have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise :" *— and again: "If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."† For occasional negligence may pass into habitual negligence, and often does so; and those who have forsaken their first love, though once to all appearance they ran well, have ceased to run altogether."Take heed, therefore, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God;" and "let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." § But not to exhort one class of persons only, let me say a few things, in conclusion, to you all. Remember, for your encouragement, that both those servants who improved their talents entered into the joy of their Lord: and though one had at the day of reckoning only four talents, whilst the other had ten, they were equally rewarded, inasmuch as they had improved equally in proportion to the stock with which they set out to trade; therefore the lowest, and those who have fewest gifts, have no need to repine; and "God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love," || be the outward fruits of it great or small. If it be a labour of love, done * Heb. x. 36. 1 Heb. iii. 12. || Heb. vi. 10. + Heb. x. 38. § 1 Cor. x. 12. for love's sake, and to God's glory, it cannot miss of a recompence through grace. "As ye have sowed, so shall ye also reap." He who soweth sparingly, and does less than he might, shall be as sure to lose by it, as he is sure to have but half a crop, who will but half sow his field;he shall reap also sparingly," but "he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully."* Take, therefore, these few directions for consideration, and for practice. 1. Think upon this subject, upon which we have been discoursing, for it concerns you, and examine yourselves more than you have done, of what sins of omission you have been, or still are guilty. Make it your practice every night to inquire what you have left undone in the course of the day which might have been done; and ask pardon in Christ's name for your neglect; and then inquire again the next day whether you have gone on in that neglect. Not only mark it, if you have lied, or cheated, or sworn, or injured anybody; but also, if you have not prayed, or have not searched the Scriptures, or have but half done either of those things; or if you have let any precious opportunity go by. If you will not catechize yourselves in this way, you will have millions of sins to answer for at * 2 Cor. ix. 6. the day of judgment of which you are here quite unconscious, and it must be a miracle if you improve and grow. 2. When you see that a thing ought to be done this minute, do not leave it undone a minute longer. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal;"* and the voice of conscience, where it is rightly informed, is the voice of God, and must as such be listened to. Therefore settle this stedfastly in your minds, that all opportunities thrown in your way of doing good, whether at greater or less cost of self-denial, are trials, and meant to be trials, of your religious principle and religious resolutions. If you let them slip, and do nothing, what did you mean by praying in the morning, that "all your doings might be ordered by God's governance to do always what is righteous in his sight?" Remember, too, that you stand between God and your fellow-creatures in the relation of stewards, and therefore you must actually and continually seek their profit; pray to be directed how to do them good, and be thankful when you can do it, to their bodies or their souls; for your talents are entrusted to you for this purpose. 3. Finally, look at the example of Jesus Christ. One great end of his coming was to set you an * 1 Cor. xii. 7. VOL. III. D D example, and show you in himself what manner of person a good steward of the manifold grace of God ought to be. Measure this pattern, study this living directory. He was always doing good. He never let slip an occasion of good. He sought such occasions, and found them everywhere; and though he met with next to nothing but evil for good, he was never weary of repaying ingratitude with kindness. And why? He loved God perfectly; therefore "my meat,” he says, "is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." That you also may love God truly, if not perfectly, and at least may delight in doing his commandments, look again at Jesus Christ, and, through looking at him, you may learn how "God loved you first, being yet his enemies." Consider the atonement of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Blessed, made man for you, and as man dying for you between the thieves. See here the riches of divine grace, and what a God he is whom you are so slow to serve! till * Meditate on Christ's sufferings on your behalf, you understand something of the vastness of that goodwill which made him content to bear them; and if then you are not ashamed of your unwillingness to pour out your whole souls to God, and give up all for Christ, at least pray to be made ashamed of it. And beseech the Lord, *John iv. 34. that the sense of his tender mercies may so abide upon your hearts henceforth, as to stir you up to constant, undeviating, cheerful, and humble exertions in his service. Thus, from being the slaves of Satan, ye shall be turned into the freemen of God, and hear each of you at last that glorious summons, "Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." * * Matt. xxv. 29. |