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and making themselves accountable for all the want, afflic tion, and distress, which they may, but do not remove. Yea, doth not the blood of all those who perish for want of what they either lay up, or lay out needlessly, cry against them from the earth? O what account will they give, to him who is ready to judge both the quick and the dead! . 26. The true way of employing what you do not want yourselves, you may, fourthly, learn from those words of our Lord, which are the counterpart of what went before: "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven; where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal." Put out whatever thou canst spare, upon better security than this world can afford. Lay up thy treasures in the bank of heaven and God shall restore them in that day. "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and look, what he layeth out, it shall be paid him again." Place that, saith he, unto my account. Howbeit, "thou owest me thine own self also!"

Give to the poor with a single eye, with an upright heart, and write, "So much given to God." For "inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.'

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This is the part of a faithful and wise steward. Not to sell either his houses or lands, or principal stock, be it more or less, unless some peculiar circumstance should require it; and not to desire or endeavour to increase it, any more than to squander it away in vanity: but to employ it wholly to those wise and reasonable purposes, for which his Lord has lodged it in his hands. The wise steward, after having provided his own household, with what is needful for life and godliness, makes himself friends with all that remains, from time to time, of the "mammon of unrighteousness; that when he fails, they may receive him into everlasting habitations:" that whensoever his earthly tabernacle is dissolved, they, who were before carried into Abraham's bosom, after having eaten his bread, and worn the fleece of his flock, and praised God for the consolation, may

welcome him into Paradise, and to "the house of God, eternal in the heavens."

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27. We "charge you," therefore, "who are rich in this world," as having authority from our great Lord and Master, ayaĴoɛgyɛw to be habitually doing good, to live in a course of good works. "Be'ye merciful as your Father who is in heaven is merciful," who doth good and ceaseth not. Be ye merciful,-" How far?"-After your power, with all the ability which God giveth. Make this your only measure of doing good, not any beggarly maxims or customs of the world. We "charge you to be rich in good works;" as you have much, to give plenteously. Freely ye have received; freely give; so as to lay up no treasure but in heaven. Be ye "ready to distribute" to every one, according to his necessity. Disperse abroad; give to the poor; deal your bread to the hungry. Cover the naked with a garment, entertain the stranger, carry or send relief to them that are in prison. Heal the sick; not by miracle, but through the blessing of God upon your seasonable support. Let the blessing of him that was ready to perish, through pining want, come upon thee. Defend the oppressed, plead the cause of the fatherless, and make the widow's heart to sing for joy.

28. We exhort you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be willing to communicate: xowvwv V. То be of the same spirit (though not in the same outward state) with those believers of ancient times, who remained stedfast, εv in nova, in that blessed and holy fellowship, wherein "none said, that any thing was his own, but they had all things common." Be a steward, a faithful and wise steward of God, and of the poor; differing from them in these two circumstances only, That your wants are first supplied, out of the portion of your Lord's goods which remain in your hands, and that you have the blessedness of giving. Thus "lay up for yourselves a good foundation,' not in the world, which now is, but rather, "for the time to come, that ye may lay hold on eternal life." The great foundation indeed of all the blessings of God, whether tem

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poral or eternal, is the Lord Jesus Christ, his righteousness and blood, what he hath done, and what he hath suffered for us. And "other foundation," in this sense, can no man lay;" no not an Apostle, no not an Angel from heaven. But through his merits, whatever we do in his Name, is a foundation for a good reward, in the day when "every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labour:" therefore, "labour" thou, "not for the meat that perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life." Therefore, "whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." Therefore, let

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"No fair occasions pass unheeded by ;

Snatching the golden moments as they fly,

Thou by few fleeting years ensure eternity!"

"By patient continuance in well-doing, seek thou for glory, and honour, and immortality." In a constant, zealous performance of all good works, wait thou for that happy hour when the King shall say, "I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink. I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me. I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Come, ye blessed of my Father, re ceive the Kingdom prepared for you, from the foundation of the world!"

SERMON XXXI.

DISCOURSE IX.

ON OUR LORD's SERMON ON THE MOUNT.

MATTHEW Vi. 24-34.

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the

"

one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and

mammon.

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your

life, what ye shall eat; or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment ? "Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns: yet your heavenly Father feedeth them: Are ye not much better than they?

"Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature?

"And why take ye thought for raiment ? Consider the

lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin :

"And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.

"Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which

to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he

not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? "Therefore, take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

"(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. "Take, therefore, no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

1. IT is recorded of the nations, whom the King of Assyria, after he had carried Israel away into captivity, placed in the cities of Samaria, that "They feared the Lord, and served their own gods." "These nations," saith the inspired writer, "feared the Lord," performed an outward service to him, (a plain proof that they had a fear of God, though not according to knowledge) " and served their graven images, both their children and their children's children; as did their fathers, so did they unto this day," 2 Kings, xvii, 33, &c.

How nearly does the practice of most modern Christians resemble this of the ancient heathens? "They fear the Lord:" they also perform an outward service to him, and hereby shew, they have some fear of God; but they likewise "serve their own gods." There are those who "teach them" (as there were those who taught the Assyrians) “ the manner of the God of the land;" the God whose name the country bears to this day, and who was once worshipped there with an holy worship. "Howbeit," they do not serve him alone; they do not fear him enough for this. But "every nation maketh gods of their own: every nation in the cities wherein they dwell. These nations fear the Lord," they have not laid aside the outward form of worshipping

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