I have continued to pray for you, or rather the Lord has enabled me every day once, twice, thrice, or even more, to remember you.
The burden of my prayer still has been, that he would be pleased to make you very happy in himself, and enable you to enter into the inheritance which awaits you; further, that you may not be permitted in the least to regret the step which you have taken, but rather consider it a privilege to be permitted to give this little sum back to him who gave it to you, and who gave himself for you. With reference to the delay, I cannot but rejoice. This gives you abundant opportunity to ponder the matter, and afterwards to state to any (who, judging as those who know not how rich the saints are, might blame you) that you did not do the thing in haste. I consider this delay to be for the furtherance of the honor of the Lord. You know my advice to you, to wait at least a fortnight. That you have seen much of your unfaithfulness, etc., I consider to be an especial blessing which the Lord has bestowed upon you, lest this step you have taken should become a snare to you. Humblings last our whole life. Jesus came not to save _painted_ but _real_ sinners; but he _has_ saved us, and will surely make it manifest. I have a pa.s.sage laid on my heart for you; read the whole of it carefully: 2 Cor. viii. 1-9, especially verse 9.
Day after day now pa.s.sed away and the money did not come. The month of January was come to an end, and February also, and the money had not come. Thus more than one hundred and twenty days were gone by, whilst day by day I brought my pet.i.tion before the Lord that he would bless this sister, keep her steadfast in her purpose, and intrust me with this money for his work in my hands. Amidst it all my heart was a.s.sured, judging from the earnestness which he had given me in prayer, and that I had only desired this matter to the praise of his name, that in his own time he would bring it about. _But I never wrote one single line to this sister on the subject all this time._ At last, on the one hundred and thirty-fourth day since I had _daily_ besought the Lord about this matter, on March 8, 1843, I received a letter from the sister, informing me that the five hundred pounds had been paid into the hands of my bankers.
And now I only give a few lines of a letter which I received on July 3, 1844, from the sister who gave this donation, together with my letters for which I had asked her, in order that I may show her state of mind on the subject, after she had had it more than twenty months before her, and after she had for sixteen months actually given up the money. She writes thus: "I am thankful to say that I have never for one moment had the slightest feeling of regret, but it is _wholly_ of the Lord"s abounding grace. I speak it to his praise."
On March 31, 1843, I called at the Orphan Houses to make certain arrangements, and one of the sisters told me by the way that she had been asked by Miss G., who with her father occupied the house No. 4 Wilson Street, to let me know that they wished to give up their house, if I would like to take it; but she had replied that it was of no use to tell me about it, for she was sure that I had no thought of opening another Orphan House. When I came home, this matter greatly occupied my mind. I could not but ask the Lord again and again whether he would have me to open another Orphan House, and whether the time was now come that I should serve him still more extensively in this way. The more I pondered the matter, the more it appeared to me that this was the hand of G.o.d moving me onwards in this service. The following remarkable combination of circ.u.mstances struck me in particular: 1. There are more applications made for the admission of orphans, especially of late, than we are at all able to meet, though we fill the houses as much as the health of the children and of the laborers will possibly admit. 2. If I did take another house for orphans, it would be most desirable it should be in the same street where the other three are, as thus the labor is less, and in times of great need we are near together for prayer, the distribution of the money, etc. But since the third Orphan House was opened, in Nov. 1837, there never has been one of the larger houses in the street to be let. 3. There are about fifteen children in the Infant Orphan House, whom it would have been well some time ago to have removed to the house for the older girls, had there been room; but when a vacancy happened to occur in that house, there were generally several waiting to fill it up, so that unintentionally the female children in the Infant Orphan House remained where they were; but this is not well, nor is it according to my original intention; for the infants were intended only to be left till they are seven years old, and then to be removed to the houses for older boys and girls. This my original plan could be executed better for the future, and at once for the present, were I to open another Orphan House. 4. I know two sisters who seem suitable laborers for this fourth Orphan House, and who have a desire thus to be engaged. 5. There are three hundred pounds remaining of the five hundred pounds which I so lately received. This money may be used for the furnishing and fitting up of a new Orphan House. So much money I have never had in hand at any one time during the last five years. This seemed to me a remarkable thing, in connection with the four other reasons. 6. The establishing of a fourth Orphan House, which would increase our expenses several hundred pounds a year, would be, after we have gone for five years almost uninterruptedly through trials of faith, a plain proof that I have not regretted this service, and that I am not tired of this precious way of depending upon the Lord from day to day; and thus the faith of other children of G.o.d might be strengthened.
But most important, yea, decidedly conclusive as these points were, yet they did not convince me that I ought to go forward in this service, if the Spirit"s leadings were not in connection with them. I therefore gave myself to prayer. I prayed day after day, _without saying anything to any human being_. I prayed two and twenty days without even mentioning it to my dear wife. On that very day, when I did mention it to her, and on which I had come to the conclusion, after three weeks" prayer and consideration in the fear of G.o.d, to establish another Orphan House, I received from A. B. fifty pounds. What a striking confirmation that the Lord will help, though the necessities should increase more and more. At last, on the twenty-fourth day, having been now for several days fully a.s.sured that G.o.d would have me go forward in this service, I went to inquire whether Mr. and Miss G. still wished to give up the house. But here I found an apparent hindrance. Having heard no wish expressed on my part to take the house, and the sister in the Orphan Houses, with whom Miss G. had communicated, not having given her the least reason to think that I should do so, Mr. and Miss G. had altered their plans, and now purposed to remain in the house. However, I was to call again in a week, when I should receive an answer. I was not in the least discomforted by this obstacle. "Lord, if _thou_ hast no need of another Orphan House, _I_ have none," was the burden of my prayer. I was willing to do G.o.d"s will, yea, to delight myself in his will. And just on this very ground, because I knew I sought not my own honor, but the Lord"s; because I knew I was not serving myself, but the Lord, in this thing; and because I knew that with so much calm, quiet, prayerful, self-questioning consideration I had gone about this business, and had only after many days, during which I had been thus waiting upon the Lord, come to the conclusion that it was the will of G.o.d I should go forward in this service. For these reasons I felt sure, notwithstanding what Mr. and Miss G. had told me, that I should have the house. I also especially judged that thus it would be, _because I was quite in peace_ when I heard of the obstacle; a plain proof that I was not in self-will going on in this matter, but according to the leading of the Holy Ghost; for if according to my natural mind I had sought to enlarge the work, I should have been excited and uncomfortable when I met with this obstacle. After a week I called again on Mr. G. And now see how G.o.d had wrought! On the same day on which I had seen Mr. G., he went out and met with a suitable house, so that when I came the second time, he was willing to let me have the one which he then occupied in Wilson Street; and as the owner accepted me as a tenant, all the difficulties were removed, so that after the 1st of June we began fitting up the house, and in July the first orphans were received.
Mr. M. having been invited by several Christians in Germany to visit that, his native land, and to labor there for the promulgation of scriptural truth and the advancement of religion, as well as to publish a German translation of his Narrative, felt that it was his duty to accede to the request. In answer to prayer, he received ample means for his journey, for the support of the orphans during his absence, and for the publication of the Narrative. He left Bristol on the 9th of August, 1843, and returned on March 6, 1844. During the journey he was greatly aided by Providence in the purposes of his mission, and saw much fruit of his labors.
CHAPTER XVI.
STEWARDSHIP.
1844.
EARTHLY AND HEAVENLY TREASURES--SEEKING THE KINGDOM OF G.o.d--FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER--THE CHRISTIAN MERCHANT--EXAMPLES--MISTAKES.
In concluding this portion of my Narrative, I would add some hints on a few pa.s.sages of the word of G.o.d, both because I have so very frequently found them little regarded by Christians, and also because I have proved their preciousness, in some measure, in my own experience; and therefore wish that all my fellow-saints may share the blessing with me.
I. In Matt. vi. 19-21, it is written: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Observe, dear reader, the following points concerning this part of the divine testimony:
1. It is the Lord Jesus, our Lord and Master, who speaks this as the lawgiver of his people,--he who has infinite wisdom and unfathomable love to us, who therefore both knows what is for our real welfare and happiness, and who cannot exact from us any requirement inconsistent with that love which led him to lay down his life for us.
2. His counsel, his affectionate entreaty, and his commandment to us his disciples is, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth." The meaning obviously is, that the disciples of the Lord Jesus, being strangers and pilgrims on earth, _i. e._ neither belonging to the earth nor expecting to remain in it, _should not seek to increase their earthly possessions_, in whatever these possessions may consist. This is a word for poor believers as well as for rich believers; it has as much a reference to putting shillings into the savings bank as to putting thousands of pounds into the funds, or purchasing one house or one farm after another. It may be said, But does not every prudent and provident person seek to increase his means, that he may have a goodly portion to leave to his children, or to have something for old age, or for the time of sickness, etc.? My reply is, it is quite true that this is the custom of the world. But whilst thus it is in the world, and we have every reason to believe ever will be so among those that are of the world, and who therefore have their portion on earth, we disciples of the Lord Jesus, being born again, being the children of G.o.d, not nominally, but really, being truly partakers of the divine nature, being in fellowship with the Father and the Son, and having in prospect "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away," (1 Peter i. 4,) ought in every respect to act differently from the world, and so in this particular also. If we disciples of the Lord Jesus seek, like the people of the world, after an increase of our possessions, may not those who are of the world justly question whether we believe what we say, when we speak about our inheritance, our heavenly calling, our being the children of G.o.d, etc.? Often it must be a sad stumbling-block to the unbeliever to see a professed believer in the Lord Jesus acting in this particular just like himself. Consider this, dear brethren in the Lord, should this remark apply to you.
3. Our Lord says about the earth that it is a place "Where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal." All that is of the earth, and in any way connected with it, is subject to corruption, to change, to dissolution. There is no reality, or substance, in anything else but in heavenly things. Often the careful ama.s.sing of earthly possessions ends in losing them in a moment by fire, by robbery, by a change of mercantile concerns, by loss of work, etc.; but suppose all this were not the case, still, yet a little while, and thy soul shall be required of thee; or, yet a little while, and the Lord Jesus will return; and what profit shalt thou then have, dear reader, if thou hast carefully sought to increase thy earthly possessions?
4. Our Lord, however, does not merely bid us not to lay up treasure upon earth; for if he had said no more, this his commandment might be abused, and persons might find in it an encouragement for their extravagant habits, for their love of pleasure, for their habit of spending everything they have, or can obtain, _upon themselves_. It does not mean, then, as is the common phrase, that we should "live up to our income;" for he adds, "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven."
There is such a thing as laying up as truly in heaven as there is laying up on earth; if it were not so, our Lord would not have said so. Just as persons put one sum after another into the bank, and it is put down to their credit, and they may use the money afterwards: so truly the penny, the shilling, the pound, the hundred pounds, the ten thousand pounds, _given for the Lord"s sake, and constrained by the love of Jesus_, to poor brethren, or in any way spent in the work of G.o.d, he marks down in the book of remembrance, he considers as laid up in heaven. _The money is not lost, it is laid up in the bank of heaven_; yet so, that whilst an earthly bank may break, or through earthly circ.u.mstances we may lose our earthly possessions, the money which is thus secured in heaven _cannot be lost_. But this is by no means the only difference. I notice a few more points: Treasures laid up on earth bring along with them many cares; treasures laid up in heaven never give care. Treasures laid up on earth never can afford spiritual joy; treasures laid up in heaven bring along with them peace and joy in the Holy Ghost even now. Treasures laid up on earth, in a dying hour cannot afford peace and comfort, and when life is over they are taken from us; treasures laid up in heaven draw forth thanksgiving that we were permitted and counted worthy to serve the Lord with the means with which he was pleased to intrust us as stewards, and when this life is over we are not deprived of what was laid up there, but when we go to heaven we go to the place where our treasures are, and we shall find them there. Often we hear it said, when a person has died, he died worth so much. But whatever be the phrases common in the world, it is certain that a person may die worth fifty thousand pounds sterling, as the world reckons, and yet that individual may not possess, in the sight of G.o.d, one thousand pounds sterling, because _he was not rich towards G.o.d_, he did not lay up treasure in heaven. And so, on the other hand, we can suppose a man of G.o.d falling asleep in Jesus, and his surviving widow finding scarcely enough left behind him to suffice for the funeral, who was nevertheless _rich towards G.o.d_: in the sight of G.o.d he may possess five thousand pounds sterling, he may have laid up that sum in heaven. Dear reader, does your soul long to be rich towards G.o.d, to lay up treasures in heaven? The world pa.s.ses away, and the l.u.s.t thereof. Yet a little while and our stewardship will be taken from us. At present we have the opportunity of serving the Lord with our time, our talents, our bodily strength, our gifts; and also with our property; but shortly this opportunity may cease. Oh, how shortly may it cease! Before ever this is read by any one, I may have fallen asleep; and the very next day after you have read this, dear reader, you may fall asleep; and, therefore, whilst we have the opportunity, let us serve the Lord.
5. The Lord lastly adds: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Where should the heart of the disciple of the Lord Jesus be, but in heaven? Our calling is a heavenly calling, our inheritance is a heavenly inheritance, and reserved for us in heaven; our citizenship is in heaven; but if we believers in the Lord Jesus lay up treasures on earth, the necessary result of it is, that our hearts will be upon earth; nay, the very fact of our doing so proves that they are there!
Nor will it be otherwise, till there be a ceasing to lay up treasures upon earth. The believer who lays up treasures upon earth may, at first, not live openly in sin, he in a measure may yet bring some honor to the Lord in certain things; but the injurious tendencies of this habit will show themselves more and more, whilst the habit of laying up treasures in heaven would draw the heart more and more heavenward; would be continually strengthening his new, his divine nature, his spiritual faculties, because it would call his spiritual faculties into use, and thus they would be strengthened; and he would more and more, whilst yet in the body, have his heart in heaven, and set upon heavenly things; and thus the laying up treasures in heaven would bring along with it, even in this life, precious spiritual blessings as a reward of obedience to the commandment of our Lord.
II. The next pa.s.sage, on which I desire to make a few remarks, is Matt.
vi. 33: "But seek ye first the kingdom of G.o.d and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." After our Lord, in the previous verses, had been pointing his disciples "to the fowls of the air," and "the lilies of the field," in order that they should be without carefulness about the necessaries of life, he adds: "Therefore take no thought (literally, be not anxious), 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." Observe here particularly that we, the children of G.o.d, should be different from the nations of the earth, from those who have no Father in heaven, and who therefore make it their great business, their first anxious concern, what they shall eat, and what they shall drink, and wherewithal they shall be clothed.
We, the children of G.o.d, should, as in every other respect, so in this particular also, be different from the world, and prove to the world that we believe that we have a Father in heaven who knoweth that we have need of all these things. The fact that our Almighty Father, who is full of infinite love to us his children, and who has proved to us his love in the gift of his only-begotten Son, and his almighty power in raising him from the dead, knows that we have need of these things, should remove all anxiety from our minds. There is, however, one thing that we have to attend to, and which we _ought_ to attend to, with reference to our temporal necessities; it is mentioned in our verse: "But seek ye first the kingdom of G.o.d and his righteousness." The great business which the disciple of the Lord Jesus has to be concerned about (for this word was spoken to disciples, to professed believers) is, to seek the kingdom of G.o.d, _i. e._ to seek, as I view it, after the external and internal prosperity of the church of Christ. If, according to our ability, and according to the opportunity which the Lord gives us, we seek to win souls for the Lord Jesus, that appears to me to be seeking the _external prosperity_ of the kingdom of G.o.d; and if we, as members of the body of Christ, seek to benefit our fellow-members in the body, helping them on in grace and truth, or caring for them in any way to their edification, that would be seeking the _internal prosperity_ of the kingdom of G.o.d. But in connection with this we have also "to seek his righteousness," which means (as it was spoken to disciples, to those who have a Father in heaven, and not to those who were without), to seek to be more and more like G.o.d, to seek to be inwardly conformed to the mind of G.o.d. If these two things are attended to (and _they imply also that we are not slothful in business_), then do we come under that precious promise: "And all these things (that is, food, raiment, or anything else that is needful for this present life) shall be added unto you." It is not _for_ attending to these two things that we obtain the blessing, but _in_ attending to them.
I now ask you, my dear reader, a few questions in all love, because I do seek your welfare, and I do not wish to put these questions to you without putting them first to my own heart. Do you make it your primary business, your first great concern, to seek the kingdom of G.o.d and his righteousness? Are the things of G.o.d, the honor of his name, the welfare of his church, the conversion of sinners, and the profit of your own soul, your chief aim? Or does your business, or your family, or your own temporal concerns, in some shape or other _primarily_ occupy your attention? If the latter be the case, then, though you may have all the necessaries of life, yet could you be surprised if you had them not?
Remember that the world pa.s.seth away, but that the things of G.o.d endure forever.
I never knew a child of G.o.d, who acted according to the above pa.s.sage, in whose experience the Lord did not fulfil his word of promise, "All these things shall be added unto you."
III. The third portion of the divine testimony on which I desire to throw out a few hints, is in 1 John i. 3: "And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." Observe,
1. The words "fellowship," "communion," "copartic.i.p.ation," and "partnership," mean the same.
2. The believer in the Lord Jesus does not only obtain forgiveness of all his sins, as he does through the shedding of the blood of Jesus, by faith in his name; does not only become a righteous one before G.o.d, through the righteousness of the Lord Jesus, by faith in his name; is not only begotten again, born of G.o.d, and partaker of the divine nature, and therefore a child of G.o.d and an heir of G.o.d; but he is also in fellowship or partnership with G.o.d. Now, so far as it regards G.o.d, and our standing in the Lord Jesus, we have this blessing once for all; nor does it allow of either an increase or a decrease. Just as G.o.d"s love to us believers, his children, is unalterably the same, whatever may be the manifestations of that love; and as his peace with us is the same, however much our peace may be disturbed; so it is also with regard to our being in fellowship or partnership with him: it remains unalterably the same so far as G.o.d is concerned. But then,
3. There is an _experimental_ fellowship, or partnership, with the Father and with his Son, which consists in this: that all which we possess in G.o.d, as being the partners or fellows of G.o.d, is brought down into our daily life, is enjoyed, experienced, and used. This _experimental_ fellowship, or partnership, allows of an increase or a decrease, in the measure in which faith is in exercise, and in which we are entering into what we have received in the Lord Jesus. The measure in which we enjoy this _experimental_ fellowship with the Father and with the Son is without limit; for without limit we may make use of our partnership with the Father and with the Son, and draw by prayer and faith out of the inexhaustible fulness which there is in G.o.d.
Let us now take a few instances in order to see the practical working of this _experimental_ fellowship, or partnership, with the Father and with the Son. Suppose there are two believing parents who were not brought to the knowledge of the truth until some years after the Lord had given them several children. Their children were brought up in sinful, evil ways, whilst the parents did not know the Lord. Now the parents reap as they sowed. They suffer from having set an evil example before their children, for their children are unruly and behave most improperly. What is now to be done? Need such parents despair? No. The first thing they have to do is, to make confession of their sins to G.o.d, with regard to neglecting their children whilst they were themselves living in sin, and then to remember that they are in partnership with G.o.d, and therefore to be of good courage, though they are in themselves still utterly insufficient for the task of managing their children. They have in themselves neither the wisdom, nor the patience, nor the long-suffering, nor the gentleness, nor the meekness, nor the love, nor the decision and firmness, nor anything else that may be needful in dealing with their children aright. But their heavenly Father has all this. The Lord Jesus possesses all this. And they are in partnership with the Father, and with the Son, and therefore they can obtain by prayer and faith all they need out of the fulness of G.o.d. I say by _prayer_ and _faith_, for we have to make known our need to G.o.d in prayer, ask his help, and then we have _to believe_ he will give us what we need. Prayer alone is not enough. We may pray never so much, yet, if we do not believe that G.o.d will give us what we need, we have no reason to expect that we shall receive what we have asked for. So then these parents would need to ask G.o.d to give them the needful wisdom, patience, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, love, decision; and firmness, and whatever else they may judge they need. They may in humble boldness remind their heavenly Father that his word a.s.sures them that they are in partnership with him, and, as they themselves are lacking in these particulars, ask him to be pleased to supply their need; and then they have _to believe_ that G.o.d will do it, and they shall receive according to their need.
Another instance: Suppose I am so situated in my business that day by day such difficulties arise that I continually find that I take wrong steps by reason of these great difficulties. How may the case be altered for the better? In myself I see no remedy for the difficulties. In looking at myself I can expect nothing but to make still further mistakes, and, therefore, trial upon trial seems to be before me. And yet I need not despair. The living G.o.d is my partner. _I_ have not sufficient wisdom to meet these difficulties so as to be able to know what steps to take, but _he_ is able to direct me. What I have, therefore, to do, is this: in simplicity to spread my case before my heavenly Father and my Lord Jesus. The Father and the Son are my partners. I have to tell out my heart to G.o.d, and to ask him, that, as he is my partner, and I have no wisdom in myself to meet all the many difficulties which continually occur in my business, he would be pleased to guide and direct me, and to supply me with the needful wisdom; and then I have _to believe_ that G.o.d will do so, and go with good courage to my business, and _expect_ help from him in the next difficulty that may come before me. _I have to look out_ for guidance; _I have to expect_ counsel from the Lord; and as a.s.suredly as I do so, I shall have it, I shall find that I am not nominally, but really, in partnership with the Father and with the Son.
Another instance: There is a father and mother with seven small children. Both parents are believers. The father works in a manufactory, but cannot earn more than ten shillings per week. The mother cannot earn anything. These ten shillings are too little for the supply of nourishing and wholesome food for seven growing children and their parents, and for providing them with the other necessaries of life. What is to be done in such a case? Surely not to find fault with the manufacturer, who may not be able to afford more wages, and much less to murmur against G.o.d; but the parents have in simplicity to tell G.o.d, their partner, that the wages of ten shillings a week are not sufficient in England to provide nine persons with all they need, so as that their health be not injured. They have to remind G.o.d that he is not a hard master, not an unkind being, but a most loving Father, who has abundantly proved the love of his heart in the gift of his only begotten Son. And they have in childlike simplicity to ask him that either he would order it so that the manufacturer may be able to allow more wages; or that he (the Lord) would find them another place, where the father would be able to earn more; or that he would be pleased, somehow or other, as it may seem good to him, to supply them with more means. They have to ask the Lord, in childlike simplicity, again and again for it, if he does not answer their request at once; and they have _to believe_ that G.o.d, their Father and partner, will give them the desire of their hearts. They have _to expect_ an answer to their prayers; day by day they have _to look out_ for it, and to repeat their request till G.o.d grants it. As a.s.suredly as they _believe_ that G.o.d will grant them their request, so a.s.suredly it shall be granted.
Thus, suppose I desired more power over my besetting sins; suppose I desired more power against certain temptations; suppose I desired more wisdom, or grace, or anything else that I may need in my service among the saints, or in my service towards the unconverted: what have I to do but to make use of my being in fellowship with the Father and with the Son? Just as, for instance, an old faithful clerk, who is this day taken into partnership by an immensely rich firm, though himself altogether without property, would not be discouraged by reason of a large payment having to be made by the firm within three days, though he himself has no money at all of his own, but would comfort himself with the immense riches possessed by those who so generously have just taken him into partnership: so should we, the children of G.o.d and servants of Jesus Christ, comfort ourselves by being in fellowship, or partnership, with the Father, and with the Son, though we have no power of our own against our besetting sins; though we cannot withstand temptations, which are before us, in our own strength; and though we have neither sufficient grace nor wisdom for our service among the saints, or towards the unconverted. All we have to do is, to draw upon our partner, the living G.o.d. By prayer and faith we may obtain all needful temporal and spiritual help and blessings. In all simplicity have we to tell out our heart before G.o.d, and then we have to believe that he will give to us according to our need.
But _if we do not believe_ that G.o.d will help us, could we be at peace?
The clerk, taken into the firm as partner, _believes_ that the firm will meet the payment, though so large, and though in three days it is to be made, and it is this that keeps his heart quiet, though altogether poor himself. We have to believe that our infinitely rich partner, the living G.o.d, will help us in our need, and we shall not only be in peace, but we shall actually find that the help which we need will be granted to us.
Let not the consciousness of your entire unworthiness keep you, dear reader, from believing what G.o.d has said concerning you. If you are indeed a believer in the Lord Jesus, then this precious privilege, of being in partnership with the Father and the Son, is yours, though you and I are entirely unworthy of it. If the consciousness of our unworthiness were to keep us from believing what G.o.d has said concerning those who depend upon and trust in the Lord Jesus for salvation, then we should find that there is not one single blessing, with which we have been blessed in the Lord Jesus, from which, on account of our unworthiness, we could derive any settled comfort or peace.
IV. There is one other point, which, in connection with several portions of the word of G.o.d which bear on the subject, I desire to bring before the believing reader, and it refers to the "scriptural way of overcoming the difficulties with which the believer now meets who is engaged in a business, trade, profession, or any earthly calling whatever, which arise from compet.i.tion in business, too great a number of persons being occupied in the same calling, stagnation of trade, and the like." The children of G.o.d, who are strangers and pilgrims on earth, have at all times had difficulty in the world, for they are not _at_ home, but _from_ home; nor should they, until the return of the Lord Jesus, expect it to be otherwise with them. But whilst this is true, it is also true that the Lord has provided us in all our difficulties with something in his own word to meet them. All difficulties may be overcome by acting according to the word of G.o.d. At this time I more especially desire to point out the means whereby the children of G.o.d who are engaged in any earthly calling may be able to overcome the difficulties which arise from compet.i.tion in business, too great a number of persons being occupied in the same calling, stagnation of trade, and the like.
1. The first thing which the believer who is in such difficulties has to ask himself is, _Am I in a calling in which I can abide with G.o.d?_ If our occupation be of that kind that we cannot ask G.o.d"s blessing upon it, or that we should be ashamed to be found in it at the appearing of the Lord Jesus, or that it _of necessity_ hinders our spiritual progress, then we must give it up, and be engaged in something else; but in few cases only this is needful. Far the greater part of the occupations in which believers are engaged are not of such a nature as that they need to give them up in order to maintain a good conscience, and in order to be able to walk with G.o.d, though, perhaps, certain alterations may need to be made in the manner of conducting their trade, business, or profession. About these parts of our calling which may need alteration, we shall receive instruction from the Lord if we indeed desire it, and wait upon him for it, and expect it from him.
2. Now suppose the believer is in a calling in which he can abide with G.o.d, the next point to be settled is, "_Why do I carry on this business, or why am I engaged in this trade or profession?_" In most instances, so far as my experience goes, which I have gathered in my service among the saints during the last fifteen years and a half [_i. e._ in 1845], I believe the answer would be, "I am engaged in my earthly calling that I may earn the means of obtaining the necessaries of life for myself and family." Here is the chief error from which almost all the rest of the errors which are entertained by the children of G.o.d, relative to their calling, spring. It is no right and scriptural motive to be engaged in a trade or business or profession _merely_ in order to earn the means for the obtaining of the necessaries of life for ourselves and family, _but we should work because it is the Lord"s will concerning us_. This is plain from the following pa.s.sages: 1 Thess. iv. 11, 12; 2 Thess. iii.
10-12; Eph. iv. 28. It is quite true that, in general, the Lord provides the necessaries of life by means of our ordinary calling: but that that is not THE REASON why we should work, is plain enough from the consideration that if our possessing the necessaries of life depended upon our ability of working, we could never have _freedom from anxiety_, for we should always have to say to ourselves, And what shall I do when I am too old to work, or when by reason of sickness I am unable to earn my bread? But if, on the other hand, we are engaged in our earthly calling because _it is the will of the Lord concerning us that we should work_, and that thus laboring we may provide for our families, and also be able to support the weak, the sick, the aged, and the needy, then we have good and scriptural reason to say to ourselves, Should it please the Lord to lay me on a bed of sickness, or keep me otherwise by reason of infirmity, or old age, or want of employment, from earning my bread by means of the labor of my hands, or my business, or my profession, he will yet provide for me. Because we who believe are servants of Jesus Christ, who has bought us with his own precious blood, and are not our own, and because this our precious Lord and Master has commanded us to work, therefore we work: and _in doing so_ our Lord will provide for us, but whether in this way or any other way he is sure to provide for us, for we labor in obedience to him; and if even a just earthly master give wages to his servants, the Lord will surely see to it that we have our wages, if, in obedience to him, we are engaged in our calling, and not for our own sake.
How great the difference between acting according to the word of G.o.d and according to our own natural desires, or the customs of the world, will be plain, I trust, by the following case: Suppose I were engaged in some useful trade. Suppose I had the certain human prospect that within the next three months my labor would bring me in nothing, for certain reasons connected with the state of mercantile affairs. As a man of the world I should say, I shall not work at all, because my labor will not be paid; but as a Christian, who desires to act according to G.o.d"s holy word, I ought to say, My trade is useful to society, and I will work, notwithstanding all human prospects, because the Lord Jesus has commanded me to labor; from him, and not from my trade, I expect my wages. In addition to this, the Christian ought also to say, Idleness is a dreadful snare of the devil; he has especial opportunity to get an advantage over the children of G.o.d when they are unoccupied; and, therefore, I will work though I have no human prospect of obtaining payment for my labor, but shall get only the cost price of the material, and shall have to give my work for nothing. Moreover, the Christian ought to say, Though according to _human_ probability I shall have to labor for nothing during the next three months, yet I will work, because the Lord may speedily alter the state of things, contrary to all human expectation; but whether he be pleased to do so or not, I labor because I am the Lord"s, bought by his precious blood, and he commands me to labor.
But there are motives still lower than to be engaged in our earthly calling merely that we may earn the means of obtaining the necessaries of life, why even Christians, true children of G.o.d, may be engaged in their calling, such as, to obtain a certain sum of money, and then to retire from business and to live upon the interest; or to provide something for old age; or to obtain a certain amount of property, without intending to give up business. If it be unscriptural to be engaged in our calling merely even for the sake of earning the means for procuring the necessaries of life for ourselves and family, how much more unbecoming that a child of G.o.d should be engaged in his calling for the sake of any of the last-mentioned reasons.
This second point, then, Why do I carry on this business? Why am I engaged in this trade or profession? ought first to be settled in the fear of G.o.d, and according to the revealed will of G.o.d; and if we cannot say, in honesty of heart, I do carry on my business, I am engaged in my trade, or art, or profession, as a servant of Jesus Christ, whose I am, because he has bought me with his precious blood, and he has commanded me to work, and therefore I work,--I say, if we cannot say this in honesty of heart, but must confess that we work on account of lower motives, such as that we may earn our bread, or on account of still lower motives, and such as are altogether unbecoming a child of G.o.d, who is not of the world, but of G.o.d, such as to obtain a certain sum of money in order to be able to live on the interest without having to work, or to provide something for old age, or to obtain a certain amount of property without intending to give up business;--if these are our motives for being engaged in our calling, I say, can we be surprised that we meet with great difficulties in our business, and that the Lord in his abounding love to us, his erring children, does not allow us to succeed? But suppose this second point is scripturally settled, and we can honestly say that, because we are servants of Jesus Christ, we are occupied as we are; we have further to consider,--
3. Whether we carry on our business, or are engaged in our trade, art, or profession, _as stewards_ of the Lord. To the child of G.o.d it ought not to be enough that he is in a calling in which he can abide with G.o.d, nor that he is engaged in his calling because it is the will of his Lord and Master that he should work, but he should consider himself in his trade, business, art, or profession, only as the _steward_ of the Lord with reference to his income. The child of G.o.d has been bought with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus, and is altogether his property, with all that he possesses, his bodily strength, his mental strength, his ability of every kind, his trade, business, art, or profession, his property, etc.; for it is written, "Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price." 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. The proceeds of our calling are therefore not our own in the sense of using them as our natural heart wishes us to do, whether to spend them on the gratification of our pride, or our love of pleasure, or sensual indulgences, or to lay by the money for ourselves or our children, or use it in any way as we _naturally_ like, but we have to stand before our Lord and Master, whose _stewards_ we are, to seek to ascertain his will, how he will have us use the proceeds of our calling.
But is this indeed the spirit in which children of G.o.d generally are engaged in their calling? It is but too well known that it is not the case! Can we then wonder at it, that even G.o.d"s own dear children should so often be found greatly in difficulty with regard to their calling, and be found so often complaining about stagnation or compet.i.tion in trade, and the difficulties of the times, though there have been given to them such precious promises as, "Seek ye first the kingdom of G.o.d, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you;"
or, "Let your conversation (disposition or turn of mind) be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Heb. xiii. 5. Is it not obvious enough that when our heavenly Father sees that we his children do or would use the proceeds of our calling, _as our natural mind_ would desire, that he either cannot at all intrust us with means, or will be obliged to decrease them? No wise and really affectionate mother will permit her infant to play with a razor, or with fire, however much the child may desire to have them; and so the love and wisdom of our heavenly Father will not, cannot, intrust us with pecuniary means, _except it be in the way of chastis.e.m.e.nt, or to show us finally their utter vanity_, if he sees that we do not desire to possess them as _stewards_ for him, in order that we may spend them as he may point out to us by his Holy Spirit, through his word.
In connection with this subject, I give a few hints to the believing reader on three pa.s.sages of the word of G.o.d. In 1 Cor. xvi. 2, we find it written to the brethren at Corinth, "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as G.o.d has prospered him." A contribution for the poor saints in Judea was to be made, and the brethren at Corinth were exhorted to put by for it, _every Lord"s day_, according to the measure of success which the Lord had been pleased to grant them in their calling during the week. Now, ought not the saints in our day also to act according to this word? There is no pa.s.sage in the word of G.o.d why we should not do so, and it is altogether in accordance with our pilgrim character, not only once or twice, or four times a year, to see how much we can afford to give to the poor saints, or to the work of G.o.d in any way, but to seek to settle it weekly. If it be said, I cannot ascertain how much I have gained in the course of the week by my business, and therefore I cannot give accordingly; my reply is this, Seek, dear brethren, as much as possible, to bring your business upon such a footing as that you may be able, as nearly as possible, to settle how much you have earned in your calling in the course of the week. But suppose you should be unable to settle it exactly to the shilling or pound, yet you will know pretty well how it has been with you during the week, and therefore, _according to your best knowledge_, contribute on the coming Lord"s day towards the necessities of the poor saints, and towards the work of G.o.d, as he, after your having sought his guidance, may lead you.
Perhaps you say, the weeks are so unlike; in one week I may earn three or even ten times as much as in another week, and if I give according to my earnings from my calling during a very good week, then how are such weeks, when I earn scarcely any thing, or how are the bad debts to be met? How shall I do when sickness befalls my family, or when other trials productive of expense come upon me, if I do not make provision for such seasons? My reply is, 1. I do not find in the whole New Testament one single pa.s.sage in which either directly or indirectly exhortations are given to provide against deadness in business, bad debts, and sickness, by laying up money. 2. Often the Lord is obliged to allow deadness in business, or bad debts, or sickness in our family, or other trials which increase our expenses, to befall us, because we do not, as his _stewards_, act _according to stewardship_, but as if we were owners of what we have, forgetting that the time has not yet come when we shall enter upon _our possessions_; and he does so in order that, by these losses and expenses, our property which we have collected may be decreased, lest we should altogether set our hearts again upon earthly things, and forget G.o.d entirely. His love is so great, that he will not let his children quietly go their own way when they have forsaken him; but if his loving admonitions by his Holy Spirit are disregarded, he is obliged in fatherly love to chastise them. A striking ill.u.s.tration of what I have said we have in the case of Israel nationally. The commandment to them was, to leave their land uncultivated in the seventh year, in order that it might rest, and the Lord promised to make up for this deficiency by his abundant blessing resting upon the sixth year. However, Israel acted not according to this commandment, no doubt saying, in the unbelief of their hearts, as the Lord had foretold, "What shall we eat in the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase." Levit. xxv. But what did the Lord do? He was determined the land should have rest, and as the Israelites did not willingly give it, he sent them for seventy years into captivity, in order that thus the land might have rest. See Levit.
xxvi. 33-35. Beloved brethren in the Lord, let us take heed so to walk as that the Lord may not be obliged by chastis.e.m.e.nt to take a part of our earthly possessions from us in the way of bad debts, sickness, decrease of business, and the like, because we would not own our position as _stewards_, but act as _owners_, and keep for ourselves the means with which the Lord had intrusted us, not for the gratification of our own carnal mind, but for the sake of using them in his service and to his praise.
It might also be said by a brother whose earnings are small, should _I_ also give according to my earnings? They are already so small that my wife can only with the greatest difficulty manage to make them sufficient for the family. My reply is, Have you ever considered, my brother, that the very reason why the Lord is obliged to let your earnings remain so small may be the fact of your spending everything upon yourselves, and that if he were to give you more you would only use it to increase your own family comfort, instead of looking about to see who among the brethren are sick, or who have no work at all, that you might help them, or how you might a.s.sist the work of G.o.d at home or abroad? There is a great temptation for a brother whose earnings are small to put off the responsibility of a.s.sisting the needy and sick saints, or helping on the work of G.o.d, and to lay it upon the few rich brethren and sisters with whom he is a.s.sociated in fellowship, and thus rob his own soul!
It might be asked, How much shall I give of my income? The tenth part, or the fifth part, or the third part, or one half, or more? My reply is, G.o.d lays down no rule concerning this point. What we do we should do cheerfully and not of necessity. But if even Jacob, with the first dawning of spiritual light (Genesis xxviii. 22), promised to G.o.d the tenth of all he should give to him, how much ought we believers in the Lord Jesus to do for him: we, whose calling is a heavenly one, and _who know distinctly_ that we are children of G.o.d, and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus! Yet do all the children of G.o.d give even the _tenth_ part of what the Lord gives them? That would be two shillings per week for the brother who earns one pound, and four shillings to him who earns two pounds, and two pounds per week to him whose income is twenty pounds per week.