THE CHRISTIAN CONTEMPLATED. Money evils of dependence and embarrassment. answereth all things," it procures a thousand advantages; and affords not only the necessaries, but the conveniences, and indulgences, and embellishments of life. Now the portion only of a very few favored individuals, includes all these ingredients; but the greater the confluence of them in number and degree, the better we consider the cup of prosperity replenished. But can such a cup be seen in the hand of a Why not? In general, indeed, the Christian? language of the Scripture befriends the needy and distressed; and what generous mind does not rejoice in this aspect of benevolent preference? Who does not read with pleasure, "I will leave in the midst of thee a poor and an afflicted people, and The they shall trust in the Lord their God." "God poor have the gospel preached unto them." hath chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him." But this is not true of We are told them, universally and exclusively. that not many of the higher ranks in life are called; but the very assertion implies that there are some. Our Saviour said to his followers, "If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily." "In the world ye shall have tribulation." Yet he also said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." The apostle who taught, that "through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom," made no scruple to say, "Godliness has the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come." Peter, also, who charged Christians not to think it strange "concerning the fiery trial as if some strange thing had happened unto them," confidently asserts, "He that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile; let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?" And religion, by its natural influence as well as by the blessing of an overruling Providence, tends in various ways to advance the temporal welfare of men. We have not time to exemplify these remarks; but we mention them the more readily, because rome Pietists seem to look upon all the distinctions and endowments of life, as nearly sealing their owners unto the day of perdition; and to conclude that their good things here are only pledges of their evil ones hereafter. It is true this, was the result, in the case of the rich man in the parable. But it was not so with Abraham, mentioned in the same story-yet Abraham had been very wealthy. We allow that there is enough to alarm the prosperous; but they have no ground for despair. The proprietors of no condition here are under any sentence of reprobation. They that have riches shall hardly enter into the kingdom of God; but with God all things are possible. There is a way to heaven from all the diversities of human life; and there is a passage from the mansion as well as from the cottage, though it is more narrow, and perplexing, and difficult. In a word; a Christian is never to be known by his condition; but he must a pecube always known in it; for he belongs to liar people, zealous of good works." In confirmation of which, let us proceed to hear what God the Lord has to say concerning us in the estate we are now surveying-I spake unto thee in thy prosperity-He is always alive to our welfare, and of this he never leaves himself without wit- I. That you should be AWARE Of its perils. I. You are required to be AWARE OF THE PERILS OF PROSPERITY. Answer Here it must be acknowledged we are furnished with a very mortifying view of human nature. The produce of creation, and the bounties of Providence, are good in themselves; and they are the gifts of God; and they ought to induce us to love and serve the Giver. And they would have this effect, were we not in a state of moral perversion and The goodness of God leadeth to redepravity. pentance-this is the design of it; this is the tendency of it. But what is the effect? this, ye who suppose that man is so innocent, so amiable, so dignified a creature! You deny that You deny that man, as he now the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. comes into the world, is otherwise than he was originally created. But can you deny that we are evil, because God is good? That we are unable to bear gratification uninjured? That what should draw us to God, with the cords of a man and the bands of love, leads us away from him? That the very blessings we receive from him we convert into weapons of rebellion against our Benefactor? "Lo! this only have I found, that Or will you affirm that we thus came from our Maker's hand? God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." is pecuThere is one case in which prosperity liarly perilous-when it is not hereditary, but acquired; and when it is acquired, not by degrees, but suddenly. He is most likely to be giddy who has not been accustomed to elevation. He is most likely to have his health injured, who passes all-at once from one climate to another; while, by use, nature may be attempered to almost any extremity. But though prosperity is peculiarly dangerous when it is neither natural nor gradual, it will be casy to prove that it is never free from numberless moral hazards. Let us turn first to the faithful word. What "Because they have no changes, What says Job? says David? therefore they fear not God." "Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire. not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray "Moab hath been at ease from his' unto him?" What is Jeremiah's report concerning Moab? vouth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from 7essel to vesse:, neither 44 hath he gone into captivity; therefore his taste remaineth in him, and his scent is not changed." But surely it was otherwise with the Jews. Hear Moses: "He made him to ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; butter of kine, and milk of sheep, and fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of - kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness: then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation." Hear Hosea: "According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me." Are we better than they? Let us appeal to reason, to observation, to experience. How many duties are there which prosperity tends to How many evils are discourage and hinder? there which its influence upon depraved beings is adapted to cherish and increase? What are these? Let us particularize a few of them-for their name is Legion. -Such is Unmindfulness of God. Hence the caution of Moses, "When thou shalt have eaten and art full, then beware lest thou forget the Lord that brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." Hence the prayer of Agar, "Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, who is the Lord?" The disciples suffered the Saviour to sleep while the vessel was sailing smoothly: but when the wind and the waves threatened, they went to him, saying, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" It is in affliction we seek him early. It is then we think of his moral agency; and fear that he is come to call our sins to remembrance. It is then we feel our dependence upon him-then other helpers fail; then we have no substitutes; then we have no diversion-we can dispense with him no longer-we are forced upon him. "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?" said Pharaoh, in all the affluence of his greatness. "Entreat the Lord for me," was the suppliant language of the same haughty monarch, brought down by the judgments of heaven. -Such is Pride. David remarks this. "Pride compasseth them like a chain." Nebuchadnezzar is an example of it. The king spake and said, "Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty ?" image of gold is sure of worshippers, if it be only -Such is Self-delusion. The prosperous seldom hear the truth. They are never reproved. Their failings are often admired. Their faults are even turned into virtues, and imitated, by their dependants. All join to flatter and delude them. Yea, God himself is accessory to their flattery and delusion-not by his design, but by their misconstructions of his conduct. For they are induced to think that they are his favorites, because he not only spares, but indulges them; and conclude that he will not treat them worse in another world than he has done in this.. -Such is Unwillingness to bear the Cross. Why did the young man in the gospel go away sorrowful? "He was very rich." He had much that was amiable, and much, that was promising. He engaged our Saviour's affections; and wished to follow him; but he had too much to leave behind.Why did not the Pharisees, who believed on him, confess him? "They feared lest they should have been put out of the synagogue, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." Eusebius, in speaking of the persecution under Decius, observes, that most of those who apostatized were not from among the poor, but the rich. They who are softened by care, and rendered delicate by indulgence, are little prepared for a rough campaign, and cannot be expected to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. -Such is Earthly-mindedness. Who are so likely to mind earthly things as those who abound with them? Who has so many ties to life? No condition, indeed, here, will bear any comparison with the future state of the blessed: yet, according to our present views and feelings, the mansion and the pleasant scenery around, have more power to attract and detain than the desolateness of the poor-house. How little have some to resign! How much have they to urge their departure! How often does the heart's bitterness lead them to sigh, "I loathe it, I would not live alway"-"O! that I had wings like a dove, for then would I flee away and be at rest; I would haste me from the stormy wind and tempest." What uneasinesses have others to excite them! How much have they to give up! How deep-rooted are they; and what force is necessary to loosen them from their position! "Ah!" said Johnson to Garrick, as he was walking over his bowers, "these are the things that make us unwilling to die." -Such is Worldly Conformity. They are not the poor, but the rich, who have intercourse with the world. These are they who are tempted to recom"Pigmies are pigmies still, though perched on Alps: mend themselves to their friendship; to emulate And pyramids are pyramids in vales." Yet men estimate their height, not by their figure, but by their elevation. A man is as distinguishable from his circumstances as a steed is from his caparisons: and as the latter would be judged of by his stature, and strength, and gracefulness, and speed, so the former should be valued only by his personal and intrinsic worth. But to make ourselves to be something when we are nothing, we compose ourselves, so to speak, of every thing outward and adventitious; we add houses, and lands, and equipage, and offices, and titles, and attendants; and thus enlarged and magnified, we think ourselves Anakims, while others are but grasshoppers in our sight. Wealth can even give wisdom. It enlarges the understanding of the possessor. It qualifies him to speak and decide; so that his drivellings, which were despised before, become oracular. For the world is as blameable as the fool himself. The one no more readily receives than the other pays this vile homage. The their pretensions; to adopt their maxims, and manners, and hours. -We may also mention Self-indulgence. We are far from pleading for monkish austerities and abstemiousness. Yet a Christian is to deny himself.Yet temperance is a part of godliness. Yet we are forbidden to provide for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof. But who is most likely to be profuse in dress and in furniture? Whose table is likely to become a snare? Who is in danger of feasting himself without fear? Whose precious mornings are most likely to be wasted in bed? -To this we may add Unfeelingness. He is most likely to be kind to a stranger who knows the heart of a stranger, having been a stranger in a strange land. Who ever thinks of repairing to the gay and the dissipated in the hour of trouble? What interest will he feel in my grief who never wept himself? The tenderest and most active sympathy flows from experience. What does a king know of the miseries of his subjects? He never looked into their hovel; never tasted their bitter bread. They whose condition or office exempts them from the common vexations and distresses of life, are always the most insensible to the duties and calls of compassion. Only a priest or a Levite could have passed by on the other side; and left the poor, wounded, bleeding traveller to his fate. and that you should be safe where your brethren have so generally failed. If you did, you would be sure to yield; for "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.". II. You are required to employ its SAFEGUARDS. But the option is not left to yourselves. The Lord chooses your inheritance for you; and in his After all, we have only presented a few speci-pleasure you must acquiesce. Only be sensible of mens of the dangers of Prosperity, But surely they the perils of the condition. are enough to keep you from looking with grudging and uneasiness on the condition of those that abound in the world. Surely they are enough to induce you, instead of envying those that rise, to pity them and pray for them; for they are set in slippery places. Surely we have said enough to excite those who are denied prosperity to be resigned and satisfied.Ah! ye who have had your purposes broken off, even the thoughts of your hearts; ye who have wished to build your nests on high, and to say to your soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry; ye to whom, after all your importunings of his providence, God has said, "Let it suffice: say no more to me of that matter"—Ah! who can tell what you have escaped? Who can tell what you might have been? You might, as Solomon has it, have been talking with your feet, and have swaggered by your neighbors. You might have answered roughly.-You might have pleased a tyrant's heart, in making yourselves feared. You might have acted a Diotrephes in the parish or the church. You might have heard with indifference every tale of wo. You might have abandoned the worship of God in your families, and have lost your attachment to his Sabbaths and his house. You might have made your passage your portion; and instead of arising and departing hence, have felt yourselves at home in the body: and "careful about many things," have overlooked that "good part" which now you have happily chosen, and which shall not be taken away from you. Let all abandon their eager desires after the world; and if they must increase, be concerned to increase with all the increase of God. "Seekest thou great things to thyself? seek them not." "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." "For they that will be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many arrows."The Apostle, in this passage, seems to refer to two classes of persons. First, to those who perish in their worldly things, making shipwreck of faith and a good conscience. These he compares to men at sea who founder, and are seen no more-they are drowned in destruction and perdition. Secondly, to those who are not destroyed but injured. These he compares to travellers, who, seeing, as they are going along, some inviting fruit a little out of their road, step aside to gather; but as it is surrounded with thorns and briers, they wound themselves in the attempt. These err from the faith, and pierce themselves through with many sorrows. For while the prosperity of fools destroys them, the prosperity of wise men may harm them. Saul was lost by his advancement; but David himself was injured and hence we read of his "first ways." The hero, the conqueror, the king, never equalled the shepherd of Bethlehem. Upon this principle, if you had to choose, you should not, you would not choose a state so frequently destructive: so commonly hurtful. You would not conclude that you were better than others, And first, if you would escape the evils of Prosperity, consider much your Responsibility. Never imagine that the things you possess are your own, and that you are at liberty to do what you please with them. They are all in the nature of a trust. You are not the proprietors, but the stewards.When you receive them, a voice cries "Occupy till I come:" and then the same voice will say, "Give account of thy stewardship, for thou shalt be no longer steward." Keep your minds alive to the certainty of this account; the extent of this account; the strictness of this account; the nearness of this account- Behold, the Judge standeth before the door." "Let your moderation be known unto all men: the Lord is at hand." Secondly, Reflect on the brevity of your Possessions. There is a day coming when the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the earth, and all the works that are therein, shall be burned up. And then," to whom will ye flee for help, and where will you leave your glory?"-But this prospect seems very far off; and the distance prevents impression. Is death then far off? You have only a life-interest in your estate. And "what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.' Then you must part with all for ever. "For we brought nothing with us into the world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out." But how frequently is the continuance of your possessions and enjoyments much shorter than life itself! "Wilt thou," therefore, says Solomon, "set thy heart on that which is not? For riches make to themselves wings and fly away." 'Brethren," says the Apostle," the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none, and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not." Thirdly, Study the vanity of your Acquisitions.How little can they contribute to the reality of your happiness! Look at those in the circle of your acquaintance. Do you know any of them, I will not say, that have improved in religion, but that have increased in comfort! As to yourselves; have your contentment, and peace, and pleasure, risen with your circumstances in the world? Can riches profit in the day of wrath? Can any abundance relieve the anguish of a wounded spirit? What a source of perplexity and anxiety is a prosperous estate! "In the midst of his sufficiency he shall be in straits." What an attraction is it of ill-will! What an excitement to envy and slander! The success of a rival; the superior display of a neighbor; yea, even the disregard of an individual seemingly incapable of annoying us-even his neglect may spoil the relish of a courtier's bliss, the favorite of the owner of a hundred and twenty-seven provinces. "When he came home he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife. And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had pro moted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king. Haman said, moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared, but myself; and to-morrow am I invited unto her also with the king. Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sit ting at the king's gate." in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise?" Faith. "For he looked for a city which had foundations, whose builder and maker is God. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things, declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned: but now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city.” People often wonder at your uneasiness; but the heart knoweth its own bitterness. You feel some worm at the root withering the gourd that overshadows you. Perhaps some personal or relative trial preys upon the peace of your mind. Perhaps the dear companion who once walked with you along your flowery path is removed far from you; and disinclined to retrace the spots once endeared by social converse, you watch and are alone, as a sparrow upon the house-top. Perhaps when you sit down at table, David's seat is empty-and tears are your meat day and night. Perhaps the heir, who was to perpetuate your name and inherit your property, now occupies a tomb, on which you have in-viour: "Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptascribed, " And Thou destroyest the hope of man." Perhaps an infirmity is entailed upon you for life. Perhaps some disease is gradually undermining your frame. Perhaps your senses are declining and desire fails; and the days are come wherein you have no pleasure. "Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do: and, tehold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the-watching without prayer is presumption. Our sun." Finally. Forget not the Admonition of the Sa tion." And what he has joined together let no man put asunder. In vain I invoke God if I am careless; and expose myself needlessly in dangerous places and company; and leave, without a sentinel, my senses, and appetites, and passions: and keep not my heart with all diligence; and use not all the means of preservation which are placed within my reach-prayer without watching is hypocrisy. And strength is in God alone. He will make us know this, not only by the testimony of his word, but by our experience. And we need not be afraid of the growing conviction. When we are weak, then are we strong. For he to whom a sense of our weakness will urge us to repair, is able to keep us from falling. Whatever be our inability and danger, if he holds us up we shall be safe. Let not those be discouraged who seek his help. The very exercise of prayer tends to secure you. But you have more to rely upon than the moral influence of the duty. If there be any meaning in the Scriptures, God hears prayer: he grants our petitions; he strengthens us with might by his Spirit in the inward man. Ask," says the Saviour, "and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." Fourthly, Think how little worldly prosperity has distinguished many of the excellent of the earth.When you are tempted to glory in wealth, remember what a multitude there is in poor life who would make you shrink into nothing, if you were morally compared with them; and what is gold to godliness? What superior grace and wisdom and usefulness dignified numbers of those servants of the Most High God and benefactors of men, who passed their day's in a state of dependence, or ended them in a prison! Read the history, examine the lives of those preachers and writers whose immortal works praise them in all the churches. Take Luther, that great reformer, who has levied a tax of admiration" and gratitude on every age. He has this passage in his last will and testament: “O Lord God, I thank thee that thou hast been pleased to make me a poor and indigent man upon earth. I have neither house nor land nor money to leave behind me. Thou hast given me a wife and children, whom I now restore to thee. Lord, nourish, teach, and preserve them, as thou hast me." The Apostles could say, "Even unto this present hour, we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place" And the Lord of Glory, the image of the invisible God, had not where to lay his head. And yet we think wealth the standard of excellence! -Again. Daily realize the assurances of Revelation. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." The influence of a greater good will abolish the impression of a less. The man who walks by sight, is sure to be conquered: the things which are seen are temporal; and he sees no other; these, therefore, strike and please and engross him. But the man who walks by faith, sees things invisible to the eye of sense; and these are eternal: and they are infinite. What is the honor that cometh from man, compared with the smiles of God? What is a handful of shining dust compared with "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory?" Can the stars be seen in the shining of the sun? What saved Moses in circumstances far more perilous than those of his birth? "By faith, Moses, when he was come to years, re- | fused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." What led Abraham to "sojourn," even "in the land of promise, as in a strange land, dwelling Thus his grace shall be sufficient for you even in prosperity. But a Christian should not only be concerned to use the world as not abusing it; he should not only be anxious to avoid the evils of his condition; but to exercise its virtues, and perform its duties, and sanctify its resources. And the III. Part of our subject calls upon you to IMPROVE THE ADVANTAGES OF PROSPERITY. This is to be exemplified in three things. Gratitude, Beneficence, and Enjoyment. The first regards God. The second our fellow-creatures. The third, ourselves. First, you are to improve your Prosperity in a way of gratitude. God is to be owned as the author of all. The streams of comfort are many, and flow in various channels: but with him is the fountain of life "Do not err, my beloved brethren: every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights." The silver and the gold are his. However you have obtained it, whether from inheritance or the legacies of friendship, or the labor of your own hands, he it is that giveth you power to get wealth. And your prosperity lacketh its firmest support, its loveliest ornament, its sweetest relish, if you do not acknowledge in it the providence of him whose blessing alone maketh rich, and addeth no sorrow with it. Is this acknowledgment made? And is it real? And is it constant? And is it fervent? What would you think of a dependant who had no claim on your bounty; whom you not only relieved, but supported, and supported in affluence; being not only attentive to his necessities, but meeting all his wishes-what would you think of such a dependant if he should never call upon you, never send to you; never speak of you favorably to others; never think of you-but should take all this goodness as a matter of right rather than of kindness and act as if he would have all around him to believe that it was all of his own producing or purchasing? How soon would you discontinue your unacknowledged favors; and how hateful would his conduct appear, not only to yourself, but to every one who witness ed it! Yet how little is God owned. We sacrifice to our own net, and burn incense to our own drag. We ascribe our success to the wisdom of our own understanding; or the power of our own arm; or the interest we have in the favor of our fellow-mortals; or we take it as the effect of chance, while God is not in all our thoughts. "Therefore," says God, "I will return and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof; for she did not know I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal." This is a trying method to bring us to reflection: but it is often necessary.Continued enjoyment seems to give a kind of prescription; at least it makes us forget our reliance and obligation. We are struck with what is new and out of course: while we overlook what is regular and habitual. Whereas, this should be the grand reason for your praise; for the claim arises not from our benefits being occasional, but frequent and constant: new every morning and every moment. How soon could the Great Ruler and Benefactor convince you that he is not obliged to continue what you deem your own; and that he can as easily, as justly recall what he has given. That this may not be the case, sanctify the Lord God in your thoughts, Think of your desért. Compare your condition with that of others. And while you see that the lines have fallen to you in pleasant places, and that you have a goodly heritage, say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." The beginning of some of you was small. You remember a time when you had no inheritance, no not so much as to set your foot on; and had your subsequent enlargement been foretold, you would have exclaimed with the surprised nobleman, "If the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be." Surely you will follow the example of Jacob, who said, "Lord, I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands.' Surely you will retire with David before the Lord, and say, "O Lord God, what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord God; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come: and is this the manner of man, O Lord God?? sions blessed. This is the way also to have them increased. "Give alms of such things as you have, and behold all things are clean unto you." "The liberal soul deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he stand.” Therefore says the Apostle, "Charge them that are rich in this world that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." The objects of your charity are numberless. Some of these have preferable claims; but none of them are to be excluded. As you have opportunity, you are to do good unto all men, especially unto them that are of the household of faith. There are the fatherless and the widows to visit: and the sick to heal; and the naked to clothe; and the hungry to feed. "The poor you have always with you" and if you have the ability to succor, and withhold relief, your religion would perplex an inspired Apostle. "Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" But there are also the careless to awaken; the ignorant to instruct; the vicious to reclaim; and the backsliding to restore. The soul is of supreme importance; and it becomes us peculiarly to aid in supporting those institutions and exertions, which have in view the spiritual and eternal welfare of men. Even these require much pecuniary assistance; and it is the highest honor that can be conferred upon money that it is employed in carrying on the concerns of the gospel. These have nobly multiplied in our day; and they occasion frequent applications to your liberality. But surely you cannot complain of this frequency. It shows the improved state of your beloved country, religiously considered; and Christians should deem those the best times in which the best cause flourishes most. Surely you would not wish to bring back the state of things a century ago, when, for a year together, avarice and selfishness might have escaped these evangelical vexations. Have you not yourselves been accessory to this improvement? Have you not been praying that God's kingdom may come, and that his word may have free course and be glorified? And will you complain or rejoice when those prayers are answered? When you offered them, did you suppose that what you implored was to be carried on by miracles, or by means? If by means, did you stipulate in these prayers that Gods should employ the instrumentality of others, and not require your own? Or, did you not mean to place yourselves at his disposal; and to ask, as the work was going on, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" This must have been your meaning if you prayed sincerely and earnestly; and consistency requires, if you would not be condeinned out of your own mouth, every sacrifice in your power. And how much is in the power of some of you!And how would your efficacy be increased, if you would be satisfied with a decent distinction above the vulgar, instead of being splendid; if you would avoid every extravagance and superfluousness in your mode of living; if you would exercise a little of that self-denial, which, after all, is the principal test of real benevolence. Secondly, You are to improve your Prosperity in a way of beneficence. In this respect you are favored above many of your brethren. Their ear is not heavy that it cannot hear; but their hand is shortened that it cannot save. They see wants and miseries which only distress them; for they have only the disposition to relieve. But you can indulge it-you have the power. Value the substance you possess on this account. And remember, also, that you have it for this very purpose. In the bestow- Many rules have been laid down, as to the proment, God looked beyond yourselves; and designed portion of your estate or income which should be to make you not only the subjects of his goodness, dedicated to benevolence. If conscience was not but the instruments; not only the recipients, but the so often asleep, or if when awake it had any chance diffusers. And how can you neglect to impart re- of being heard in the same hour with the love of lief and comfort to others, while God is perpetually money, the degree might safely be left to every communicating to you; and your condition, as well man's own mind. Nothing however can be more as your religion, cries, "Freely ye have received, just and reasonable than the injunction of the Aposfreely give." This is the way to have your posses-tle, "Let every one of you lay by him in store as |