Christian Devotedness

By Anthony Norris Groves

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Title: Christian Devotedness

Author: Anthony Norris Groves

Release Date: January 15, 2008 [EBook #24293]

Language: English


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CHRISTIAN DEVOTEDNESS,
or
The Consideration of Our Saviour's Precept,
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth".

By Anthony Norris Groves (1795--1853).

Second Edition,

London, James Nisbet,
Berners Street,
MDCCCXXIX.


Before this second edition was issued Groves had taken the step which
he here had advocated. The tract is a revelation of the man, and
affords an insight into the spirit and the glow which made his
ministry attractive to sincere souls, and effectual. It being long
since unobtainable we give it in full. By it he, being dead, may yet
speak, and other hearts be enlarged and enriched, to the glory of
God. It reads:--




PREFACE


In sending a second impression of the following little work into the
world after a lapse of four years from the publication of the former
edition, it may be right to state, that my views on the subject of
it, have undergone no change in the way of relinquishment; but on the
contrary the experience of every day in my own history,--every
observation I have been able to make on the history of those with
whom I have come into the closest contact, and who have either
received or rejected the view, and in whatever degree, has tended
exceedingly to strengthen the conviction on my mind, of the
infinitely deep knowledge of the human heart, and springs of human
actions which these injunctions of our Blessed Lord manifest: and
that he means simply what he says in "Lay not up for yourselves
treasures upon earth," etc. There is an eye-salve in this doctrine,
when received by faith, that wonderfully clears the field of our
spiritual perceptions; therefore, he that can receive it, let him
receive it. Many more, certainly, have been influenced by it, and
some to a much greater extent than I had expected; and the clusters
that have adorned their branches seem to be of the true Eschol
grapes; however, of these, and many other things, time will be the
manifester, and the Lord the judge.

The principal objections urged, seem to arrange themselves under
three heads:--The influence of which this principle would rob the
Church;--the children it would leave without a provision;--and that
it would require those having estates to sell them, and would not be
satisfied with the dedication of the interest or profits arising out
of such property. My business, however, is not with the consequences
of the precept, but with the precept itself. Yet still I would say,
there is in this reasoning as deistical a disregard of the Lord's
especial government of his Church and people, as could be expected
from an infidel.

I purpose publishing, the Lord sparing me, a few remarks separately,
in relation to the first of these subjects--that of Influence;--the
nature of that which is Christian, and its distinction from that
which is worldly, and which operates either upon worldly men, or that
worldliness which still adheres to every one of us. And I shall
endeavour to show, that a grain of the pure gold of Christian
influence, which is the exhibition, in truth, of the mind of Christ,
springing from the love of Christ in the soul, is no wise increased
in value by being beaten out into plates as thin as imagination can
conceive, and employed to gild the brassy admixture of earthly
influence,--the titles, honours, rank, wealth, learning and secular
power of this world. It looks indeed like a mighty globe of gold; and
the eyes of the inexperienced may be caught by it; but the least
scratch proves its brassy character. If this simple principle had
been perceived, how differently would many public religious bodies
have been constituted for the purpose of extending the influence of
Christ's Kingdom.

With regard to the other two points, I feel they may be disposed of
under one general argument, which is this: That the principle of
God's government is paternal; and therefore its primary object is the
development in us of the character of dear children, the essential
feature of which is unlimited dependence. But, of course, this
relation implies its co-relative, the Fatherly character of God; and
the least entrenchment upon daily dependence for daily provision,
either for temporal or spiritual supplies, affects God's honour in
this character. Then, as to our children, David knew that they shall
not beg their bread--at least, that he, who had been young and then
was old, had not seen such a thing; and to suspect such a thing, is
to suspect the perfection of the Fatherly character of God; of whom
our blessed Lord said, "Your Father knoweth you have need of all
these things," and, therefore, "all these things shall be added unto
you." As to capital and estates, after knowing that our loving Father
will supply us in every need, the sooner we are disencumbered by
disbursement, for His honour, and His service, the better; for then
we shall have the happiness of seeing it spent for the glory of Him
chose it is, and for whom we are only stewards; whereas were we to
die to-morrow, we do not know whether the capital and estates may
fall into the hands of a wise man or a fools so that we may be cut of
after spending part of a year's income for God--say one hundred, out
of a thousand pounds, and this, I think, would be called Christian
devotedness by many--and the fool comes in and spends the whole
residue, twenty thousand pounds perhaps, for Satan and the corruption
of the world. But some may say, Are not all things given us richly to
enjoy? Yes; but it would be degrading indeed to the members of the
Kingdom of Christ, to make their rich enjoyment appear in consuming
on their own lusts like the members of the kingdom of Satan, those
things which they are permitted to apply to the exaltation of their
Lord and Redeemer. Be assured, my dear friends, the sooner we can see
it appropriated to God's service and glory the better. For then it is
gone for the Lord; and the world, the flesh, and the devil, cannot,
though combined bring it back, and the Lord will not allow us to wish
it were, so graciously will He receive our weak services and so
kindly and overwhelmingly repay them with the light of His
countenance, and the secret assurance in our own souls, that our
dedication has been acceptable at our hand.

A. N. G.

London, May 16, 1829.




CHRISTIAN DEVOTEDNESS, ETC.


The writer of the following pages has been deeply affected, by the
consideration of the strange and melancholy fact--that Christianity
has made little or no progress for fifteen successive centuries: and
having, as he trusts, perceived, in an attentive perusal of the
Gospel History,[1] that primitive Christianity owed much of its
irresistible energy to the open and public manifestation by the early
disciples, of their love to their Redeemer and King, and to one
another, by the evidence which they gave of it in their conduct, and
being moreover convinced that the exhibition of this love tends
directly and most powerfully to augment the prosperity of the Church
of Christ within its own bosom, and to extend its influence
throughout the world in all ages; he ventures to lay the result of
his reflections open to the candid consideration of the sincere
disciples of that Saviour, "who, though he was rich, yet for our
sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich" (2 Cor.
8. 9).

This manifestation of love he believes to have been made by the
entire and real (not figurations) devotion of themselves, their
property, time and talents to Christ, their Lord and King. The
subsequent remarks, however, more especially relate to the bestowment
of property, and that whether of capital already possessed, or of
income to be acquired by industry.

The object proposed by the writer is to prove that such a Dedication
is invariably enforced by the commands of our Saviour, and that it is
illustrated by the practice of his Apostles and their immediate
contemporaries[2]: and he entreats of all the sincere disciples of
Christ, that they will weigh what is written in the balance of the
Sanctuary, and not in the balances of this world;-that they will pray
earnestly to the "Father of lights" to have, in their search after
truth, a single eye to the glory of Him whose they are and whom they
ought to serve, and to the extension of His Kingdom--that they will,
while they search and pray, have a tender regard both to their own
souls; and to those of the Millions of "Jews, Turks, Infidels, and
Heretics", whose ignorance and wretchedness they profess to deplore.
If in our enquiry into the meaning and extent of our Saviour's
words--"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,"--we should
be led to the persuasion that he meant them, and that the Apostles
and their companions received them, in their most unrestricted sense;
may the Holy Spirit of God enable us to lay firm hold on the most
comfortable and consolatory permission thence arising--to cast all
our cares upon Him, because we know that He careth for us. All that
is, or that can fairly be, claimed, in investigating the question
before us, is, that the various precepts and arguments, along with
the uniform practice, of our Saviour and his Apostles, be allowed to
explain his meaning in this particular instance. I shall, therefore,
consider in the first place, the direct Scriptural account of the
Principle, to which we have alluded, as it is enforced by precept and
illustrated by example; and I shall next consider its important
bearing upon other momentous commands, which, without it, are
rendered exceedingly difficult, nay, impossible, to be understood and
received. I shall then conclude with a few arguments to prove that,
if the extension of the spirit of Christ's Kingdom be the proper
object of the churches' pursuit, these views are as consonant with
reason as they are with revelation.


I. I shall begin with the passage from which the motto is taken.
"Lay not up for yourselves" says our Saviour, in his Sermon on the
Mount, "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. The light of the body is the eye:
if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of
light; but if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of
darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how
great is that darkness! 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 today is, and tomorrow 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" (Mat. 6. 19, etc.).[3]

The principal points to be attended to, in the above passage,
are,--The importance attached to a "single eye" and the clear
declaration of our Saviour, that riches disturb the clearness and
simplicity of its vision;--God's care of the lowest of his creatures,
and his provision for those which have neither storehouse nor
barn;--the inference thence deduced by our Saviour, that he will much
more care and provide for those who singly and earnestly seek the
Kingdom of God and his righteousness, though they have neither
store-house nor barn;--and the source of all our distrust and doubt,
clearly intimated in the expression--"O ye of little faith." The
parallel passage in St. Luke is almost verbally the same. It is,
however, more striking, as it is introduced by a practical warning
derived from the conduct of the "rich man",[4] who cries out, on the
contemplation of his security from want,--"Soul, thou hast much goods
laid up for many years", and to whom God replies...--"Thou fool, this
night shall thy soul be required of thee; then whose shall those
things be which thou hast provided" (Luke 12. 13-14). It also
concludes with an exhortation somewhat different from that in St.
Matthew. In the latter it is said--"Lay not up"; whereas in St. Luke
it is said,--"Sell all that thou hast, and give alms; provide
yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that
faileth not."

To all arguments drawn from passages of this description, the usual
answer is, That the exhortations contained in them are not to be
taken literally, but are to be considered merely as loose general
statements, strongly, and only in appearance absolutely, made, with a
view of producing greater effect. In endeavouring, therefore, to
ascertain their true meaning, let us examine the evidence supplied by
the remarks and conduct of our Blessed Lord and his Apostles, in
those cases which bear upon the point in question.

When the young man came to enquire what good thing he could do to
inherit eternal life, after having mentioned several duties, our Lord
says,--"Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and
distribute to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and
come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful, for
he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he
said,--'How hardly shall they, that have riches, enter into the
Kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's
eye, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God!' And they
that heard it said,--'Who then can be saved?' And he said,--'The
things, that are impossible with men, are possible with God.' Then
Peter said: 'Lo, we have left all and followed thee.' And he said
unto them,--'Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left
house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the Kingdom
of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present
time, and in the world to come life everlasting'" (Luke 18. 22-30).

If then this is the judgment of him in whom we believe to be "hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge",--who "Knew what was in
man"--who was acquainted with all the secret influences by which his
heart is governed; shall we, in opposition to his solemnly recorded
judgment,--that if it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of
a needle, than for those who have riches to enter into the Kingdom of
God"--strive, by the amassing of wealth, effectually, as far as in us
lies, to stop our own heavenward course, as well as that of those
dear little ones, whom our heavenly Father may have committed to our
peculiar and tender care? We may, without anxiety, contemplate the
circumstance (I shall not say the misfortunes of dying and leaving
our families to struggle with many seeming difficulties in this
world) should obedience to the Divine Commands bring us and them into
such a situation; because our faith could lay hold, for support and
consolation, on the well-known declarations and the acknowledged
truth--that the Captain of our Salvation was made "perfect through
sufferings", and "learned obedience by the things that he suffered"
(Heb. 2.10, and 5.8);--that the Apostle "gloried in tribulations,
knowing that tribulation workers patience, and patience experience,
and experience hope--even a hope which maketh not ashamed" (Rom. 5.
5);--that he could describe himself "as sorrowful--yet always
rejoicing; as poor--yet making many rich; as having nothing--and yet
possessing all things" (2 Cor. 6. 10). But a Family left, by our
labour and contrivance, in a situation in which, as our Blessed Lord
himself declares, it is all but impossible that they should be
saved,[5] presents an object of contemplation widely different. Faith
can only lay hold of the fearful declaration;--"It is easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for those who have
riches to enter into the Kingdom of God"; and if the situation of
such a family is irretrievably fixed, and that by our exertions, the
contemplation of it may well bring alarm and sadness and distress
upon the last hours of a Christian Parent. And these feelings may
well rise to anguish, if he is conscious that his system of
accumulation was carried on in defiance of solemn admonitions; and if
he is persuaded that the wealth he has amassed--as it were to shut
out heaven from the hopes and prospects of his children--if it had
been dedicated day by day, as God had prospered him, as a
manifestation of his love, and a tribute of his gratitude to his Lord
and King, might have been the means of feeding with the bread of life
some of the hundreds of millions who lie in darkness, hopelessness,
and sin, because the Son of Righteousness has not arisen on them with
healing in his wings. Such are the views and feelings which an
unbiassed consideration of the words of our Saviour is calculated to
produce.

Some, however, may be prepared to assert that his words give no
encouragement or allowance to any such conclusions; and this
assertion they may support by another--that a love of riches was the
peculiar failing of the young man, whose conduct suggested the
observations of our Saviour. It ought, however, to be remarked that
he does not say, How hardly shall this rich man enter into the
Kingdom of God!--but in the most general terms,--to "How hardly shall
they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God!"--it may be
desirable for those who consider the expression...--"Trust in
riches"--used in the parallel passage of St. Mark (10. 24) as
mitigating considerably the severity of our Saviour's declaration to
view the connection of the several parts of the passage in which the
expression is found. 23. "Jesus looked round about, and saith unto
his disciples--'How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the
Kingdom of God.' 24. And the disciples were astonished at his words.
But Jesus answered again and saith unto them,--'Children, how hardly
shall they that trust in riches enter into the Kingdom of God!' 25.
'It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for
a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.' 26. And they were
astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, 'Who then can be
saved?'" Our Lord, in the 23rd verse, asserts it to be almost
impossible for those who have riches to enter into the Kingdom of
God. When he observes the astonishment of his disciples, he explains
to them the reason of his passing a judgment so severe, by stating
the cause of that difficulty, of which he spoke as amounting almost
to an impossibility. It is next to Impossible for a rich man to enter
the Kingdom of God, because he trusts in his riches. So that the
expression is not introduced with a view of making riches appear less
dangerous to the possessor, but rather with a view of explaining why
they are so dangerous.

The repetition of the general declaration in the strongest terms as
it is found in the 25th verse, shows that this is the meaning of our
Lord; and the increased astonishment of the Disciples plainly gives
the same intimation. It is evident that they were not led, by this
explanation, to consider the case of the rich less hopeless or
deplorable; for they cry out: "Who then can be saved? "--evidently
the expression of men whose difficulties were confirmed, not removed,
by the answer they had received. The simple meaning, therefore, of
the passage seems to be this; The danger of riches is their being
trusted in; and the difficulty of possessing them, and not trusting
in them for happiness and protection, is as the difficulty of a
camel's going through the eye of a needle: therefore, "lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, for where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also". But the man whose soul the love of Christ
has touched, does not look on the question as one merely involving
danger to himself: he looks on wealth, as well as every other gift,
as an instrument of bringing glory to his Lord, by feeding the little
ones of his kingdom, or in some way extending the savour of his name.
It is not a matter of law, but a golden opportunity on which
affection seizes, to bring a leaf to the wreath of praise and honour,
that crowns Him Lord, to the glory of God the Father, who has won the
hearts, and is entitled to the uncontrolled dominion of his own
saints.

From the observations suggested by the conduct of the "young man" let
us pass on to the memorable comment of our Lord on the charity of the
poor Widow, as recorded by St. Mark (12. 41, etc.). "Jesus sat over
against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the
treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a
certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a
farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto
them,--'Verily, I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more
in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: for all they did
cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that
she had, even all her living.'" In the world's estimation nothing
could be more improvident or more improper than her conduct; and I
fear that few of us would have the heart to commend one who should go
and do likewise. But how does our Blessed Lord judge, who judges not
according to appearance, but righteous judgment? Observing that she
ants quite according to his precept of giving up all, He does not
call his disciples round him, to warn them, by her example, not to
take his words literally, as he did Peter on the use of the sword;
but, on the contrary, points out carefully the peculiarity and
unequalled greatness of her sacrifice, and holds her up to admiration
on account of it. The rich cast in of their abundance, much; she, of
her penury, cast in a little; but it was all that she had, even all
her living. We have now only to go one step farther in order to
ascertain in what sense the Apostles understood that command of our
Saviour now under consideration. The conduct of them and their
adherents is thus recorded by St. Luke (Acts 2.44, etc., and 4.32, 34
and 35.) "All that believed were together and had all things common:
and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as
every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the
temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat
with gladness and singleness of heart. The multitude of them that
believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them
that ought of the things that he possessed was his own; but they had
all things common. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for
as many as were possessors of lands, or houses, sold them, and
brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down
at the Apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man
according as he had need."

By what arguments can it be shown that such a "union of heart and of
soul", as is here described, is not just as important to us now, as
it was to the primitive Christians? If this community of hearts and
possessions was according to the mind of the Spirit then, why not
now? We have the general precept enforcing the conduct of our Blessed
Lord himself;--a particular exhortation to it in his conversation
with the "young man"; and a most pointed approbation of it in the
case of the poor widow. We have, moreover, to encourage and urge it,
not only the example of the Apostles, but that of all those who
believed in Jerusalem. The former truly said, "Lo we have left all
and followed thee"; and of the latter it was also truly
written,--"Neither said any of them that ought of the things which he
possessed was his own". I would just remark that such conduct does
not essentially involve the institution of a common stock, but will
be effectually secured by each individual blending himself with the
whole household of faith, feeling their wants, and rejoicing in their
welfare, as his own. This sympathy of the members of the holy family
toward each other, is strongly enforced, and beautifully illustrated
by St. Paul. "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though
he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his
poverty might be rich. I mean not that other men may be eased, and
you burdened; but by an equality, that now at this time your
abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also
may be a supply for your want, that there may be equality; as It is
written: "He that gathered much had nothing over; and he that had
gathered little had no lack" (2 Cor. 8. 9, 13, 14, 15). As then
here, the superabundance of him, who had gathered much, ministered to
the deficiency of him who had gathered little; so now, whatever the
bounty of God may bestow upon us, above a sufficiency for our present
necessities, is to be esteemed a blessing in proportion as it is
distributed to relieve the temporal and spiritual wants of others.

Again I ask--How do we evade the application of all these precepts
and arguments and exhortations and warnings and examples to our own
times? Is there in the Holy Scriptures any limitation as to the time
when the love which distinguished the primitive church was to be in
exercise? Is not humiliation and suffering, the very character of
this dispensation, as of the life of Him who introduced it? Are there
no farther ends to be obtained by the crucifixion of self and selfish
interests, and manifesting the mind that was in Christ Jesus? Let the
disputes and divisions in the Church of God, and the 600,000,000 who
have never heard the name of salvation by the blood of Jesus declare.
Let the Agents of our Societies declare, who travel from one end of
the land to the other, to gather a scanty pittance from
half-reluctant Christians--nay, who are often led to sharpen their
goads at the Philistines' grind-stones, to the dishonour of the cause
of God. What then is the ground of evasion? Why, that those were
apostolic times and apostolic men. Could there be a stronger reason
urged for following their steps? Their having supernatural aids, in
addition to moral, makes the obligation to use moral more imperative
on our part, if possible, than on theirs; for we have now only the
silent and unobserved influences of the Spirit of God operating by
them. Those, who may be inclined to ask--Were not the miraculous
powers, entrusted to the Apostles for the advancement of
Christianity, also subservient to their personal comfort, amidst
their want and pain and distress? We would refer those who enquire to
the words of the Apostle Paul. "Even unto this present hour," says he
(1 Cor. 4. 11 and 2 Cor. 11. 27), "we both hunger, and thirst, and
are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place. I
have been in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger
and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." It was,
indeed, the very ground of the Apostles' glorying and rejoicing--that
they were counted worthy to suffer for the sake of Him who had died
for them; and it was these very sufferings which they endured, and
sacrifices which they made, that proved most effectual in converting
others to the faith, by drawing their attention to Him whom they
loved, and for whom they suffered gladly the loss of all things. They
felt the beneficial effects of suffering on their own souls, and they
saw it blessed to the conversion of the souls of others: and, looking
beyond things which are seen and temporal, they beheld that
"exceeding and eternal weight of glory" which their sufferings were
working out (2 Cor. 4. 17);--they knew that, if they suffered with
their master, they should also reign with him. Considering the
preceding remarks to establish the sense, in which the Apostles
received the command of our Saviour in regard to giving up all, as
well as the meaning of our Saviour Himself; it may appear superfluous
to state anything farther; particularly as my only desire is, to open
the eyes of those who love their Lord and Master with a pure heart,
fervently to the understanding of his mind on the subject of this
little book; for it is not money, time, and talents, that I desire to
see brought into the external service of Christ, as such; but only as
the incense of praise and thanksgiving to Him "who has loved us, and
washed [properly "loosed"] us from our sins in His own blood, and
hath made us kings and priests unto God the Father", from His own
redeemed, yea, the ransomed of the Lord, not the extorted, but
voluntary homage from those hearts which would crown Him Lord of all.
And certainly, any farther statement would be superfluous, if we were
called upon to sit in judgment on the meaning of writers, whose
opinions laid us under no practical obligation, or whose sentiments
were in unison with our whole nature. Here however, the case is
widely different; we have an old nature for this earth, as well as a
new nature for heaven; and therefore, things require to be stated as
fully as may be, that Satan may be stopped at every turn by "it is
written". To admit an opinion--is to admit a truth; and to admit a
truth--is to admit the obligation to act upon it, against our earthly
constitution. And as the admission and reception of the particular
truth now under consideration, strikes at the very root of many of
nature's most fondly cherished feelings, and of many apparently so
amiable, that we scarcely allow ourselves to doubt that they are of
God; it may be necessary to enlarge still more upon the subject, and
show that the reception of this truth prepared the way for the
success of the Apostles, by leaving them free to follow Him who had
called them to be soldiers, and that it will, by the grace of
God,--promised to us as well as to them;--accomplish as great things
in our days as it did in theirs, springing, as it did, and ever will,
from this one source, Christ in us the hope of Glory, dwelling in us
richly in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; yea: in those cases
where the world think we fail, as well as those in which we seem to
succeed: for if Christ and the spirit of His Kingdom be manifested,
we are a sweet savour of Christ unto God, whether they receive our
testimony or reject it; yea, though we preach as Noah did, an hundred
and twenty years, and no man regard us.


II. I come, therefore, secondly, to consider the important bearing of
the Principle, I have endeavoured to establish and illustrate, on
several momentous commands which, without the reception of it, are
rendered exceedingly difficult, nay, impossible, to be understood and
received; notwithstanding that the import and object of these
commands are abundantly obvious, and the performance of them tends
most directly and most powerfully to promote the highest good which
the church is capable of enjoying.

"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature"
(Mark 16. 15),--was the parting command of our Blessed Saviour; and
it was on the literal reception of this command that the momentous
alternative hung of our knowledge, or ignorance of the only Name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved; for "how
shall they hear without a preacher, and how shall they preach except
they be sent?", still is the order of God's government. Had there
been the same doubt of the meaning and obligation of this precept in
the infancy of Christianity, which these last ages have exhibited, it
would scarcely have extended its influence beyond the confines of
Judea. But, thanks be to God, the first Christians felt the gospel,
committed to their trust, to be "the power of God unto salvation to
every one that believeth"; and they felt it to be the mind of Him who
had loved them with an everlasting love, and given Himself for them,
that this great act of surpassing love should be published to every
creature, for His own glory, and for salvation to the ends of the
earth; and therefore they counted all things but loss, that they
might fulfil His will, and advance His Kingdom. Why has this spirit
for so many centuries been slumbering? Because men have been seeking,
every one his own things, and not the things of Christ. Let any one
ask his own heart, as in the presence of God, in which state he
should feel most disposed to embrace the command, "Go into all the
world and preach the Gospel to every creature"--whether, when he is
labouring for, and enjoying the comforts and conveniences of life,
and providing against the future possible wants of himself and his
family; or when, like the Apostles and first Christians, he has laid
aside every earthly encumbrance, and waits ready to go or to stay, as
the Spirit of God may appoint. To the enquiry--"Who will go for
us?"--can there be a doubt whose heart would be most ready to reply
"Here am I, send me"? (Isa. 6. 8). The one, having the eye single,
since to glorify his Lord is the only object of his life, will be
ready to answer--"Here am I "; while those who are surrounded by the
cares and comforts of this world, have so many earthly claims and
relations to adjust, that the general result will be that of standing
still, and the enquiry,--"Who will go for us? "--will sound unwelcome
to the ear, will chill, not animate, the noblest sympathies of the
heart, and set the seal of silence on the lips. It is not meant
absolutely to say that every man should become a Missionary, in the
proper sense of the term. "There are diversities of gifts, but the
same Spirit; and there are differences of administrations, but the
same Lord" (1 Cor. 12. 4). While one has that ministration of the
Spirit which leads him to go and preach the gospel in person, another
shows that he is guided by the same Spirit in carefully supplying the
wants of him who thus goes "taking nothing of the Heathen" (3 John
7), from the abundance yielded by devoted diligence in his honest
vocation, and by rigid habits of self-denial.[6]

Again, consider the important command, "Love thy neighbour as
thyself" (Leviticus 19. 18). Can we, with any truth, be said to love
that neighbour as ourselves, whom we suffer to starve, whilst we have
enough and to spare? May I not appeal to any, who have experienced
the Joy of knowing the unspeakable gift of God, and ask--Would you
exchange this knowledge, with all the comforts and blessings it has
been the means of imparting, for a hundred worlds, were they offered?
Let us not then withhold the means by which others may obtain this
sanctifying knowledge and heavenly consolation. Is it a profitable
employment of our wealth, to raise it as a bulwark against those
difficulties, which, if they meet even the children's children of the
servants of God, are sent as especial proofs of their Father's
love--for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?--and are
designed to work out for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight
of glory? Are not these very difficulties, dangers, and afflictions,
against which we so anxiously desire to provide, the very marks by
which Jesus Christ himself, his Apostles and Prophets, and all the
chosen servants of God, have ever been distinguished, and the means
by which they have been perfected.[7] Can then our wealth be so
beneficially employed, either with reference to our own advantage or
that of others, in removing from our Christian course these means of
advancement, and characteristics of our profession, as in helping on
the Kingdom of Christ with all that energy which a single eye can
impart to the most limited powers, when directed and sustained by the
Spirit of God?

It has been remarked that some pious men have, from their imprudence,
left their children a burden upon the Christian public, and thus
disgraced their profession. If, however, the unprovided state of
these children was owing to an enlarged view of devotedness to God on
the part of these Parents, accompanied by frugal appropriations to
themselves, and that strict honour and honesty, which must ever
precede beneficence to others; all the disgrace, and ultimately all
the loss, must rest on those that survive, who are so dead to the
privileges of the Gospel, as either to forget that it was ever
said,--"Whosoever receivers one such little one in my name, receivers
me" (Matthew 18. 5), or to neglect the opportunity, despise the
honour, and spurn away the blessing, of entertaining such a guest.
Oh! if we really believed our Saviour's declaration, how dearly
should we value, and how warmly embrace, such an opportunity of
glorifying our Master, of blessing ourselves, and of showing again to
the world "how these Christians love one another"![8] All our
misconceptions on this subject seem to arise from one deeply rooted
opinion, learnt of Satan and the world over which he presides, that
riches and comforts are better for our children, than poverty and
dependence. The whole tenor of the New Testament, however, pronounces
the opinion to be false; and were a hundred individuals appointed to
the once of choosing a portion for their children, in accordance with
the obvious principles of Christianity, and with the declarations of
its Author and his Apostles--such a portion as bore the most
favourable aspect on the acquisition of the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus; and were they conscientiously to perform
their office, they would all unite in choosing a portion poor and
dependent.[9] Yet whilst our Lord says: "How hardly shall they that
have riches enter into the Kingdom of God! "--we act just as though
he had said--How hardly shall they enter in, who are without them!
Here I would leave the sovereignty of the Lord unlimited. It is
doubtless the same thing to Him to work by many or by few--by the
rich or the poor: but still "how hardly shall they that have riches
enter into the kingdom of heaven" must stand.

If there had been an unerring physician of the body sent to a
consumptive family who left it as his prescription: "How hardly shall
they survive the climate of the North; it is easier for a camel to go
through a needle's eye than your children escape destruction in the
blasts of the North"; if after this you saw the parents struggling
for northern climates, you must say they either did not believe the
physician, or they were deliberately doing what they could to destroy
their children.

Again I say, let me not be misunderstood, as though I wished to make
all Christianity consist in giving up money, time, and talents,
unless they are the expressions of love to the Lord, and flow from a
desire to meet His mind and promote his glory, they are but sounding
brass and tinkling cymbals. Yet surely, they are the natural external
expressions of internal love; and although they be insincerely
assumed by Hypocrisy, it is her homage to truth; and although the
self-righteous Pharisee may present the semblance of devotion, as a
vain and hateful barter for heaven, yet it requires very little
spirituality of mind to discern that this arises in a different
source and terminates in a different object: the one begins in self
and ends in self; the other begins in Christ, and ends in Christ.
When, therefore, the Lord requires his Church to be careful for
nothing, it is only that He might display his watchfulness and
carefulness over her. Surely it is a most unspeakable privilege to be
allowed to cast all our cares upon God; and to feel that we are
thereby delivered from the slavery of earthly expectations, and made
free to speak the truth m love, without fear or apprehension? What is
the glorious liberty of the children of God, but to be dependent only
upon One, "who giveth liberally and upbraideth not,"--who
says,--"Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock,
and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh,
receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh it
shall be opened." God, in pity to our weakness and unbelief,
condescends to reason with us thus:--"What man is there of you, whom,
if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish,
will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, which
is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7. 7,
etc.). Let us therefore do the will of such a Father to the utmost of
our ability now, and trust him for the future: "for he hath said, 'I
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee'; so that we may boldly say,
'The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear, what man shall do unto
me'" (Heb. 13. 6). "Trust therefore in the Lord, and do good; and
verily thou shalt be fed" (Ps. 37. 3). Oh! if every one, who believed
himself ransomed by the precious blood of Christ, felt himself so
entirely the purchased possession of Him, who thus so dearly bought
him, as to determine henceforth to know nothing save Jesus Christ and
him crucified; nor to labour for anything, but that the unspeakably
glad tidings of salvation through Him might be spread throughout the
world, till every heart of the ransomed family drank of the same
overflowing cup of consolation; how soon would the wants of the whole
habitable earth be answered by thousands crying out,--"Here am I,
send me"; while those sheep to whom the glad tidings would be borne,
would discern the shepherd's voice, receive with thankfulness such
messengers of peace, seeing by their fruits "that God was in them of
a truth".

Think not that this is carrying things too far. Our blessed Lord
says,--"This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have
loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I
command you" (John 15. 12). Here our Blessed Lord tells us to love
one another, as He has loved us; and then points to the laying down
his life, as the most exalted proof of that love which could be
given. If then, as the example of our Saviour and the exhortation of
the Apostle testify, "we ought to lay down our lives for the
brethren"[10] how much more ought we to impart to them our substance.

We all know what a persuasive power the deaths of the Martyrs exerted
on the minds of those who witnessed them; and, in its just measure
and proportion, would the dedication of property, time and talents,
have a similar effect at the present day. It would convince those,
whom we are anxious to convince, of the reality of our faith in that
Redeemer and that inheritance, which they now think only a name, in
consequence of the secular spirit that disfigures the Christianity of
too many of its professors. How differently would the Heathen look on
our endeavours to publish the mercy of our glorified Lord, if the
hardy and suffering spirit of primitive times were to descend again
on the silken age into which we are fallen! and if they perceived in
us that love which led them to endure all things for the elect's
sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ
Jesus with eternal glory. Example is a far more fruitful source of
self-denial than the influence exerted on the mind by precept. If we
call on those, who know nothing of the savour of that Name which is
as ointment poured forth, to give up all for Christ, and this you
literally do to every Hindoo and Mahomedan; let us, who thus call,
and who profess to know much of the power of His Name, do so
likewise; that they may catch a kindred spirit from a living
exhibition. Let us evidence, in very deed, that we love not the
world, neither the things of the world, but that the love of the
Father is in us. "For all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the
Father, but of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust
thereof; but he, that doeth the will of God, abideth for ever" (1
John 2. 15).


III. I shall now conclude with a few arguments to prove, that if the
extension of the spirit of Christ's Kingdom be the proper object of
the Church's pursuit--which is, on earth, essentially a spirit of
self-denial for others' good--the entire surrender contended for, is
as consonant with reason as it is with revelation; and consequently
the great end of our existence should be the extension of this
spirit; and the most important enquiry, in which we can be engaged,
is,--how this may be most effectually accomplished.

Let us, therefore, begin with the consideration of our children, as
it regards their apprehension of this spirit of our Lord's kingdom.
There is no one calling himself a Christian, who does not profess to
desire, and there is no one really a Christian, who does not in
earnest desire for his children, both the apprehension and attainment
of this blessing. The lips of all, and the hearts of the saints
continually declare it as their wish that their children may receive
the word of truth, "not as the word of man, but as it is indeed the
word of God";--that they may esteem and receive it as "a lamp unto
their feet and a light unto their paths";--that they may prize it as
the greatest and best gift of God, next to Him of whom it bears
testimony and to whom it owes its preciousness. How then is a
Christian to direct most powerfully and practically, the opening and
susceptible minds of his children towards this Word of Truth? Is it
to be done by exhibiting to them a life devoted to the study of that
word, as revealing the will of Him whom he loves, and Him of whom it
testifies, so that they may attach true ideas to true words,
following simply its precepts as judging them concerning all things,
to be right for himself, and promoting the extension of this
knowledge as equally essential to others;--by a dedication of time
and talents to this end;--by habits of continued self-denial, having
for their object the acquisition of greater means towards the
accomplishment of a work for which he would have them to believe that
Jesus their Lord left the bosom of his Father and descended to earth,
and for the furtherance of which Apostles and Martyrs regarded
all;--temporal advantages as loss, and were ready to suffer the
privation of them all? Or is it to be done by speaking, in very high
terms, of the excellence and importance of the work;--by accompanying
the words with a gift of one, five, fifty, or a hundred pounds a year
for the promotion of it, but, in other respects, providing for
temporal conveniences and enjoyments like the world? As long as the
human mind is capable of being influenced by example, the first of
these two exhibitions must exert the most powerful influence on the
youthful mind. It must have a direct and almost invincible tendency
to impress that mind with a conviction of the sincerity of our love
of the Truth, of the reality of our devotion towards its great
Author, of our deep feeling of its necessity as the only guide to
purity and happiness, and of our ardent desire that all men may know
and receive and embrace it. And although all this is infinitely
removed from a work of grace on the soul, the almighty work of the
Spirit of God; yet they may be, and continually are, the instruments
he uses for arresting the sinner, and turning his attention to Jesus,
and leading beyond the apprehension of the truth--in the
understanding, to the Author and Finisher of faith for the
realization of it in the heart. But, on the contrary, every
appropriation towards providing temporal comforts, and conveniences,
and pleasures, either for them or for ourselves, has a tendency
directly the reverse. It shows that there is, in this value for the
world, a rival interest in the heart; it weakens their conviction of
our sincerity; and lessens, in exact proportion to its amount, the
practical conviction on their minds--that there is but "one thing
needful" in our estimation.

The true servant of God knows, better than any man, the real value of
money, the value of time, the value of talent of whatever order. He
is accordingly the most assiduous in his vocation, the most
parsimonious of his time, the most anxious to improve his talents so
far as they are subservient to the interests of Christ's Kingdom.[11]
He knows that the mysterious dealings of God have most intimately
connected us in the ways of his providence, with the salvation of one
another. He knows also that there is no means, humbly laid at the
foot of the cross, which He, who hung there, does not bless, and send
forth, with the blessing resting on it, to accomplish purposes of
mercy.

As to laying up for children,[12] believing it to be contrary to the
letter and spirit of the Gospel, and therefore to the best interests
of the children themselves, I have no hesitation in saying that, on
these grounds, I am persuaded it ought to be relinquished--as much
so, as spending our means on the selfish indulgence of our own
inclinations. The reason indeed of the commands, exhortations, and
encouragements to abstain from all such provision, appears as
obvious, from every day's experience, as that of any single command
in the Scripture; so that it manifestly would be the happiness of a
child of God to pursue the conduct thus enjoined by his Lord, even if
revelation was far less explicit on the subject, than it clearly and
undeniably is. A "single eye" can alone secure our fidelity in the
discharge of a stewardship so peculiarly trying as that with which
the wealthy[13] among us are entrusted. The circumstances of such a
stewardship have a remarkable power in directing and drawing our
affections toward improper objects; in fixing them upon others in an
inordinate degree; in leading us to misapprehend the nature of true
happiness, and to estimate things by a standard entirely at variance
with the plainest, and most frequently reiterated declarations of the
Gospel. If, therefore, under such circumstances, personal
conveniences and indulgences, the elevation of self in the world,
under the thousand alluring masks which Satan provides for those who
wish to wear them, as means, he tells them, of influence, be allowed
any weight in the argument, we may easily determine the judgment
which will go forth; you will see every man looking on his own
things, not on the things of others. Nay, is not this now the aspect,
even of the professing Church of Christ? Should any one rise, and
say, However this may be with others, it does not apply to me. I give
a guinea to this, and a guinea to that, and a guinea to another; I
might say, Yes, and as many hundreds, it may be thousands to Self,
whose desires were to be mortified and solicitations curtailed.

How much would the judgment of the Christian World be modified with
regard to the Leadings of Providence, if the eye had always the glory
of God as the single object on which it rested! If that glory were
our only aim, we should be all led to press forward, in the path to
affluence and honours, with a more fluttering step and chastened
energy. How slowly would a servant of Christ, who profitably labours
among many thousand souls with a bare subsistence, be led to
interpret the possibility of obtaining a more abundant provision (if
with a less extensive sphere of usefulness) into a leading of
providence which encourages and demands his removal. He might, on the
other hand, be led sometimes even to suspect the possibility of its
being only a temptation of Satan, laid in his way, with a view of
limiting the held of his usefulness. That malicious and powerful
Spirit doubtless now tempts the servant, as he once did his Lord, by
saying,--"All this power will I give thee and this glory: for that is
delivered unto me: and to whomsoever I will, I give it. If thou,
therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine" (Luke 4. 6). We
should never forget that this power of Satan over the world and the
things of the world, is acknowledged by our Saviour himself, when he
calls him "the prince of this world" (John 14. 30). With the
solicitations of this "Prince of Darkness" coming, as he often does,
in the form of "an angel of light" there concur affections of our
nature, called tender and amiable. The whole heart is misled; the
judgment is biassed; and the understanding darkened. He, on the
contrary, who considers and uses an increase of means only as a
sacred deposit, committed to him for the extension of Christ's
Kingdom, and not for individual aggrandizement, is liable to no such
deception with respect to the Leadings of Providence. He has no
personal interest in the pecuniary advantages attendant on any
situation; and his only question is--whether it be one in which he
may best serve and glorify his Master. When his heavenly Father sends
him prosperity beyond what is sufficient for his immediate wants, he
does not ask himself--May not I possibly need this superabundance at
some future period? or, if I never require it myself, may not my
Wife, or Children, or Relatives? He dares not to ask a question so
full of unbelief, nor presumes to turn the very abundance of the past
mercies of God into an argument against trusting Him for the future.
He knows that the best security for all spiritual blessings and all
temporal mercies, both to himself and to his friends, lies in doing
the will, and trusting unreservedly in the promises: of that God who
hath said:--"Can a mother forget her sucking child, that she should
not have compassion on the fruit of her womb? Yea, she may forget;
yet will not I forget thee" (Isaiah 49. 15). What, therefore, he has
freely received, he freely gives; and trusts for the future the
promises of his Heavenly Father, with a sincere, filial, and
ingenuous confidence.

The view here taken may naturally lead the minds of many inquirers
after the truth to ask,--'Is not this tempting God?' To this
difficulty Scripture supplies us with many very interesting and
striking answers; from which I shall select a few.

When Abraham was called to quit his kindred and country and to put
his trust under the shadow of the Almighty's wing,--his going,
notwithstanding that he knew not whither, and that he was perfectly
unacquainted in what manner or to what extent he was to be provided
for, constitutes that peculiar feature in his obedience, which all
Christians feel and appreciate, and the spirit of which they profess
to desire to have animating their own. The same is also observable in
the sacrifice of his son. Compliance in this case seems the
death-blow to his fondest hopes; and to trust that, notwithstanding
his compliance, the promises which God had made to him would be
fulfilled, was a confidence resting on somewhat beyond the bounds of
all human probability. Yet he does not hesitate to obey (and the
author of the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us why), because he
believed that God was able to raise his son up from the dead. Was
this then tempting God? What says his Word? "The Angel of the Lord
called unto Abraham out of Heaven the second time, and said, 'By
myself have I sworn, saith the Lord; for because thou hast done this
thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son; that in
blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy
seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the
seashore: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice'" (Gen. 22. 15, etc.).

Again, in the 34th Chapter of Exodus it is written,--"Thrice in the
year shall all your men--children appear before the Lord God, the God
of Israel. For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge
thy borders; neither shall any man desire thy land when thou shalt go
up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year." Now, would
obedience to this precept be tempting God? Doubtless not. Yet surely
there is a much greater natural difficulty in the way of protecting
the defenceless wives and families of a whole people during the
absence of all the males at Jerusalem, than there is in providing
subsistence sufficient for those who daily labour; for by this means
the great mass of mankind are, and ever have been provided for.

The institution of the sabbatical year appears to afford another very
apt illustration. Let us therefore for a moment consider the commands
and promises annexed to its observance, as well as the threatenings
pronounced, and the punishments inflicted, in case of disobedience.
"Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune
thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; but in the seventh
year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the Land, a sabbath for the
Lord; thou shalt neither sow thy held, nor prune thy vineyard. And if
ye shall say,--'What shall we eat the seventh year? behold we shall
not sow, nor gather in our increase':--then I will command my
blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit
for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old
fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in, ye shall eat of
the old store. If ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk
contrary unto me, I will bring your land into desolation, and I will
scatter you among the heathen: and your lands shall be desolate, and
your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as
it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land: even then shall
the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate
it shall rest: because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye
dwelt upon it" (Lev. 25. 3, 4, 20; and C. 26.).

We see afterwards the execution of this threat:--"Them that had
escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were
servants to the King and his sons until the reign of the Kingdom of
Persia; to fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah,
until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths; for as long as she lay
desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years" (2
Chron. 36. 20).[14]

Now these illustrations of the nature of the divine government are
very instructive, whether we contemplate Abraham's obedience and
reward, or the disobedience and punishment of his posterity. Abraham
appears to pursue a line of conduct, which must end in the loss of
everything dear to him; yet in the way of obedience, unimagined
mercies and favours meet him. His posterity, by neglecting to go
thrice in the year to Jerusalem, or to obey the command respecting
the observance of the sabbatical year, seem to the natural eye to be
in the way of safety and abundance; yet their enemies brought famine
and desolation on their land, and they themselves, their wives, and
their little ones, were carried away into captivity. Now the
anxieties which led the Jews to ask,--"What will become of our wives
and our children during our absence at Jerusalem?" or, "What will
become of our households during the seventh year?"--are natural
anxieties, as strong and as amiable as can influence the decision of
the human heart. Yet these very anxieties were the immediate cause of
their doubts, their distrust, and their disobedience. If then the
following even these strong dictates of the heart, against a command
of God, has proved perfect foolishness to those who have presumed so
to do, let us take warning by their example; for to this end were
these things written.

There is one inference which, guided by the analogy of faith I would
draw from the preceding observations. If trusting against the natural
appearance of things, was demanded under the comparatively dim light
of the Old Testament,--a dispensation which, considered nationally,
had peculiar respect to temporal prosperity; much more might we
expect it to be required under the bright light of the Gospel,--a
dispensation in which temporal prosperity and all temporal
distinctions are cast entirely into the shade: and as the
disobedience of the Jews cut them off--not only from the direct
blessings promised to obedience, but also from the striking
manifestations of the divine providence over them, which the three
years' corn in one year, and the protection of their families and
possessions during their absence at Jerusalem, would have afforded
them; so we, by our want of confidence in God, lose those endearing
evidences of His love, which a simple trust in His promises is the
appointed means of drawing down from His open and bountiful hand.

What preachers of righteousness would these Jews have been, had they
obeyed the commands of their God! What a sermon on God's providence
over His chosen, would the three years' provision in one year, and
the miraculous protection of their coasts, have been to the Heathen
around! It may be of importance for us to remember, that it is God
alone whom we are afraid to trust. Where we have no doubt of the
integrity or ability of man, we fearlessly trust. If one of the
Princes of this world has an arduous undertaking to accomplish, which
requires the undivided care and attention of those to whom it is
committed; and if he says to his servants,--"Pursue steadily and
singly the business entrusted to you, without distraction about
personal provision, of which I will take sufficient care"; how many
are the candidates, how eager the contention, how secure the
confidence! Nay more, the obvious tendency of such a plan toward the
attainment of the end in view, is seen, and its wisdom appreciated.

Yet when the King of Heaven, after manifesting his unspeakable love
toward us, in the sacrifice of his Son, demands of us a similar
confidence, we make no scruple to withhold it. When our Blessed Lord
says,--"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth," that your
eye may be single in my service,--that your whole body may be full of
light to discern between good and evil: when He expressly
says,--"Take no thought saying,--'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall
we drink?' or, 'Wherewithal shall we be clothed;' but seek ye first
the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall
be added unto you";--we see neither the wisdom nor goodness of His
design. We begin to explain away His instructions concerning it; we
hesitate about the meaning of His promises; we put far from us the
privilege of believing that He, who neither slumbers nor sleeps,
hatchets over us. Whence then this confidence in man, whose breath is
in his nostrils, who is absent in the moment of calamity; yet
diffidence in God[15] who is the Omnipotent, the very present, help
in every time of trouble? Does it not arise from a fear--lest, if we
trust him with our provision, he might choose for us and ours the
portion he chose for the Son of his love? Does it not arise from a
secret desire that our own wills may be done, and not His? Yet we may
rest assured that, as it is not for the interest of a wayward child
to be independent of the salutary control of an excellent Father,
neither is it for ours to be able to say: "Soul, thou hast much goods
laid up for many years."

So intensely am I convinced of this truth, that I can, with my whole
heart, pray for myself and all who are nearest and dearest to me,
that we may be so circumstanced in life, as to be compelled to live
by faith on the divine promises day by day.[16] "Godliness with
contentment," says the Apostle, "is great gain. For we brought
nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. But 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 (a root of
all evils, Revised Version); which while some coveted after, they
have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness" (1 Tim. 6.
6-11). Let us therefore "endure hardness, as good soldiers of Jesus
Christ", knowing that "no man that warreth entangleth himself with
the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him
to be a soldier" (2 Tim. 2. 3).

Now that all this may not appear irresistible to many, I am fully
aware; and having been myself, in times past, led to wish that a few
passages, such as 1 Tim. 5. 8: 2 Cor. 12. 14, had admitted of clearer
explanation, or, rather, required none, I shall now, in a few words,
endeavour to explain what appears to me to be the principle of the
New Testament revelation, which is not to supply the logician with an
irresistible chain of premises and conclusions, but the child with a
light to his Father's mind; therefore, on the divinity of our Blessed
Lord, the Lord's day, the principle of communion, of church
discipline, and of literally giving up all--if a man wishes to be
disputatious and escape the easy and blessed yoke of Christ's love he
may, and therefore will walk in darkness, whilst the child is, in his
simplicity, surrounded by a food of light.

I shall, therefore, briefly recapitulate the reasons why it appears
to me that our Saviour spoke literal truth, and meant to be
understood as so speaking, when he used such expressions as
these--"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth", and, "Sell
all that thou hast":--

    1. Because he commanded the young man to do so;

    2. Because he commended the poor widow for doing so;

    3. Because the Apostles and all who believed at Jerusalem, did
so, by selling their goods, houses, and lands:

    4. Because without this Dedication, it is impossible to receive
the command,--"Love thy neighbour as thyself":

    5. Because, while it obviously tends to the general extension of
Christ's Kingdom upon earth, it does also, in an equal measure
contribute to the happiness and usefulness of the individual, by
extirpating carefulness and sloth, and causing to grow in
abundance[17] the peaceable fruits of righteousness and love.

Should I be asked, what I understand by giving up all for Christ, my
reply would be that I believe this surrender to be made, when any
individual, following whatever lawful vocation he may, labours and
contrives therein, with all the assiduity and indefatigable diligence
of which he is capable, to accomplish the known--the recorded will of
his Lord and Saviour. If that will requires that he should labour for
the souls, as well as the bodies of men; that he should strive to
make his fellows happy in time, and in eternity; that he should
impart to them the knowledge of Him who is "the way, the truth, and
the life"; he will labour with time, talents, means, and prayers, for
the attainment of these ends, as diligently as others labour from
motives of simple covetousness, or with a view of making provision
against future contingencies for themselves or for their families. If
any object to selling "houses or lands" it remains for themselves to
distinguish[18] between the motives, which induce them to retain
their property, and those which induced the "young man" to retain
his. If they retain it from any private affection unsupported by the
word of truth, and if it is not their own full conviction--that, in
so doing, they are pursuing the path most directly tending to fulfil
the mind of Christ; neither the myriads of those who embrace their
views and follow their plans, nor the learning and authority by which
they are supported, will prove them to be wise, or true, or eligible,
in that day when the judgment shall be set, and the books shall be
opened. The principle I have here endeavoured to establish from the
sacred volume, demands of no man the relinquishment of a present
sphere of usefulness, till he is himself conscientiously convinced
that he is called to another, where he may accomplish more for the
great cause for which he lives--the exaltation of Jesus, and the
gathering his sheep. But though it does not require a relinquishment
of present occupations, it is most uncompromising as to the end to
which they must be directed.[19]

That the hearty reception of this principle may be connected, by
natural consequence, with many and great difficulties in this
life--no one, who knows any thing of human nature, as opposed to the
nature of Christ's kingdom, or the Gospel History, can doubt. In this
world's history, great things are not accomplished but by great
sacrifices. A life free from sufferings and sacrifices our Lord has
not promised, and the Apostles did not enjoy. Such a portion they did
not even expect, but were always prepared to live on the remembrance
of the "faithful saying--If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign
with Him". It should therefore be no question of ours whether, in
literally fulfilling our Saviour's command, we shall be subjected to
many sufferings and privations, or not. The question is--Is it the
command of Him, who loved us too well to enjoin any thing but for our
good; and whether in his sovereign arrangement, the embracing of it
may not be connected with the advancement of His Kingdom, and
promotion of His glory? It would at least elevate the church from the
disgraceful position in which she now stands, striking hands with
Geshem and Sanballat, to raise up the walls of Jerusalem. She would
then rejoice to say: "We will do the Lord's work ourselves." Another
question is, whether the gathering in the sheep of Christ out of a
lost world, or even of a single one, be not worthy of all the
sacrifices we are called upon to make; and whether the means we have
pointed out have not, in the appointment of the Lord, a tendency to
the accomplishment of this end? If, from the word of truth, we can
answer--"Indisputably"; troubles, dangers, and difficulties, should
be as nothing. "Not my will but thine be done."

If the world esteem this madness, we must say with the
Apostle,--"Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether
we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ
constraineth us: because we thus judge, that if one died for all,
then were all dead [therefore all died]: and that he died for all,
that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but
unto him who died for them and rose again" (2 Cor. 5. 13).

Thus I leave the question to those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in
sincerity; who desire that his name may be a praise in the earth; and
who, seeing that the harvest is truly plenteous, but the labourers
few, are constant in prayer to the Lord of the Harvest that he would
send forth more labourers into it and that he would more abundantly
pour out his Holy Spirit upon his Church, that it may more fervently
desire, and more assiduously labour for, the coming of that day, when
the Lord shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired
in all them that believe. And may the Lord direct all our hearts into
the love of God, and patient waiting for Christ, that if we should be
alive and remain at his coming, we may be caught up to join the
saints who are to come with their Lord in the clouds; and so be ever
with the Lord; or if we go before, may we come with Him in the day of
His glory. Amen.




APPENDIX (referred to in note 1)


It may be necessary to notice the only preceptive passage in the New
Testament which apparently bears a different aspect. This we shall do
for two reasons:

1st.--to meet the readiness with which it is pleaded as a
counterpoise to the otherwise clearly universal doctrine of the New
Testament; and 2ndly--, to prove that, far from its being in
opposition to the principle for which we contend, it is another
illustration of it. The text alluded to is contained in l Tim. 5. 8;
where St. Paul is giving general directions relative to the provision
to be made for widows, making a distinction at the same time between
such as are to be relieved by the Church, and such as are to be
relieved by their relatives. In reference to the latter he says, "He
that provident not for his own, and especially for those of his own
household, hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel
[unbeliever]"; which Hammond thus paraphrases, "But if any man or
woman do not maintain those that belong to them, especially those of
their family (as their Parents clearly are, having a right to live in
their house, and a propriety to be maintained by them (or that they
take care and relieve them) supposing that they are able to it,) that
man or woman doth quite contrary to the command of Christ, and indeed
performs not that duty to Parents that even infidels think themselves
obliged to do". And in his note he adds, "To provide here does not
signify laying up by way of careful, thoughtful providence
beforehand, but only taking care of for the present, as we are able,
relieving, maintaining, giving to them that want."--Whitby in his
annotation on the same verse says, "Some here are guilty of a great
mistake, scraping together great fortunes, and hoarding them up for
their children, with a scandalous neglect of that charity to their
Christian brethren which alone can sanctify those enjoyments to them,
and enable them to lay up a good foundation against the time to come;
pleading these words to excuse their sordid parsimony and want of
charity; that 'he that provident not for his own household, hath
denied the faiths and is worse than an infidel'; whereas these words
plainly respect the provision which children should make for their
parents, and not that which parents should make for their children."
See also Doddridge, Scott, and Pole's Synopsis, in loco.--The meaning
of the text then is simply this:--he who ministers not to the
necessities of his aged relatives, having the means so to do, is to
be esteemed worse than an infidel; for even the heathen acknowledged
this to be a duty. The precept, therefore, is to give and not to lay
up, and consequently is in perfect accordance with the commando "Lay
not up for yourselves treasures upon earth."

For the meaning of the passage--"Provide things honest in the sight
of all men" (Romans 12. 17) (which some for want of more efficient
support, are anxious to press into their service) see the above
authorities; where it will be seen to have reference only to the
beauty of character becoming and attractive in a Christian. See, as a
Scripture comment, Phil. 4. 8. 2; Ch. 8 and 21. [There appears a
mistake in the reference here.]

I shall now make a few remarks on the passage contained in II Cor.
12. 14, that I may bring under one point of view all the evidence the
New Testament seems to me to afford, either in fact or by possible
construction, against the view taken in this Essay. And this passage
we more particularly notice, as it really appears to present some
difficulty. "Behold," says the Apostle, "the third time I am ready to
come to you; and I will not be burthensome to you; for the children
ought not to lay up for the Parents, but the Parents for the
children." Now the difficulty alluded to consists in determining the
meaning of the Apostle in this illustration. In the first Epistle to
the Corinthians, just before the dose of it, he gives the Corinthian
Church a precept, similar to the one he had given all the other
Churches he established;--that they should lay by every Lord's Day,
as God had prospered them, for the relief of the poor Saints. It
appears, by the Apostle's remarks in the second Epistle to the same
Church that there were some who desired to impute base motives to him
as though he wished to share in this bounty. He accordingly evinces
his disinterestedness, by declining all provision for himself. He
tells them, however, that he did not decline receiving any thing from
them because he loved them less than other Churches by whose
liberality he had been once and again supplied, but that he might cut
off occasion from those who desired occasion to malign his motives.
And he once more excuses himself, in the next Chapter, from being a
participator of the bounty which they had laid up, and to which he
had encouraged them for the purpose of supplying the wants of the
poor Saints in Judea; and he employs an illustration drawn from the
common practice of mankind. "The Children," says he, "ought not to
lay up for the Parents, but the Parents for the Children." And this
illustration he employs as he does many others; just, for example, as
he illustrates the Christian Race by circumstances and practices
attendant on the Olympic games. It is essential to the illustration
of this passage to consider that the whole argument of St. Paul does
not refer to the providing against his future possible wants, with
which alone this Essay has to do, but to the relief of his present
actual necessities. It is evident indeed that the words cannot be
taken strictly. The Apostle begins with asserting that Children ought
not to lay up for their Parents, that is, ought not to provide for
their present necessities; for, if this be not his meaning, the words
have no reference to the question between the Apostle and the
Corinthians, and therefore cease to be an illustration at all; since
that question referred to present necessity on the one handy and to
present supply on the other. His simple object appears to be to
decline their bounty without giving pain; for it is clear from this
very epistle that he was in the habit of receiving assistance from
other Churches, of which he was as much the Spiritual Parent as of
the Church of Corinth. The former he highly commends for the anxiety
which they felt and the assistance which they afforded: from the
latter he declines receiving any pecuniary aid, as if it were not
incumbent on them to give, and would be improper for him to receive.
He seems unwilling to recall to their minds the special reason of his
refusing to accept of their bounty, and endeavours to find one in the
general relation in which he stood to them, as their Spiritual
Father.--Let any one read from the eighth Chapter to the end of the
Epistle, and he will be fully satisfied that the idea of laying up in
store for future and possible wants never entered into the mind of
the Apostle. Let him read especially that part of the eighth Chapter
beginning with--"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor,"--and
ending with--"As it is written, He, that had gathered much, had
nothing over; and he, that had gathered little, had no lack."




Footnotes:


[1] The texts which seem to give another aspect to this question,
such as, "He that provident not for his own, etc."--"The parents
ought to lay up for the children, etc."--"Provide things honest in
the sight of all men," are considered together in a note at the end
of the Pamphlet. [see APPENDIX]

[2] [It should be remembered that in this passage the words "take no
thought" should have been rendered "Be not anxious". See the Revised
Version.]

[3] "He could not tell into whose bands his wealth would pass; nor
would it be any comfort to him, even for his children or friends to
possess it, when he was torn from all which he loved and idolized,
and plunged into the pit of destruction; and perhaps they too were
preparing by it for the same dreadful end"--(Scott).

"Though possessions are useful to sustain life, yet no man is able to
prolong life, and to make it any thing more happy and comfortable to
him, by possessing more than he needs or uses, that is, by any
superfluity of wealth. The only way to be the better for the wealth
of the world, is to dispose and distribute it to the service of God,
and benefit and comfort of others"-[Hammond].

[4] [The argument is not distinctly affected, but it is to be
observed that the Lord did not here speak of being "saved", but of
entering the Kingdom. That the disciples at that time thought the two
ideas were the same does not establish it, for prior to the gift of
the indwelling Spirit of truth they misunderstood other things that
the Lord said. Matt. 16. 22: Luke 22. 36: Acts 1. 6. For the same
thought compare Mat. 5. 20; 18. 1-3: 1 Cor. 6. 9, 10 ) Gal. 5. 19,
21: Eph. 5. 5; all addressed to persons already "saved".]

[5] Although this Essay seems to have respect rather to those who
have much to bestow, than those who have little, yet what the Apostle
says as an encouragement to labour, may be applied to every man
however humble.--"Let him labour, working with his hands the thing
which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth" (Eph. 4.
28). "I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye
yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my
necessities, and to them that were with me. I have showed you all
things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to
remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 'It is more
blessed to give than to receive'" (Acts 20. 33-35).

[6] "What shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of
Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae;--of David also,
and Samuel, and of the Prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms,
wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of
lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword,
out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to
flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to
life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that
they might obtain a better resurrection: and others had trial of
cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and
imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted,
were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheep-skins and
goat-skins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented: (of whom the world
was not worthy: ) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in
dens and caves of the earth" (Heb. 11. 32-38).

[7] [In 1842 Mr. and Mrs. Groves adopted a child of eight as
daughter, "an orphan who was commended to their care by her father on
his death-bed. This charge was a source of great comfort to them:
they undertook it as unto the Lord, who truly gave them their hire.
The child, being early converted to God, grew up to be a very
efficient help in their mission work, when other labourers were
withdrawn; and she became to them, in every way, as a beloved
daughter" (400).]

[8] "I see here Parents who are toiling night and day. 'What are you
doing?' 'I have a large family of children; and I am endeavouring to
lay up a portion for them.' 'Why then do you not in truth lay up a
portion for them! What! will you lay up a little dust, and call that
a portion? Is that a portion for an immortal soul? You are rather
hanging a millstone about the necks of your children which may sink
them deeper into ruin. You may thereby tempt them to plunge into the
world: and there they may scatter what you have treasured up, and
called a portion! 'The Lord is my portion, saith my soul,'--is the
declaration of David; and till you lead your children to this
portion, you are making no real provision for them'" (Cecil).

[9] "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his
life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But
whoso hath this world's good, and teeth his brother have need, and
shutters up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love
of God in him?" (1 John 3. 16, 17). And "how dwelleth the love of God
in him" who can behold his fellows, by millions, perishing with
ignorance--that hunger of the soul--, without putting forth every
effort, and making every sacrifice, that they may receive the bread
of life.

[10] The Christian Motto should be--Labour hard, consume little, give
much, and all to Christ.

[11] "Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity
of my heels shall compass me about? [Revised Version "iniquity at my
heels", that is, enemies who would work iniquity.] They that trust in
their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a
ransom for him; (for the redemption of their soul is precious, and it
ceaseth [faileth] for ever;) that he should still live for ever, and
not see corruption. For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool
and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.
Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever,
and their dwelling-places to all generations; they call their lands
after their own names. Nevertheless, man being in honour abideth not:
he is like the beasts that perish. This, their way, is their folly;
yet their posterity approve their sayings.--The upright shall not be
ashamed in the evil time; and in the days of famine they shall be
satisfied. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the
righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread" (Psalm 49. 5-13; and
37. 19 and 25)--"God hath fed me," says Scott, "all my life long. I
die, but God can provide for my children, and children's children
without me; I cannot without Him. I have not, since I came here,
allowing for my house, cleared £100 a year: yet the Lord hath
provided; and I live in plenty, and can give something, and, if more
money were good for me, he would give it."--What he farther says, in
speaking of the "carnal" anxiety of Parents for the temporal welfare
of their children, though applied by himself to the clergy in
particular, is equally applicable to the laity. "I often think what
St. Paul would say to ministers in our days, on this ground; when of
those in his days he says,--All seek their own, not the things of
Jesus Christ--(see my note on the passage.) I have long lamented that
we cannot serve God by the day, and leave it to ham to provide day by
day for us and ours" (Scott's Letters--London-1824; pages 296-7).

[12] By wealthy, I mean those who have large incomes, as contrasted
with those who have a bare subsistence from their labours, or those
who have inheritances entailed upon them, so that they cannot enjoy
the privilege of disencumbering themselves.

[13] Now many may say, these commands are so clear that none could
misunderstand them, but not so these under consideration; perhaps if
we were to analyze a little deeper our hearts, we should find that
the one owes its clearness to our freedom from any consequent burden
on finding them clear; the other its indistinctness from the reverse,
not having yet learnt the glorious liberty of depending on and
yielding all to Christ. In heaven they are seen to be, I have no
doubt, equally clear, equally commands, or rather privileges, of the
saints of God.

[14] How different the spirit and conduct of our Blessed Lord! Did he
fear to leave, without temporal Provision, his widowed Mother to the
promises and providence of God? No; he left her unprovided to an
unprovided (Acts 3.1 and 6) disciple: and this he did, not at a time
when probabilities were greatly in favour of a comfortable competence
being easily procured, but when he knew that difficulties and dangers
would beset them at every step. Surely had laying up beforehand been
the duty of a child, our Saviour would have exhibited this virtue
among that constellation of virtues which shone forth from his
character; for he knew that we were to follow his example. Why then
did he act thus, whilst we hesitate to follow his steps? Because he
knew the truth, nature, and extent, of the promises of God, which we
doubt or deny. Some will say--"But this was a provision!" Yes,--the
very provision which God will ever make for those that trust in
Him,--a provision at the moment of necessity.

[15] "I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor
people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. They shall feed
and lie down, and none shall make them afraid" (Zeph. 3. 12 and 13).

[16] "He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he
which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man
according as he purposely in his heart, so let him give; not
grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God
is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having
all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (as it
is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor; his
righteousness remaineth for ever. Now he that administereth seed to
the sower, both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed
sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness:) being enriched
in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us
thanksgiving to God. For the administration of this service not only
supplies the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many
thanksgivings unto God; (whiles by the experiment of this
ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the
Gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and
unto all men:) and by their prayer for you, which long after you for
the exceeding grace of God in you" (II Cor. 9. 6-14).

[17] [I cannot refrain from inviting any candid and careful reader to
compare the rendering of this passage as given with the rendering in
the Revised Version, as an instance of the real need there was for a
revision of the English version. Especially is this seen from verse
10 and onward. Let him notice the words--ministereth and
administration, experiment, professed; the change from "both"--expressing
a desire, to "shall"--making a promise or assurance. And if
he can compare the Greek he will notice the opening of verse 10,
where the construction of the Greek was missed, "bread for food"
being connected wrongly with the words following instead of with the
words preceding, and "your" was inserted; and then the last clause
quoted (verse 14) made clear and emphatic in the Revised Version.]

[18] It might be an examination of not less importance, to ascertain
why provision for future possible wants is almost the only point, in
which the Christian and the man of the world stand on the same
ground, pursue the same ends, and govern themselves by the same
maxims; and how it happens that this part of our duty, if it indeed
be such, coincides so exactly with our natural propensities.

[19] What is here meant is--that the principle, contended for, by no
means precludes the carrying on such pursuits as require a large
stock. But, as he, who had ten talents, used them as a servant, and
brought the interest to his Master, so the Christian Merchant lives
and labours as a servant purchased by his Lord, and considers his
gains, as designed for his Master's service, not his private
emolument. If he so arts, whatever his station may be, he has given
up all for Christ. He remains where he is, not for his own private
advantage, but that, as a faithful steward, he may pour forth the
rich abundance, which God grants to his labours, to nourish and build
up the Church, and enlarge the confines of his Master's kingdom, and
the only personal advantage he has above his poorer brother is, he
has more anxieties (but for Christ, who sweetens them) every step he
advances up, and therefore would have no personal inducement to get
up but the sense of duty, that he may have more abundantly to give to
him who needeth, and the guinea dedications and speeches from the
rich, would pass out together as no longer needed; for one action of
real dedication would contain more argument than a thousand speeches
about it, from those who are laving in all the luxuries of life, and
yield more help than a thousand guineas, and there would be left for
the poorer, and the poorest would bring in their blessed two mites.




Transcribers notes:


The source for this etext is Chapter 5 of Lang, G. H. 1939. Anthony
Norris Groves, Saint and Pioneer. London: Thynne & Co. Footnotes have
been renumbered.

[Footnotes enclosed in brackets are comments made by Lang rather than
Groves. This expains what otherwise would be anachronous references
to the Revised Version of the Bible which was published in 1881.]

The first edition of "Christian Devotedness" was published by
Hatchard 1825.





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