it; your liberality has

often "abounded unto many;" and we promise ourselves a very patient hearing, the more especially as the end we propose, is not an immediate call upon your benevolence. We earnestly solicit your attention to the principles we have to lay down, and as earnestly ask, that, if they be found to be according to the word of God, you will adopt them, but, if not, that you will reject them.

Most of us have done something, but of whom can it be said, "He hath done what he could?" Our desire is that ye may "abound in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

The doctrine of our text is, that we must serve God with our property, and we shall prosper in the world.

We shall first consider the duty, then the promise.

I. We shall first consider the obligation we are under to "honor the Lord with our substance, and with the first-fruits of all our increase." If selfishness and the love of money had not blinded men's eyes, and hardened their hearts, this is an axiom in morals that would have been selfevident: but, so have they darkened the understanding, and congealed the affections, that men-aye, Christian menwill scarcely yield either to revelation or reason.

Though such a one, under a powerful or touching appeal, may, like an icicle in a winter's sun, shed a drop or two of benevolence, he soon reverts to his original frigidity, and remains cold and impenetrable as heretofore.

Indeed, nothing but the abiding influences of the Spirit can effectually soften the heart, and cause a perpetual stream of charity to flow. May holy fire descend this day into every bosom, that this fruit may be in us and

abound!

The duty under consideration is enforced both by reason and revelation. We cannot deny that God is the ori

ginal proprietor of all that we possess-"The silver is mine and the gold is mine." He is the Lord, we are His stewards. "It is required of stewards that a man be found faithful," but he is not faithful, who diverts that which he holds, from the purpose designed by the rightful owner. He is the king, we are the servants to whom various talents are entrusted, "till He come;" but he who consumes them on "the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life," betrays his trust, is an unfaithful servant, and must "receive an unfaithful servant's reward." It is He who gives us whatever we possess. "The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: He bringeth low and lifteth up." "Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth." Reason then dictates, that if God, in His wise and inscrutable Providence, has made such a disparity among men. as we see to exist, they who have this world's goods should be ready to minister to the wants of the poor, who are destitute of them; for, they are the representatives of Him "who had not where to lay His head."

Reason dictates that if we possess a blessing for which others are perishing-and we, who have the word of life, do possess richly such a blessing-we ought to make them sharers with us. If a country is to be defended, or a fire to be extinguished, reason dictates that it is every man's duty to do his share towards it; and, we add, by the same rule, if the sick and poor are to be relieved, and the Gospel is to be carried to all the world, every man should take a part in it.

Besides, there is no real good simply in possessing; the good consists in using. The man who is poor, and yet has the heart to relieve the necessities of a miserable neighbor, though it be but with a cup of cold water, is a richer man,

and has more true enjoyment in the little that he possesses, than the miser who could purchase an empire with his gold, The former inherits like a rational being, the latter, like a mere animal. The one rises like an angel above the world, the other might as well be transformed into a worm, and be doomed to crawl the residue of his days in the rich mines of India or Peru.

Again, as Christians we profess to surrender all we have to Him who gave it. Our souls and bodies to be instruments of His glory; our time to be employed in his service; our faculties to celebrate His praise; and our property to feed His poor, and advance the interests of His kingdom.

But we mock God if no portion, or but a small portion of either is actually thus employed. Indeed, my hearers, it is the principal way in which we are to answer the great end of our being. There is no glorifying God, no enjoyment of Him here and forever, but by the real consecration of all that we have, and are, to His service.

Reason, therefore, I say, dictates the propriety, the necessity, of "honoring the Lord with our substance."

Again, according to the economy established by God in his Church, it cannot prosper and extend but by human. instrumentality. By human exertions, under the blessing of Heaven, it has diffused the benign and saving influences of the Gospel throughout a large portion of the world; and had Christians been forward according to their ability, we should not now have seen, in this nineteenth century, six hundred millions of our race in pagan darkness.

We profess now to stand on the tip-toe of expectation, looking for the latter-day glory of the Church; and we lean upon the sure word of prophecy; but Christians must do vastly more than they have yet done before that day ar

rives. We might as well expect to see our forests and deserts crowned with the golden sheaf without the labor of the husbandman, as expect to see a moral wilderness, more barren still, become a spiritual vineyard without the spiritual husbandman's toil. "How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?"

God has indeed decreed that the world shall be filled with peace and righteousness, but He has not decreed to do it without means. He has accomplished a way of salvation for our race, but He has left it to us to make it known. He has sent glad tidings into our world, but He has made it our business to proclaim the joyful sound.

I mean not that all must become preachers and teachers, but I mean that we must all either preach and teach ourselves, or enable others to do it. It is our duty to build churches, educate ministers, support schools, print Bibles, send missionaries, and, in short, use all possible means to extend the kingdom of Christ, evangelize the world, and save souls. If, either by direct opposition, or by doing nothing, or by not doing all that we can, we retard this glorious work, so far we rebel against the will of Heaven, and oppose the best interests of man.

God could, no doubt, evangelize the world and save sinners, independently of our aid; but it has pleased Him, and His debtors we are that it hath so pleased Him. "So it hath pleased Him," should silence all cavils, and insure all obedience. Yea, it should be our pleasure, our highest joy, to be instruments in His hands to accomplish His gracious purposes. It is an honor angels have not: the great Head of the Church passed by angelic hosts and put it upon earthen vessels. Were angels permitted to preach the everlasting Gospel, angel-visits would not be