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Title: The Faithful Steward
Or, Systematic Beneficence an Essential of Christian Character.
Author: Sereno D. Clark
Release Date: May 12, 2005 [eBook #15822]
[Last updated: January 17, 2011]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAITHFUL STEWARD***
E-text prepared by Jared Fuller
Prize Essay.
THE FAITHFUL STEWARD;
Or Systematic Beneficence an Essential of Christian Character.
by
REV. SERENO D. CLARK.
PUBLISHER'S ADVERTISEMENT.
The following is from the Circular of the Committee of Award, signed
THOMAS S. WILLIAMS, WILLIAM R. WILLIAMS, R. T. HAINES.
"The committee selected to award a premium of $250 for 'the best approved
treatise on the importance of Systematic Beneficence, and of statedly
appropriating certain portions of income for benevolent objects,' report,
that they have examined one hundred and seventy-two manuscripts submitted
to them, several of which are large treatises, and a number marked by
distinguished merit. They selected four, as in their judgment superior
to the rest. Of these four, each was found to have its peculiar
excellencies and adaptation to usefulness--this in one walk, and that in
another. Literary merit, thoroughness of discussion, and a spiritual and
practical character, each and all necessary, in their measure, to render
a composition 'THE BEST' in the sense of the original offer of the donor,
are to be found blended, in various proportions, in these several
treatises, and rendered the task of decision the more embarrassing. The
committee were thus unable to select any one, two, or three, as on the
whole preferable to the remainder of these four. They therefore awarded
the premium, which the benevolent donor has increased to $400, to be
divided equally among these four manuscripts;" one of which is here
offered to the public.
CONTENTS.
PART I.
Introduction.--Systematic Beneficence argued.--Nature
of such a System,
PART II.
Distinction between a General and Particular System.
--Two Questions discussed. 1. What is the proportional
amount of property or income to be given individually
in charitable contributions; together with the principle
on which the amount is to be ascertained? 2. How
frequently should stated contributions be made?
--The method of previous appropriations discussed, and
the duty enforced,
PART III.
The General System given in detail.--1. It must consist
of intellectual views, their inculcation, and harmonizing
affections and desires. 2. Of general purposes and
resolutions. 3. Of correspondent actions.--The adoption
of the Individual System urged.--Systematic
Beneficence an essential of Christian character,
CONCLUSION.
An Address to professed Christians.--An Address to the
Rich.--An Address to the Young,
THE FAITHFUL STEWARD.
PART I.
"GOD IS LOVE." Perfectly blessed in Himself, he desired that other
intelligences should participate in his own holy felicity. This was his
primary motive in creating moral beings. They were made in his own
image--framed to resemble him in their intellectual and moral capacities,
and to imitate him in the spirit of their deportment. Whatever good they
enjoyed, like him, they were to desire that others might enjoy it with
them; and thus all were to be bound together by mutual sympathy,--linked
to Himself, and to one another; otherwise, they would not resemble their
Great Original, either in feeling or conduct. But intelligent beings,
unlike Himself, Jehovah, in consistency with his holy character, could
never purpose to create. He thus must eternally abhor the covetous; and
hence, with all the strength of his infinite nature, threaten them with
everlasting death.
How glorious this idea of creation, and how beautiful the universe
produced!--the whole mantled in the effulgence of the eternal throne;
the Sovereign Creator upholding all ranks of intelligences in the hollow
of his hand, and pouring into their bosoms the fullness of his own
fruition; while their hearts, in turn, rise to the Source of their being
in sweetest incense of joy and praise; each burning with a seraph's love
to communicate his own overflowing enjoyments to those around him. Well
might the morning stars have sung together when such a universe awoke to
being.
The greatest good, the richest possession, then, of an intelligent
being, is a soul in harmony with this original design of creation--a
oneness of principle, of feeling, and interest, with God; in other
words, _disinterested benevolence_. Truly, "It is more blessed to give
than to receive;" for without the good will the generous deed implies,
whatever else we have, we must have sorrow.
But how little of this spirit is evinced by man in his fallen state.
Those ties of love, that bound us to our Creator and to one another, are
sundered; as a race, severed from the governing Centre of all, each has
chosen a centre for himself, and is moving on in darkness and ruin;
selfishness the rule, self-interest the end.
Benevolence is not, therefore, natural to man. To practise it requires
the greatest effort; it is reascending to that lofty height whence we
have fallen. Hence the importance of System in the great work of
beneficence.
System in action implies a principle from which it proceeds.
Fluctuating opinions and feelings produce fickleness of conduct; while
settled convictions, stability of affections, and fixedness of purpose,
give birth to persevering and methodical action. A system of
beneficence must be founded on abiding principles and dispositions.
_I proceed to show in the first place, the Duty of Systematic
Beneficence thus founded_.
I. _I argue the duty of systematic beneficence from the analogy of
nature_. The Author of nature is the perfection of order. Whatever he
does, he does systematically. He proceeded in the great work of
creation with regularity. Order moulded the planets, and every star
that gems the evening sky; it launched them forth in their orbits, and
guides their glorious way, producing "the music of the spheres." Order
stretched the very layers of the everlasting rocks like ribs around the
earth, and shaped the crystals of the cavern. There is order in the
structure of every spire of grass, of every flower and shrub, of every
tree and trembling leaf; in the mechanism of every animal, from man in
his godlike attitude, to the smallest microscopic tribes. All organic
existences are preserved in being, nurtured, grow and mature, according
to certain laws. Even the winds, that stir the petals of the flowers,
breathing fragrance and health, and the tornado, that bows the forest
and dashes navies, obey established principles. Now, shall there be
order all around me, and in my physical frame, in the flowing blood, in
the heaving lungs, and chiseled limbs, while the accountable actions of
this finely-knit and symmetrical form, especially the loftiest actions
for which it was made, the diffusion of good, are exempted from this
universal law? Such an exception, how incongruous! It would be an
excrescence on the very vitals of nature.
II. _From the characteristic of Divine beneficence_. The supply of
our physical necessities and comforts comes in the order of those
natural laws already referred to. Social and civil blessings result
from certain principles of mental, moral, and political science. Method
is equally characteristic of our spiritual blessings. No sooner had man
fallen, than God began to unfold the remedial scheme. But he is
influenced by no impulses in accomplishing the wondrous plan. He rushes
not to the result with an impetuosity indicative of a zeal that flames
along its course uncontrolled by reason. But there is a steadiness of
onward movement, showing that unwavering principles of order preside
over all his proceedings. The world, the intelligent universe, must be
prepared for such a stupendous event as the incarnation and death of the
Son of God; prophecies, promises, types, and ritual institutions must
gradually open the scheme, ere the final development could be suitably
made. After forty centuries of preparation, Christ came; and yet years
must pass away, before, in that order of events which God had
established, the crowning event of all could occur,--the propitiatory
sacrifice be offered up. In extending the kingdom thus founded, the
same order, the same adaptation of means to ends, is observable. The
word of God, the Sabbath, the sanctuary, the workings of the Holy
Spirit, and the co-operation of the individual reason and conscience,
are all linked consecutively to each other, or work in beautiful harmony
together. Thus, throughout the entire scheme of spiritual blessings,
reaching from the opening promise of a Saviour to the incarnation; and
from the incarnation to the judgment; and onward to eternity, everything
is done systematically.
This is the result of the unchanging principles of the Divine Mind.
They grow with a steady heat, equally prompting him to activity at every
moment. Hence, like the sun shining in its strength, God sends down
unweariedly the rays of his love, both on the evil and on the good,
crowning their days with "loving-kindness and tender mercies." Indeed,
should the ardor of his love cool, or the hand of his power or grace be
withdrawn but for a single moment, all our hopes would be dashed, our
very existence cease.
From this characteristic of the Divine beneficence, the inference is
irresistible. If man is bound by the condition of his being, to imitate
God in his moral character and conduct, he must cherish the same abiding
principles of benevolence, and carry the same steady hand in diffusing
good. The ardor of his love may never cool; his hand of charity never
weary. He must be god-like. With permanency and uniformity of conduct,
imitative of his own, our Holy Sovereign will be well pleased. But with
him who is wavering in his principles; vacillating and impulsive in his
purposes of good; at one time toiling for others with the utmost
earnestness, and then, forgetful of their wants and woes for months
together, he must be displeased. How unlike our Great Exemplar. He was
_always_ doing good. "The labor of his life was love." Reader, would
you please your compassionate Savior? Go, and do likewise.
III. _From the necessity of system to success in any kind of business_.
One cannot accumulate wealth, acquire learning, rise to distinction in
any of the professions or trades without system. Even the pleasures of
life depend much on regularity; otherwise they cloy and become insipid.
He, who is unsteady in his habits, now indulging in ease, and now
straining every muscle; who, as some excitement arouses him,--such
perhaps as the fresh inculcation of economy and industry, flares up and
bustles about, resolves that his business shall henceforth be prosecuted
with vigor and managed with precision, and in a few days relapses into
his old, careless, inefficient habits, heedless alike of prudence and
precept, gives little promise of success in any department of life. Or
should one be perseveringly industrious, but suffer his affairs to lie
in confusion, like the material world at its birth, he would be deemed
at best but a busy-body. If he intends to succeed, he must have some
established principles and a fixedness of purpose, which will prompt to
accuracy and method, would be the universal decision of the wise. This
is reasoning correctly. But must men practise on system in providing
the means of personal supply and gratification; while in the Divine work
of relieving the sorrows and wants of others, all system is matter of
indifference? Is order so important in the _accumulation_ of property;
while the _diffusion_ of it, in obedience to God's commands, may be
safely left to the spontaneous impulses of feeling? The more important
any business becomes, the more essential is precision in its management.
This is a universal maxim. Now, as beneficence, in its comprehensive
import, rises superior to all other employments, so, if it ever reaches
its highest possible results, it must be carried on systematically. How
often does benevolence to the poor fail of accomplishing all that it
otherwise might, were it not exerted irregularly; whereas, when
proceeding in equable flow, by encouraging frugality and economy, it
fills even the dwellings of poverty with comfort. How much more
efficient would our great benevolent societies become, were the
contributions of the churches uniform, or uniformly rising like the
waters from the sanctuary in Ezekiel's vision; so that those who conduct
them might have sufficient data on which to erect their schemes for the
future. It would infuse new life into all their operations; elevate
them to a loftier position, from which they might stretch their arms
around the world, and kindle joys reaching to heaven. Besides, is it
not matter of personal experience, that when order enters into, and
pervades our worldly business, we accomplish far more than when it is
left to the driftings of fortune, or to the mere suggestions of the
mind? And can any reason be assigned why the same practice should not
be equally productive in carrying out the noblest work of our being?
Thus personal experience in other matters observation, and theory, alike
teach us that the work of benevolence may not be left to the impulses of
natural feeling--to the influence of lectures and appeals, or casual
stimulants. It must be planted in principle, and issue in regular
contributions, like the tree of life yielding her fruit every month, if
we would have the blessing of many ready to perish come upon us. Those
who depend on intermittent springs are liable to suffer thirst.
IV. _From the deep-seated depravity of the human heart_. Depravity is
supreme selfishness. This, in unregenerate men, is the governing
principle. Quick-sighted, ever on the alert, and lying, as it does, at
the foundation of the active powers, it becomes the propeller of the
mind. It leads to a series, and thus substantially to a system, of
actions. They may not always be rational; yet, as they spring from a
fixed principle, and proceed in an uninterrupted current, they may
properly be termed systematic. Hence the natural man feels a constant
pressure of motives to conduct pleasing to himself; and is thereby borne
away on the maddening torrent of self-gratification. There must be a
counter-current; billow must battle with billow. The antagonist
principle demanded is benevolence; and antagonist principles, coming in
collision, must press with equal force, or one gradually gaining upon
the other, will eventually secure the victory. The combatant, who is
for a moment off his guard, or ceases to struggle, falls. As
selfishness is always awake, benevolence must never slumber. The latter
must be as spirited and persevering as the former. Hence, benevolence
must be systematic in its operations, or it will be overborne by the
ever-stirring energies of its opponent. Its series of acts must be as
continuous and energetic as that of selfishness, in order simply to
arrest the course of the latter; and to make advances against its
headlong current, a strong additional force is requisite. A system,
therefore, one founded in the depths of the soul, and bringing to its
aid all the resources of reason and conscience, is indispensable to
efficiency in the angelic work of doing good. System must be emblazoned
on the banner of every benevolent society; and inscribed on the brow of
every man by nature selfish, would he bless the world by his
munificence.
Especially is system necessary to encounter emergencies. Men of
business not unfrequently meet with crises when their affairs are in a
critical state. Numerous calls for money may come thronging in upon
them almost simultaneously. Their nerves may become depressed, and
things may appear darker than they really are. Besides, Christians even
may become worldly-minded, and their religious affections low. At such
times benevolence will almost surely be submerged by the whelming tide
of selfishness, unless buoyed up by well-established system.
V. _From experience, which shows the inefficiency of impulsive
benevolence_. That liberality is sometimes the offspring of the kindly
tendencies of our natures, is readily admitted. God, in making us
social beings and helpers of each other's joy, gave us susceptibilities
to sympathetic emotions. When objects of suffering are presented before
us, our sensibilities are moved, tears flow, and the hand is extended in
relief. But these emotions are short-lived. The exciting object being
removed, they soon expire. And though thousands have flowed into the
treasuries of charity from this source, when an accomplished agent, with
a soul heated to a glow with his theme, has stirred the sensibilities of
his hearers as the trees of the forest are rocked by the tempest, or
some other influence has violently swept the chords of the heart; yet it
is a source of too little depth and durability to give vitality to the
persevering work of beneficence, in a world cankered to its center with
corruption. Selfishness soon leads off the mind to other subjects; so
that contributions can be drawn from the natural sympathies only by the
repeated and almost continued presentation of the suffering object. But
this course will ultimately defeat its own end; tending, as it does, to
harden the heart, and thereby to seal up the very fountains intended to
be opened. Accordingly, we find that those who have no plan of
munificent effort, but give merely as their sensibilities are moved,
usually contribute less and less as they advance in age; their
susceptibilities to sympathetic emotion becoming hardened like the road
over which the crushing wheel has rolled for years. Hence, though the
product of impulsive benevolence may sometimes be bountiful, yet when we
contemplate its workings for any lengthened period, its fruits are found
neither uniform nor abundant. The soil is too thin for enduring
fertility.
We find this exemplified in our churches where no system of charity is
adopted. For want of stated times for contributions to the different
objects, they are apt to be forgotten or neglected. They whose duty it
is to make the appointments, are engaged in other cares; time whirls on;
the year passes away, and no collection is made. Or if a few objects
receive occasional attention, others are passed over for years
altogether; proving to a moral demonstration, that what is done
irregularly in the work of beneficence, is ill done. To this, the
agents of our benevolent societies passing through our churches, can
bear sorrowful testimony.--The same is true of the individual. Every
one knows that what falls not into his regular routine of duties, is apt
to slide from the memory. This is peculiarly true of benevolence, for
selfishness helps us to forget; and it the contribution come to our
recollection, we are not ready to give just then; some debt must be
first paid, some convenience purchased, or some other urgent call
attended to. Thus he, who has no system in the bestowment of his
bounties, is always finding excuses to turn off the edge of arguments
and the force of appeals; though perhaps with the resolution of giving
liberally at some future period. Here lies his greatest danger. The
resolution satisfies his conscience; and while resting upon it, the
opportunity to contribute passes away, and souls are lost; whereas, had
he acted on principle, the donation, though inconvenient would have been
made, and souls saved.
Such is not unfrequently the mournful termination of impulsive
benevolence. Tears may be shed over the anguish wrought; but tears
cannot remedy the evil; this must flow on in wailing and woe forever.
But it may be prevented by the timely admonitions of experience. For
that selfishness can be suppressed, and benevolence sustained, only by
the strong hand of principle and systematic effort, is the voice of
ages.
VI. _From Scripture_. All duties enjoined in the Scriptures, if
contemplated in their principles, will be found subjected to the control
of reason; and, if they lie under the control of reason, they must be
conducted methodically. All acts of worship, from the first requisition
of Divine homage given in Eden, onward through the successive
generations of the patriarchs, were to be performed with decency and in
order. The Mosaic economy was one of the most rigid exactness. The
ritual prescribed to the Jews required the utmost method. The same law
held in regard to the payment of tithes and their multiplied gifts to
the Lord. This precision, with which every one must be struck in
reading the Old Testament, is doubtless designed for the instruction of
all succeeding times. But what is its peculiar lesson to us? It, at
least, shows us that God is pleased with regularity in the conduct of
his people; and not less in their beneficent transactions than in the
discharge of their other duties. The same principle of order is
transferred to Gospel times. Here, there may be liberty, but there must
be regularity. This is taught in that general commendation of Paul to
the Colossian christians for the order and steadfastness that rejoiced
him. (Col. ii. 5.) But if regularity in other things is pleasing to
God under the New Dispensation, why is it not in this divinest work of
an intelligent being? This is specifically shown in the injunction of
Paul to the Corinthians,*[1 Cor. Xvi. 2.] for each one to lay by him in
store on the first day of the week, as God had prospered him. Now,
without pushing this text to extremes, and affirming that the Holy Ghost
intended to require of all christians in all circumstances and in all
ages, to contribute a portion of their substance in charity every
Sabbath, the passage most distinctly shows that God is pleased with
systematic benevolence--with stated appropriations of income to objects
of munificence. As order is nature's first law, so it is of the
Scriptures.
System in our benefactions is thus clearly a duty devolving on all. It
is alike the voice within and the voice from heaven. It cannot be
neglected without imminent peril. It is a subject of vital interest.
It must be deeply pondered. It must be earnestly prayed over. The
great idea must enter, like a consuming fire, into the very heart's
core, and inflaming it with zeal, bring forth fruit an hundred fold to
the Lord.
One thing more. Every man is bound to make the most of his being. All
his powers, both of body and of mind, are to be taxed to the utmost, and
exerted in the most _effective manner_. Each duty, without intrenching
on others, should be performed in such a way, as best to secure the end
aimed at in the obligation. Manner may not be disregarded. If there is
reason to believe that the end contemplated in the obligation to
beneficence may be best reached by a course of systematic effort, the
very fact should lead to its immediate adoption. At the close of the
preceding arguments, without reasoning in a circle, this may be adduced
as a consideration of no small force, inducing every one to cast about
him, and solemnly consider whether he is conducting his charities in the
most efficient method; _manner_ and _spirit_ being as binding as the
generous deed itself. And on this principle, every precept, promise,
and example of revelation, enforcing benevolence, is really a precept,
promise, and example, arousing to systematic benevolence. The same is
true of the various incentives to this glorious work, offered in the
ensuing pages; and in this light let the reader regard them.
_In the second place, what is the Nature of a Scriptural System of
Beneficence_? This is an important inquiry. Every system, as we have
seen, must be founded in principle--a principle rooted in the active
powers, resting down upon the main-springs of the soul, so as to be
moved forward by all the mental energies combined. But it must not only
rest on principle; it must rest on right principle. The moral character
of a system depends on the character of the moral feelings from which it
rises; and it is the moral character of any scheme of action, which,
under the government of God, gives it permanent efficiency; for to
succeed, it must have his co-operation and aid. Besides, a system of
benevolence is designed to combat the selfishness of the heart; a
principle, strong, subtle, insidious, and developing itself in ten
thousand different ways. Diametrical opposition to this, therefore,
must be its leading characteristic. The natural sympathies, and
conscience, and reason, must, indeed, be enlisted in its service; but
all these united are insufficient to support enduringly a system of
munificence against this formidable antagonist. For selfishness may
entirely submerge the sympathies, so that he who can weep with his
bereaved neighbor at the grave of his child, may, with the malignity of
a fiend, be inwardly pleased at the death of an enemy. Selfishness may
so control the conscience, that it will utter no upbraiding accents; and
so bewilder the keen-sightedness of reason, that one may put darkness
for light, and bitter for sweet, and sin for holiness, while
complacently feeling that he is standing on the everlasting hills of
truth. Neither the natural sympathies, nor conscience, nor reason,
then, can form the substantial basis of a system of action which is to
battle with the selfishness of the human heart. It must be informed
with a higher and nobler principle. Holy love is such a principle.
This, in its very nature, is superior to all other affections of the
soul. The object on which it is fastened is the Great Supreme, and all
other objects disappear before it, as the stars before the morning sun.
A system, then, inwrought with this heaven-born principle, controlling,
quickening, inspiring all the moral energies of the soul, may resist
this mighty foe of the heart; and it forms the only insuperable bulwark
to his malignant inroads. This position accords with the Scriptures.
They approve of no external act, only as it proceeds from a holy heart;
otherwise, they stamp it as self-righteousness or superstition. A
system of benevolent action, resting on any other foundation, falls
under the same condemnation; it contains no element of life, nothing
truly pleasing to God. Men may endeavor to find other bases on which to
rear schemes of charity; they may bring to the task the most penetrating
sagacity, and traverse again and again the secret windings of the mind,
to find some other lurking principle which can resist and subdue the
batteries of covetousness; but all their efforts will be vain. Whatever
they may erect will be built upon the sand; the winds and floods will
sweep it away. There is no foundation which can withstand the
underminings of the depraved heart, and the shocks of a depraved world,
but the rock of holy love.
PART II.
Systematic beneficence is capable of a twofold division. There is a
general or universal system, binding indiscriminately and equally on all
of every rank and condition; and a particular system adapted alone to
the circumstances of each individual. The latter stands related to the
former, as the edifice to the foundation on which it rests. This
distinction must be kept clearly before mind, if we would have definite
views of our obligations relative to this important subject. In the
ensuing discussion, I shall confine myself mainly to the general system;
believing that if God's people are correct in sentiment, rooted and
grounded in moral and christian principles, they will be substantially
correct in practise. And as the particular or individual system grows,
by a moral necessity, out of the other when fully embraced, being, in
fact, involved in the practical part of it, I propose to give but
occasional hints concerning it.
Practically considered, a system of beneficence consists in two things:
the amount of property bestowed, and the frequency of stated gifts to
the Lord.
Before detailing in full, therefore, the general system of beneficence,
these two questions must be thoroughly discussed--1. What is the
proportional amount of property or income to be given in charitable
contributions? 2. How frequently should stated contributions be made?
The first of these is a point the most difficult for the depraved heart
to reach. Self-interest clamors most loudly for the smallest sum
possible. Her whole strength must here be encountered. But
selfishness, properly so called, has nothing to do with the question.
The rule determining the amount must be fixed upon, not only entirely
without her aid, but in direct opposition to her insidious suggestions.
It must also be a rule growing out of those principles which take hold
of, and bind the conscience; and therefore clearly taught in the Bible.
This is a consideration which may not be overlooked. If we endeavor to
deduce a rule from principles not found nor recognized in the
Scriptures, the influence will be disastrous; we shall rather
strengthen, than weaken, the covetous tendencies of the heart.
It has appeared to some of vast importance to fix upon a definite amount
of income as each one's yearly contribution. A tenth has been named as
the proportion divinely approved, in imitation of Jacob's vow to give a
tenth to God of all that he should receive at his hand; and because the
Jews were required to pay a tithe of their yearly increase for the
support of the Levites. Arguments have been adduced to show that this
ratio in charity is obligatory on all; at the same time, it has been
acknowledged not to be enjoined in the New Testament. We think,
however, the ground untenable; and all efforts to designate this or any
other fixed proportion as universally binding, both inexpedient and
unscriptural.
In the first place, it would not be equal. An alleged requisition, not
pressing equally upon all in its ordinary operations, cannot rise out of
the necessary relations of the spiritual universe, and therefore is not
essential to a moral government. It can be made obligatory on the
conscience only by a positive precept from the Great Lawgiver himself.
But no ratio of income, universally applicable can be assigned, pressing
equally upon all. While one's income may be large, his debts may
likewise be large. Another's health may be feeble, his family numerous,
and his expenses great; while his neighbor's constitution may be
vigorous, his family small, and his necessary expenditures few. Thus
circumstances may render it a greater sacrifice for some to give a
twentieth, a fiftieth, or even an hundredth of their income, than for
others to bestow one half, or indeed, the whole of it, and thousands
besides.
One's entire possessions must be taken into the calculation. Take a
simple case. Two men start in business together; both plan and toil for
ten years. One has an expensive family, parents to maintain, children
to support and educate; he has been withal unfortunate, and has laid up
scarcely a thousand dollars. The other has no family, has prospered and
accumulated ten thousand. The eleventh year Providence smiles upon both
alike; the income of each is a thousand dollars. Now, would it be equal
to require of both respectively a hundred in charity?
Nor can any ratio of standing property and income combined be
designated, ensuring equality. Though this might approximate towards
equalizing the burden, still the same or similar causes would prevent a
uniform pressure. Besides, calls on our benevolence are not always
equally loud or imperious; and therefore, with the same means, more is
demanded on some occasions than others.
Undoubtedly there is a certain amount of property, which, taking into
view the whole circle of one's relations, he ought to contribute in
charity. It is by no means contended that one cannot fix upon a
definite amount for himself. This he may and should do. All that we
aver is, that no general rule can be made, assigning that amount,
because no general rule can meet the ten thousand circumstances that
modify individual cases; and, therefore, obligations to comply with it
would not be universally felt. Besides, no one thinks of specifying
certain proportions of labor and attention which all are equally bound
to bestow on others; and yet, these are sometimes far more beneficial to
the suffering than gifts of money. To assign a certain number of
external acts employed in charitably distributing property, while we fix
upon no definite amount of labor to be expended in beneficence, is
making a difference without a reason; this being seen, the conscience
will not be holden, unless some scripture precept can be found demanding
the discrimination.
But could a ratio be found pressing equally upon all, it would not be
desirable. Man, while under the influence of the natural heart, if he
tries to please his Maker at all, endeavors to do it by external acts
merely; when driven from this ground, he seeks to please him by acting
out some principle of natural sympathy, conscience, or reason; when
shown the fallacy of this, he endeavors still to discharge his duties in
some way without the _entire consecration_ of the soul. Now, does not
the advocacy of a general ratio obviously fall in with this depraved
inclination, tend to flatter this pride of heart, and to encourage this
aversion to entire self-immolation? Indeed, founded on this principle,
the work of benevolence is extremely liable to degenerate into sheer
superstition. The payment of the stipulated sum is soon thought to
render one worthy of Divine acceptance; and thus, instead of gushing
from the heart, charity becomes a mere mercenary business, scarcely
rising to the dignity of a virtue. This the experience of the religious
world proves, as is evidenced by the views and conduct of the Jews
respecting tithes in the time of Christ; and at the present period, by
the payment of periodical contributions in the Romish church.
Besides, as a general rule must apply to all classes and conditions
indiscriminately, the bestowment of the designated sum would satisfy the
consciences, not only of the poor, but also of the rich, who ought,
unquestionably, to contribute oftentimes far more than one tenth of
their annual increase, or any other proportion which the most generous
philanthropy might appoint; thus both rendering them deaf to
extraordinary calls, and, when the truth, so agonizing to the carnal
heart, that our all belongs to God, is pressed with vital intensity on
the mind, affording a secure retreat to the tortured conscience.
Such an arrangement also would often fail to meet the yearnings of the
Christian heart. The sympathy of the true Christian is as deep and
far-reaching as human suffering. Neither one, nor two, nor three tenths,
would be regarded as sufficient on particular emergencies. Such was the
case with the Macedonians of whom Paul says, "That in a great trial of
affliction, the abundance of their joy, and their deep poverty abounded
unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, yea, and
beyond their power, they were willing of themselves; praying us with
much entreaty, that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the
fellowship of the ministering to the saints." The Christian king of the
Friendly Islands felt the same burstings of a Christian heart. The
missionary says of him: "He had not often gold or silver to give. But
one time he had obtained ten pounds from the ship for food he had sold.
How much do you think he gave to the missionary society? One pound?
Five pounds? This would have been a great deal. But he did more; he
gave the whole!"
It would not meet the requisitions of the command, "Thou shalt love they
neighbor as thyself." Would an Irish lord, amidst the scenes recently
experienced in his unhappy country, surrounded by hundreds and thousands
of miserable beings, starving, sick, and dying, be justified in view of
this law, by contributing to their relief a bare tenth of his income?
Every noble heart will answer in the negative. These times of agony
demanded far greater sacrifices.
Thus all efforts to fix upon a definite ratio of income or property of
universal obligation, will give constant ground for questions of
casuistry inevitably tending rather to screen the conscience, than to
stimulate to generous activity.
_But what does the Gospel teach us on the subject_? The religion of the
Gospel begins in the heart. "Son, give me the heart," is its
fundamental precept. In the Gospel scheme, every individual stands by
himself, on his own responsibility; he is bound by a personal tie to his
Maker. The conduct it prescribes is entirely spiritual. It requires a
burning heart, shedding its light and heat on all around. According to
its code, every act must gush from holy love. It does not prescribe
just the amount of action to be put forth, in any one direction; but the
heart and conscience of each, guided by wisdom from above, are to direct
him. It is thus with Angels and the redeemed about the throne. A holy
heart, bathed in the truth of heaven, is all the general rule they need
to enable them to discharge their duties, and to adapt themselves to the
various circumstances in which they may be placed to eternity. Such is
their moral state, that the least intimation of Jehovah's will sends
them speeding on wings of fire to do his pleasure. The Gospel places
man on earth in the same relation to him, and intends that he shall act
on the same general principles. It teaches us that all we have belongs
to God, and that all we do must be done to his glory. A soul, permeated
by this heavenly spirit, would find a knowledge of the destitution and
woes of others, and an ability to relieve them, a sufficient stimulant
and guide. Angel-like, it would send forth spontaneously the
felicitating streams which the Gospel appoints.
This is the source and spirit of all Gospel benevolence. Says Paul,
"Every man according as he purposeth" (desireth or chooseth) "in his
heart, so let him give." There is to be no constraint. The working of
individual good-will is to be the measure of individual bounty; for "God
loveth a cheerful giver."*[This principle does not apply to the support
of a pastor. _Paul_ does not put charity and the support of the pastor
on the same ground. Compare 2 Cor. Viii. and ix. With 1 Cor. ix. Other
elements come in, modifying the result in the latter case. 1. The idea
of wages. 2. The idea of copartnership. Each member of the church, on
principles of common honesty, is bound to bear his share of the common
expenses.] But though no given proportion of property is definitely
enjoined, there are certain general principles laid down, by which we may
make approximations towards a proportionate amount, and never be at a
loss respecting individual gifts in specific instances when the heart is
right. The following are such.
The great truth that God has a supreme and inalienable right in us and
in all that we possess. "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,
saith the Lord of Hosts." "For every beast of the field is mine, and
the cattle upon a thousand hills." "Behold, all souls are mine; as the
soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine."--The
injunction to dedicate ourselves to God. "I beseech you, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."--The
requirement to love God and his cause and interest more devotedly than
the dearest worldly possession. "If any man come to me, and hate not
his father, and mother, and wife and children, and brethren, and
sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."
"Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath cannot be my
disciple."--The command to love our neighbor as ourselves; that we are
to supply his necessities, and relieve his sufferings, so far as lies in
our power, with the same willingness that we do our own.--The intimation
that our gifts should be such as to call into exercise our faith and
self-denial. The poor widow cast into the treasury of the Lord "all
that she had, even all her living;" with which generous sacrifice Christ
was well pleased; and Paul commends the Macedonian Christians, because
they gave not only according to their power, but beyond their power.--
The promises to the benevolent. "The liberal soul shall be made fat."
"He that watereth shall be watered himself." "It is more blessed to
give than to receive."--The duty of imitating Christ, who "suffered for
us, leaving us an example, that we should follow in his steps;" that we
should "walk even as he also walked."
Also, the very large amount of their income, (which has been estimated
at not less than one fifth) required of the Jews to be given for the
support of religion, and in charity, was intended to convey to us
similar instruction. For though the law of tithes or double tithes is
not binding upon us, the great sacrifices which they were required to
make, are designed to have a _moral influence_ on succeeding
generations. It is not the idle record of a bygone race, or of a
dispensation that has vanished away; it utters a voice to us; it is the
living exemplification of a principle which we are bound to adopt. If
even the poor among the Jews could give so much, the poor can still give
bountifully in proportion to their means,--and, were they disposed, how
profusely might the rich lavish their munificence. With the fact before
us of the great sacrifices the Jews were commanded to make for the
support of religion in their own narrow bounds; when we consider the
breadth of the field we are called to cultivate,--the spiritual
necessities of the perishing millions of our race, the opportunities to
reach them, the worth of the undying soul, the revenue of glory its
salvation will yield the Saviour, what sacrifices ought the poor, at the
present day, to make in their penury, and the rich in their abundance,
to promote the glory of Christ in the salvation of souls; and how
terrible the doom of those who refuse.
These principles, requisitions, promises, and examples, show us that our
sacrifices should be _great_, and the amount of our contributions
_large_, when either the worldly or spiritual necessities of others
demand our aid; while they leave the treasuries of benevolence to be
filled by the spontaneous flow of each individual soul.
The desire, therefore, to fasten on the consciences of men the
obligation to contribute periodically a certain portion of their income
or property, as universally binding, is not to be gratified by arguments
drawn either from reason or revelation. We may resort to no artificial
means. We may trust in no machinery which does not work and glow with
the living fires of the heart. Love, conscience, and reason, must be
the originating and guiding forces. We must fall back upon, and confide
in, these vital principles of holy conduct. First the heart, and then
the act, is the Gospel scheme, and we may not reverse the process. To
attempt it, and to say, "What we seek in a system of beneficence, is not
a benevolent heart, but benevolent _actions_;" is to come in open
collision with the spirit of the Gospel. It is apparently a lurking
disposition to induce men to discharge the duties of beneficence,
without laying their hearts on the altar of God, and keeping them
perpetually burning there; whereas Christ requires the _heart_, and the
heart _always_; and then that conduct which inevitably bursts from a
consecrated soul. As Paul says of the Macedonian Christians, "_They
first gave their own selves to the Lord_;" and then their wealth, to be
used as he should direct.
Indeed, the process necessarily gone through in determining, from
general principles, the particular amount it becomes our duty
individually to bestow in charity, Christ evidently intended should be a
means of _moral discipline_, which we cannot safely dispense with. Its
influence, though not generally realized, is far-reaching, almost
magical. It strengthens the intellect, elevates to a noble independence
and disinterestedness of feeling, gives stability to character and
energy to purpose, leading on to thoroughness of self-inspection,
earnestness of investigation as to the personal claims of God, and
childlike simplicity in submitting to their authority. Just glance at
its workings in the present instance. As Christ has told us, in order
to know his doctrine we must do his will, so in order to ascertain the
exact sum we are to contribute in benevolence, we must cherish a heart
in sympathy with his own. Holy love must perpetually glow in our
bosoms; otherwise, we shall sometimes fail in the correctness of our
conclusions. Thus the first impulse of benevolent feelings puts us in
the way to increase them; for every desire to give must be attended with
a scrutinizing estimate of our motives, and a constant struggle with
selfishness, lest the latter gain the ascendency, and mar the beauty of
the deed. The legitimate result of the process, therefore, is a deep
and watchful piety; while the works of beneficence, thus determined,
never degenerate into superstition or self-righteousness; and its
obligations will seize at once and unrelaxingly the conscience of all.
The conclusion, therefore, at which we arrive touching the amount of our
charities is this: it should be such as our means, a distinct knowledge
of the wants of others, and a heart of overflowing love, shall
prescribe; leaving each one to his own solemn convictions of duty,
amenable to the bar of God.
But it may be objected, if beneficence is thus left without the
specification of some stated amount, selfish, or but partially
sanctified men, will not give as liberally as they ought. Perhaps they
will not. But all we can so is to press on their attention the commands
of Jehovah, and the claims of a dying world--claims, as strong and
affecting as those which brought the Saviour from the throne to the
cross; and telling them what the Apostle, enforcing also sparingly; "and
he who soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully," leave them to
settle the matter of their covetousness with their Final Judge. We may
pray and weep over them; but we may use no efforts to move a single
individual from that moral basis--his own conscience--on which God has
placed him. Here he must stand; and here we must be willing he should
stand; while he himself is under infinite obligation to lay bare his
bosom to the energizing influences of truth, and cheerfully yield to its
sway.
2. _How frequently should stated contributions be made_?
System implies order, regularity. Systematic beneficence implies
regularity of contributions, or of stated periods for appropriating
property to the Lord. In regard to the frequency of these statedly
recurring periods, there are different opinions. Owing to the variety,
extent, and complexity of men's avocations, some find it convenient to
make consecrations accurately proportionate to prosperity, much more
frequently than others. Hence some advocate the weekly period, some the
monthly, while others plead for still longer intervals. Indeed, to fix
upon a definite rule of universal application determining the frequency
of periodical contributions, will be found nearly as difficult as to
ascertain the precise ratio of property to be bestowed. There are,
however, certain leading principles, which, if contemplated with
rectitude of heart, will enable us to please God by the wisdom of our
benefactions, no less in this respect than the last.
1st. As a stepping-stone to a series of more important considerations,
showing that these periods of consecrations should very frequently
recur, I remark _that most may set apart some portion of income without
inconvenience as often at least as capital or labor makes returns_.
These are the occasions when Providence pours his treasures into our
bosoms; when alone we can determine precisely how the Lord has prospered
us, and consequently how much we are able to bestow. Hence if no
designations of income to charity have been previously made, or if they
have not been sufficiently large, these opportunities of coming to some
definite decision with reference to the proportion of the bounties of
Providence we shall devote to purposes of beneficence, may not be passed
over; and the consecration, not to say the disbursement, should be made
_immediately_, while the idea that our possession are from God is fresh
in our minds, and before selfishness shall seize them as her own.
Procrastination is often but giving heed to her treacherous voice, and
ere we are aware, she carries us captive. As we receive our increase
from the hand of God, like faithful stewards, we should set apart the
portion belonging to others without delay. To indulge ourselves by
holding them up before us, and doating upon them as our own, will but
inflame our covetousness; and we shall be tempted to rob the needy of
their portion. This is not hypothesis; facts prove that money is
contributed far more cheerfully when in a loose state than after it
becomes fixed property. This rule, directing frequency of
consecrations, conforming itself to individual circumstances, is
oppressive to none.
But the capital of some makes returns only once a year; of others, only
once in a series of years. To such this rule can be by no means
applicable; for the wants and sufferings of those whom God has made it
our duty to relieve, often demand far more frequent distributions;
while, in a variety of instances, it calls into exercise our benevolence
too rarely to suppress the selfish tendencies of the heart,--a point,
which, in rearing a system of beneficence, may never be overlooked.
Other principles must therefore be noticed.
2d. _Our contributions should be so frequent as will tend to repress
the selfish, and keep alive the benevolent affections_. We should give
so frequently as to impress and nurture the conviction that we were made
not only for ourselves, but for others; and that the noblest use of
property is its distribution to the needy. This conviction it is
difficult to engender, and harder to keep alive, but it is best produced
and quickened to energy by frequently engaging in the duties of charity.
Benevolence, to become strong, must be cultivated; and it is so much of
an exotic in the human breast, that it needs the most earnest and
assiduous care; while selfishness, such is its strength and tenacity of
life, can be deadened and kept in abeyance only by repeated and vigorous
assaults. As a general rule, that system, as to frequency, should be
chosen, which comes most strongly in collision, and wrestles most
powerfully with the selfishness of the heart. Some, I know, would deal
gently with this obnoxious principle; rather humor than goad it; and on
this ground urge the importance of frequent, and, of course, small
contributions, which will scarcely be felt; maintaining that on the
whole a larger amount will be collected. But I would not urge frequency
of donations on this account. I would advocate benevolence only on
those principles which will give it life and vigor for eternity. The
Bible says nothing about humoring the selfishness of the heart, of
adopting plans of beneficence that will be scarcely felt. Its language
is, "Crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts." It directs us to
_die_ unto sin or self. It makes no compromise with covetousness. It
bids us not rock it to sleep, but slay it. Let every one then stand up
in the lofty sternness of his spirit, and adopt that system as to
frequency in giving, which, other things being equal, is most crucifying
to the carnal heart.
But a system of almost continued contributions will not be peculiarly
crossing to our avaricious desires, if trifling sums are given, or those
greatly disproportionate to property. In this case, selfishness,
instead of being disturbed, may be rather cajoled into a species of
benevolence; though a species as sickly and unsubstantial as the vine
that grows amid the damps of a vault, never aspiring to heaven as the
place of its nativity. But when the sums are so large as to demand
personal sacrifice, the self-appropriating principle feels it keenly.
The uninterrupted repetition of such gifts is a continued draught on its
life-blood. Its remains even in the Christian's breast are galled and
lacerated by the repeated attacks, and sometimes writhe as in "the dying
strife." Especially is this the case with one who has amassed his
property by almost daily additions;--by sums, perhaps, smaller in amount
than those which the calls of humanity now claim almost as frequently at
his hand. He sees his wealth going nearly the same way in which he
acquired it, and he feels that its very pillars are giving way. Thus
frequency in contributions, if sufficiently large, is usually most
crossing to selfishness, and most destructive to avarice; and as a
system of beneficence is instituted mainly to combat these evil
principles, we should allow but short intervals between our deeds of
charity.
3d. _We should give so frequently as to form a habit of giving_.
Jeremiah says, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his
spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil." This
shows the susceptibility of our natures to the formation of habits; and
their controlling power over us. The injunction of Solomon, "Train up a
child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart
from it," is founded on the same mental tendency. Habit, indeed,
governs half the world; it is like a self-moving machine, when once
started, continuing, of its own accord, in the same direction and with
the same velocity. Let one accustom himself to harden his heart in view
of genuine objects of sympathy, and it will be exceedingly difficult to
unlock his bosom to the loudest calls of benevolence. On the contrary,
he, who accustoms himself to spend his money as fast as he acquires it,
will never be likely to hoard for future supplies. A habit of giving
would follow the same law, and greatly assist us in the duties of
charity. But infrequency of beneficence, giving only once in six months
or a year, or at irregular intervals, will never form an efficient habit
of giving. It must be a regular and oft-repeated act; for it is a
frequency of the same acts in succession alone, which creates habit.
Our benevolence, therefore, should go forth in reiterated acts, like the
monthly, flowering and shedding its fragrance as regularly as its
seasons recur. The spirit of benevolence must thus be wrought into the
very texture of our being; so that we shall move forward, scattering our
alms about us as naturally as we perform the common duties of life.
This thought is of immense importance to the young, and to those engaged
in the pursuits of wealth. For the latter, especially, from the very
nature of their employments, and their necessary trains of thought, are
inevitably acquiring habits of accumulation; and, unless counteracting
habits of benevolence are also acquired, their desires of gain will
assume the tyrant, and the Divine curse, threatened against the
covetous, will rest upon them forever. They are hanging over an abyss,
and their only safety, under God, is in winding around their hearts the
iron cords of habit in beneficence, and, therefore, in giving
frequently.
4th. The Scriptures favor the idea of frequency in giving. Christ says,
"Give to him that asketh of thee." The duty of charity is here clearly
founded on our calls and ability. But in this world, where we have the
poor always with us, calls on our benevolence cannot be otherwise than
frequent. Again Christ says, "Freely ye have received, freely give."
We frequently receive, we should therefore frequently give. Paul
directs the Corinthian Christians, "Upon the first day of the week, let
every one of you lay by him in store as God has prospered him." This
suggestion of the Apostle may probably be adopted a general rule by a
majority of Christians at the present day; and every one should make it
a matter of solemn consideration and earnest prayer whether it is not
his individual duty; for all must conform to it in spirit. But without
maintaining that every one, under whatever circumstances, is required to
lay by something weekly for charitable purposes, the principle here
taught us most unequivocally binds us to great frequency of stated
contributions. From this decision of the Holy Spirit, according, as it
does, with the teachings of reason, there can be no appeal.
5th. _The experience of practical men, as to the best means of acquiring
property, evinces the same principle_. The experience of the world on
this point has been embodied in maxims such as these: "Take care of
your cents, and dollars will take care of themselves;" "Save your
ninepences," &c. Men of wealth have often remarked that they acquired
their property by frequently storing away small sums as they could spare
them. I knew a man lay up several dollars by making it a rule to put
into a bag kept for the purpose, every fifty cent piece that came into
his possession. We have here the development of a principle in
accumulating a fund to meet the contingencies of life. We may apply it
to benevolence, and take men of business and opulence on their own
ground. If this principle will fill one's own treasuries, it will fill
the treasuries of the Lord. Let it then be regarded. I would sound it
in the ears of the million who are delving the earth for gold, and
startle them from their delusive dreams. I would that it might echo and
re-echo till its solemn utterances should make every votary of Mammon
tremble. Hear, ye rich men; give ear, ye who are pursuing the bubbles
of wealth! is it christian, is it right, to adopt principles of prudence
and self-denial in filling your own coffers, while you refuse to act
upon the same principles in replenishing the streams of mercy? No.
Conscience and God answer, No. The perishing heathen, the dying pillow,
the judgment-seat, the wailings of hell, all answer, No.
Then let every one, whether indigent or affluent, frequently lay by in
store sums for charity as God shall prosper him, though they are but
small; and let him do it with the same whole-heartedness, earnestness,
and perseverance, as he would to increase his own wealth; and rarely
will he be unable to relieve the cries of misery. He will have no
occasion to offer the excuse, "I have no change." He will have dollars
in store. The history of benevolence proves this. I have know a
sabbath-school class, by each member's giving 10, 15, or 25 cents a
month, contribute an amount during the year, which previously they would
have thought impossible to raise. This is only one instance among a
thousand. Let the principle be acted upon; a trial is easy. Scriptures
and reason cannot both be wrong.
But how shall these frequent contributions be made by those whose
capital yields returns only at long intervals? According to the
proverb, "Where there's a will, there's a way"--it can be either
actually or virtually done.
1st. By saving expenses. Water, running into a vessel no faster at a
given orifice than it flows out at another, will retain a constant
level; and if with the same influx we would have it issue at a higher
orifice, we have only to stop or lessen the lower one. Thus, if we
would have our possessions rise to the _giving point_, we have only to
stop the leakage--check expenses. This hint may be of service to the
poor, and not inappropriate to the rich. Many expend their ready money
as rapidly as they receive it; making their calculations to do so; and
thus, during the interval between one return of capital and another,
plead their inability to meet the frequent calls of benevolence. But is
this a valid excuse? Could they not be met by sacrificing some social
pleasure, some luxury in drink, in food, in dress, in furniture, in
display? or by foregoing some convenience, the expense of which is
equivalent to the pledged sum? Vast multitudes are deprived of these
luxuries, and even of what we deem necessaries, during their whole
lives; and cannot we forego the gratification of them occasionally,
that we may thereby relieve the suffering, or save the deathless soul?
True, this will require self-denial; but has not God demanded of us
self-denial? Dare any one offer this as an excuse?
2. Every on engaged in regular business knows, or ought to know, what,
taking one year with another, have been the annual proceeds of his labor
or investment. Now, on the supposition that the Lord will prosper him
as heretofore, he can form some reasonable estimate of the amount,
(extraordinaries excepted) which he ought to contribute to charitable
purposes weekly or monthly during the period his capital is making
another revolution. This amount may be appropriated in actual donations
by most business men, as they usually have more or less loose money on
hand. By those who cannot do this, it may be charged in a book kept for
the purpose at the close of each week or specified period for
appropriation--"one, five, ten, or fifty dollars due to charity,"--and
on the return of their capital, pay this debt as conscientiously as they
pay any other. Then, if on the reception of their entire product, they
find they have not given as much as the claims of the destitute demand,
they can easily make up the deficit. This scheme will of course call
into exercise our faith; for it is acting on the belief that the Wise
Disposer of events will be as merciful to us in the future, as he has
been in the past. But ought not his past goodness to strengthen our
confidence in his willingness to continue that goodness? Christ
requires us to live by faith on him, and ought we not to _give_ by faith
on him? To refuse to exercise this faith in the circumstances, partakes
of ingratitude. Besides, to decline making any, or but such
appropriations as are exceedingly disproportionate to our property,
until we have actually received the return of our investments, is to act
on the principle, that we will not give to others until we are _certain_
how much God will bestow upon us; in other words, that we will not trust
him,--whose loving-kindness, as the brightest star of our destiny, has
shone upon us in darkness and storm,--for a single blessing which is not
actually in our hands. Must not such conduct be exceedingly provoking
to Unwearied Love?
Or this process of previous consecrations may be varied thus. The
proportion consecrated may be a certain ratio of income fixed on a
sliding scale, on the principle that the greater the profits, the
greater the proportion which me be spared. For instance, on the first
day of each week, or month, or quarter, or year, one may consecrate a
certain proportion of his profits of that week, month, quarter, or year
to the Lord, say five, eight, or ten per cent., in case they rise to a
specified amount; and if they rise to a certain sum beyond this, he may
fix upon a still greater proportion, say twelve or fifteen per cent.; if
they rise to an amount still higher, the proportion appropriated may be
still larger, say eighteen or twenty per cent., so that his benefactions
to the destitute shall be in some degree commensurate to the goodness of
the Lord to him.
In these last suggestions, a vital principle in systematic beneficence
is developed, which challenges our special attention. _It is, the duty
of making provision for the dissemination of charity previous to the
reception of our income_. This is a point of immense importance, and
may by no means be overlooked; though it is a point which Christians
have too much lost sight of. They have been awake neither to the
enjoyment nor obligations growing out of it. It is time that its solemn
utterances should pierce the heart, and arouse the conscience of every
follower of the Lamb, and startle him from his slumbers. They should
reverberate through every dwelling in Zion. It is a principle of
universal application. All, whether rich or poor, should make it an
abiding rule of conduct. There is no difficulty in the way. While, of
course, the rich should fix upon a higher proportion of income than the
indigent, each one can decide upon some percentage adapted to his
peculiar circumstances, and at stated periods lay up in store as the
Lord prospers him. Every one, as St. Paul clearly taught the
Corinthians, should have "a savings-bank" for charity.
The results of this principle would indeed be most happy, on whatever
ground the previous arrangements should be made. In the first place, it
would greatly increase the sum total of our contributions to the Lord.
It would be acting on an acknowledged maxim in the acquisition of
wealth. We know if we have a debt of ten dollars, an hundred dollars,
or any sum within our possible ability to pay, the money will be by some
means obtained; whereas, otherwise it will be extremely liable to be
consumed in the ordinary flow of expenses. Thriving men, sometimes on
this principle, keep constantly a little debt by the purchase of
valuable property, knowing that it will stimulate their industry and
frugality to meet the anticipated payment. Here men are not afraid to
trust the past goodness of the Lord; why will they not be equally wise
and confiding in the godlike work of benevolence?
It would also deepen our sense of personal devotement to Christ; leading
us constantly to feel that our minds employed in planning, and our hands
engaged in labor, are the Lord's, and must be used in his service. It
would likewise promote the ease and cheerfulness with which our
appropriations would be made, and materially enhance our enjoyment, in a
work which, though self-denying, brings us into intimate fellowship and
cooperation with our blessed Lord. Even when engaged in our most
ordinary avocations, it would induce the impression that we are laboring
for Christ as well as for ourselves; and thus procuring the means of
extending the glorious gospel, whose precious promises are our daily
support and joy, and which opens to our view, beyond the skies, the
crown and the harp, with which we hope to bow before the throne, when
our bodies are crumbling in the grave. What greater happiness can
the Christian experience on earth than the continued consciousness of
co-working with his Saviour in diffusing through the world these richest
enjoyments of our being, and kindling anthems whose enrapturing notes
shall never falter?
Thus, if we would make antecedent provisions for charity; if we would
exercise suitable self-denial, forethought, and confidence in God; if we
would _contrive_ as earnestly to save something for munificence, as we
do to hoard, our sources of charity would be replenished; we should
seldom be unable to make, at frequently recurring periods, either actual
or pledged appropriations, and be happy in our work.
_An Inference_.--If that degree of frequency should be adopted which is
best calculated to curb the selfish inclinations, then the more deeply
we are engaged in worldly pursuits,--the stronger and more riotous the
avaricious desires become, the oftener should the appointed period of
our benefactions recur; and not only so, but the greater the necessity
that our gifts be commensurate with our means; for otherwise, although
we may give frequently, and perhaps congratulate ourselves on our
generous liberality, the curse of God may be hanging over us for our
parsimony.
PART III.
We are now prepared to present in detail that general system of
beneficence, demanded alike by Scripture and reason, and best fitted to
secure permanent and ever-growing results.
While universal, it must be a system in its nature adapted to each
individual, and binding on the individual conscience; one founded on,
and embracing, the entire man,--his reason, his heart and will,
including views and principles, feelings and affections, with their
inculcation, general purposes and resolutions, with corresponding
action. The tree must be symmetrical from its roots to its topmost
bough. Beneficence may not stand alone; it must spring out of a
consistent character, must be a branch of activity, harmonizing with
other shoots from the common stock. Else, it will be like a verdant
twig on a rotten trunk, growing up amid broken and withered limbs, the
sighing monitors of its own decay.
Some, I know, would advocate a system of beneficent actions without the
heart; others would direct it merely to one or a few favorite objects.
But these are views neither broad nor deep enough. It is grafting
consistency on inconsistency. True benevolence is a spirit of
universality, and hence, of harmony, gushing forth in streams numerous
as our relations. No reason can be assigned why one should contribute
of his property to save the souls of others, while he neglects his own;
or spend his substance for the spiritual benefit of those at a distance,
while he neither puts forth personal efforts, nor manifests a holy
example, to rescue perishing immortals immediately around him. A system
thus partial has a worm at the root; its protecting shadow will be as
transient as Jonah's gourd.
I. _There must be a system of intellectual views, and a harmonizing
train of desires and affections flowing naturally from them_.
I will, therefore, present a series of principles, sentiments, and
obligations, which, by being lodged in the intellect, and quickened by
the Spirit, warm the heart, and awaken appropriate feelings; thus
forming not only the basis, but a constituent part, of an efficient
system of benevolence.
I would premise, however, that these intellectual views may also be
regarded as _inducements to munificence_, and thus to the adoption of an
individual system, fitted to each one's peculiar relations; for they
will thus operate from the nature of the case; the very object of
fastening them systematically in the understanding being, that
penetrating to the heart, and binding themselves on the conscience, they
may lead on to rational activity.
1. We should bear in mind that we were not made for ourselves, but for
the service of God. Let the truth, "Thou art God's," be written with
fire on the heart, as well as its legitimate consequence, that all that
appertains to our being is his;--our strength, our health, our powers of
reason and love, our capacities of acquisition, our property, our time,
our all, so that its thrilling accents, "All that thou hast is God's,"
will ring in our ears at every turn. As Jehovah created us for himself,
has preserved us for himself, and redeemed us for himself, we ought at
once to acknowledge his claim and devote ourselves to his service. This
self-surrender is the true foundation of all giving to the Lord. Any
system of beneficence not built on this must crumble. Giving one's
self is an earnest and pledge that everything else will be given; on
the contrary, while self is withheld, there is no warrant that our
possessions will be yielded, much less that God will accept the offering.
But self being surrendered, all is virtually conveyed over to the Lord
and sealed forever his.
2. That all right feeling is feeling as God does in the same
circumstances, and in respect to the same objects. There must be a holy
sympathy of soul with him,--a oneness of affection, of desire, of will,
of purpose. We must feel concerning ourselves as God does, who desires
to see our hearts burning with the same hallowed love that fills his
own. We must feel concerning sinners as the Father does, "who so loved
the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life;"--as the Son, who
exchanged the abodes of peace for the abasement of flesh and the agonies
of the cross;--as the Holy Ghost, who is willing to dwell in our
polluted hearts, consuming the dross with his own vital energies. We
must imitate the angels, who, sympathizing with the Triune Jehovah,
strike their lyres with new and more rapturous hallelujahs at the
repentance of the returning sinner. No other feelings in kind or
strength, in proportion to our capacities, are right feelings. The
sacrifices of Christ were, indeed, stupendous; but we must be willing to
make as disinterested sacrifices for a perishing world; else we are not
in sympathy with our crucified Lord. Let us often visit the scenes of
his sufferings, hear the groans of Gethsemane, and witness the blood and
agony of the cross, and there learn what it means to have the same mind
"which was also in Christ Jesus." Let us make this love the great
standard of feeling and action, and cultivate the habit of trying
ourselves by this, and this alone; inquiring daily, "Oh, am I benevolent
as Christ?" "Do I sympathize with him over a ruined world?"
3. That God created us to occupy a position near himself. As all our
springs are in him, communion with him was to be our life and joy. We
were to be full of God; to see him everywhere and in everything, and to
value nothing only as the work of his power, the fruit of his love, or
as showing forth his praise. We were to dwell so far up the mount, that
earthly objects would appear insignificant; approach continually its
lofty summit, till our views of the world and the glory of it should
harmonize with God's views of them; for not only were our feelings to
accord with Jehovah's; but also our sentiments concerning sublunary
things were to be in unison with his own. So familiar were we to be
with the glories of our spiritual existence; our tastes and moral
sensibilities were designed, by intercourse with Infinite Purity, to
become so elevated and refined, that the glitterings of gold, and the
fascinations of wealth, would fail to charm. Our home was to be so near
the throne, that its light would perpetually shine in upon our souls;
its spirit always bathe our spirits; so that seraph-like, possessing the
benevolence of heaven, we should breathe the love of heaven on all
around.
4. That merely becoming rich is not the great object for which we were
sent into the world. Man's being aims at a higher goal. This is a
point which should be distinctly understood; and to bring out the
thought clearly, I will make two distinctions. 1. The very obvious
difference between benevolence and indifference to property or its
acquisition. Benevolence means "wishing well," and beneficence "doing
well," to others. Benevolence, then, bears no resemblance to
undervaluing money. I know that the gentleman who used to _skip_ his
silver dollars on the fair bosom of the Connecticut for the amusement of
his friends, and he who freely tosses around the social glass to his
boon companions, may be pronounced generous fellows. But such may be as
entirely destitute of all true benevolence as the most determined miser,
and, what is more deplorable, as offensive to Infinite Love. Property
is God's gift, and he does not require us to undervalue his gifts, but
to use them with his own good-will to men. To be willing that our labor
or capital should be unproductive is no indication of a faithful
steward. 2. There is a difference between the design of becoming rich,
and that of acquiring property. The latter, under certain restrictions,
is a duty incumbent on all. One may have a peculiar talent in this
direction;--a turn for business, a sagacity to lay plans, to foresee the
favorable changes in the commercial world, and all that shrewdness so
essential to success in the career of opulence. It is an endowment of
heaven, and should be used in such a way as heaven will approve. While
regulated strictly by the principles of Revelation, it should be
employed in the acquisition of property, as a means of usefulness. But
it is a common opinion, that money may be made solely for the sake of
accumulation. Parents instil the idea into the minds of children, so
that they grow up with the conviction, that the great end of life is the
procuring of wealth. Implanted in the tender mind, and nurtured with
its strength, it assumes the tenacity of a first principle. But it is
altogether erroneous. It is the product of the selfish heart. No
sentiment is more fertile in covetousness, or more blighting to that
generous humanity, which it is the first object of the Christian to
cherish. It is a sentiment grovelling in its tendency, bowing
multitudes, it is feared, even of professedly good men, to a species of
slavery, over which devils smile, and angels weep; knowing that it
obstructs the flow of thousands into the treasury of the Lord. A
sentiment so hurtful should be eradicated from the public mind. It
should be discarded from the individual breast. The toils of pecuniary
gain must be pervaded by a loftier motive. It should be sought, not as
a gratification to avarice; but, in the fear of the Lord, by industry,
by economy, by frugality, by forecast, by the most profitable
investments of capital, and with a heart full of mercy, as an instrument
to enlighten the ignorant, and relieve the sorrows of human-kind. This
idea has not taken so firm a hold of the christian public as its
importance deserves. How useful might some, who have little talent
either for learning or public speaking, become, would they
disinterestedly devote their lives to the acquisition of money for
purposes of beneficence. Wealth, pursued with this spirit, will never
beget avaricious desires, and thus acquired, will be a treasury of
blessings to multitudes here, and a source of enjoyment to the pious
owner forever. Its worth will survive the grave. Let it be an abiding
thought--money may be invested where it will yield an eternally
increasing revenue.
5. That in laying our pecuniary plans, we should be governed by a
single view to the glory of God. The plans we adopt must be chosen
because, in our deliberate judgment, we can do more to advance Christ's
interests by prosecuting them than in any other way. Every act sustains
relations of moral influence. Every kind of business or method of
carrying it on, has certain relations which will modify its results,
and, perhaps, its moral bearings, either on own usefulness, or the
spiritual well-being of the community at large. Now we are bound to
engage in that business, and adopt those schemes, whose results,
considering these wide-spreading relations, will be most favorable to
the kingdom of Christ. If we lay our plans recklessly, without regard
to their moral tendencies, or shrink from these moral discriminations
respecting them, we evince anything but a will in harmony with the
Divine will. I know some fondly cherish the opinion, that their
sagacity or peculiar tact for money-making at least is their own; and
that they may employ it in devising such pecuniary schemes as they
please, provided they are strictly honest, and do not interfere with the
privileges of others. But this is not true. This reference to the
Divine glory sheds the sunshine of heaven over all our employments, and
must be the guiding principle of all our enterprises. It is also
indispensable to any sustained system of munificence. If our schemes
have ultimate reference to self, we shall be likely to use their
proceeds as selfishness shall dictate; whereas, if our plans are laid
with a view to the honor of God, we shall be disposed to use their
results for the promotion of the same great end. This is a truth of
incalculable importance to our present subject. It should be bound to
the conscience of every Christian, and burn there with such intensity
that it can never be forgotten.
6. That God made us to be almoners of his bounty to others.
Reciprocity is the pillar of every social system; it is of the human
family. This principle was practically developed in Eden. On this
ground, Paul argued that there should be equality between those who are
in want and those who have abundance. (3 Cor. viii. 14.) Every man was
designed to stand like a conductor of the electric fluid, to convey the
influences of heaven to those around him. Our Creator has made the duty
of benevolence as obligatory as that of justice. One is as much bound
to help other, and thus, unless in very extreme cases, to contribute of
his substance for the benefit of the needy, as to be honest. When,
therefore, we pass a portion of the good things of life to others as
they are conveyed to us, we are fulfilling the great end of our social
being; when we grudgingly retain it, we are defeating that end. This
sentiment must be riveted in our minds. It is a hard lesson for selfish
men to receive; yet it must be learnt. It is indeed the noblest idea of
our natures; the link that unites us to purer intelligences.
7. A lively remembrance of the Source of our blessings; realizing that
they are all streams from the Father of mercies. Had he been other than
Jehovah, they would long ere this have been stayed. For how have we
sinned, and forfeited every claim to good; and yet he has continued to
uphold and refresh us. We have repeated the sin, and under aggravated
form,--abused his bounties, despised his Son, grieved his Spirit,
disregarded his warnings, and slighted his entreaties; and still his
blessings have continued to flow as if nothing could provoke him to
withhold them. What unutterable goodness! What exhaustless mercy!
Surely the gifts of such mercy should be devoted to the works of mercy;
and how more appropriately than in aid of that wondrous scheme which the
agonized Jesus died to accomplish? While we enjoy our blessings, let us
turn our eyes upward to the overflowing Source, and while we gaze, let
the streams of gratitude gush forth. As we have freely received, freely
let us give.
8. The importance of praying over the gifts of Providence, and the
varied calls of charity. As the reception of our income should be one
of the special occasions of consecrating a portion to the Lord, so in
the gladness of the moment of its reception, we should make it our rule
to decide as to the amount to be thus consecrated on our knees before
God. Also, when the claims of the destitute are presented, let the
amount of our contributions be fixed upon so far as practicable in the
same way; determining, at whatever sacrifice to our own feelings, to
give just what God requires. Prayer, while a privilege at all times of
doubt and perplexity, is a special duty on such occasions;--first,
because, when alone with the Searcher of hearts, brought up, as it were,
into the full blaze of his presence, our consciences will be quickened,
and speak truthfully; while the humble attitude of the suppliant is
peculiarly fitted to inspire gratitude, and render it effective;--
secondly, because such are hours of special temptations; the adversary
of all good and our wicked hearts combining their efforts to prevent a
generous liberality; and there is great danger that selfishness, rather
than mercy, will gain the ascendency, and, under artful guises, control
our determinations;--thirdly, because our decisions on such occasions
are some of the most influential in their consequences, both upon
ourselves and others, which we are ever called to make in the common
routine of duties. Take a simple instance. The question whether
we give to the Bible Society one dollar or ten, fifteen dollars or
twenty-five, is virtually whether we will send forth for the enlightening
and felicitating of this dark and wretched world, four or forty, sixty
or a hundred, volumes of the Word of Life. And when, aside from all the
distorting and hardening influences exerted on our own moral natures by
a grudging refusal to meet the calls of benevolence, we consider the
civil and social melioration which has attended the pathway of this
heavenly light, together with its refining and sanctifying influences of
the individual soul; when we stretch our thoughts into the eternal
world, and catch the songs of joy, unuttered and unutterable by mortal
tongues, which will thrill forever the souls of the redeemed, what acts
of life can the thoughtful mind contemplate, demanding more solemn
consideration, more fervent prayer, than such decisions?
Thus the practice of coming to our determinations of charity with
prayer, a practice involving, as it does, both mental and moral
principles of the first importance, and even leading on to
interminable consequences, may not be neglected. We should
cultivate, therefore, a docile temper, a simple, child-like spirit
towards Christ. We should cherish such vital nearness to our Lord,
that we may commune as freely with him as friend communes with
friend; feeling that we can and would do nothing, even in the
common affairs of life, without his aid and guidance. It is said of
a lady in one of our cities, whom an intimate acquaintance urged to
spend a few days with her in the country, that she replied, "I
should like to, but I don't know, it may not be best;" and added with
great simplicity, and in agreement with the spirit of her life, "I will
go and ask my Saviour." Thus, on the reception of worldly
treasures, or in determining beforehand what proportion of our
expected increase we shall appropriate to the Lord, we should go to
Jesus with the same sweet simplicity and earnestness, crying, "Lord,
what proportion of these thy bounties shall I share with the
destitute?" failing not to devote that portion which our consciences,
enlightened by scripture, shall dictate when kneeling before the
mercy-seat.
9. The responsibility of maintaining a healthful and enlightened
conscience in respect to benevolence. The Bible is the great teacher
and rectifier of the conscience. We must in the first place, then, take
fair, impartial, disinterested views of all the precepts, examples,
promises, and teachings of the Scriptures on this point. We must
investigate them thoroughly, and be sure that we obtain precisely the
mind of the Spirit. Dim or distorted views either cripple the springs
of action, or give them wrong direction. True, the scriptural standard
towers high, and shines brightly. Some would obscure its brightness;
would wrest those passages most vividly presenting it; would convince
themselves that so great sacrifices as some, in their zeal, have
prescribed, are not required; that we are permitted to enjoy our own
interests, and, to a great extent, seek our own happiness; and if we
barely obey the suggestions of natural sympathy, and manifest common
generosity, it is enough. They would bring down this exalted standard
to our own diminutive stature, so that we can measure ourselves by it
without inconvenience. But all such efforts are high-handed rebellion,
and will prove utterly vain. God has placed it on a pedestal high as
the eternal throne, and there it will stand and burn forever. We must
bind our consciences to this standard; they must rise to its height,
and shine with its radiance. If to our selfish hearts it appear a
blood-stained cross, we must nail them to it, and let them bleed and
agonize there. To gratify our selfish desires, God will never lower
his claims. We must come up to them. If unwilling to do it in time,
we shall meet them in all their solemn realities at the final bar; if
we have been obedient, there receiving the smile of our Judge; if not,
his everlasting frown.
Secondly, we should keep ourselves informed of the spiritual wants of
our race. Every one is bound to be in earnest in this work. He should
strive to enstamp on his heart a full-drawn image of the world scathed
by sin. We should realize how great a portion of our globe is yet
untouched by the vivifying light of the Cross; that the desolating
systems of idolatry, of Mohammedism, of Romanism, and other false
religions, are now overshadowing and blasting the nations. We should
search for distinct knowledge of the intellectual degradation, of the
moral corruption, of the oppression, wretchedness, and woe, of the
groans uttered, and the tears shed, by the millions now subject to their
galling sway, "as for hid treasures." Ignorance on these topics, at the
present day, cannot be excusable. The organs of the various benevolent
societies come weekly or monthly to our doors, detailing scenes of
sottish ignorance, of pollutions and misery, which cause philanthropy to
weep. They are indeed distressing to the feeling heart; and I have
sometimes thought there were those, who shrink from the affecting view
of a world ravaged, enslaved, and tortured by sin, lest it should work
too strongly on their sympathies, and thus forcing the guards of
covetousness, open their treasures against their more settled purposes;
while others have been too heartless in their investigations. But this
is treason to the Divine government; it is an unwillingness to know
exactly our relations, and thus the claims of the human family on our
regards. Such treachery and indifference cannot go unpunished. Did
Christ shrink from contemplating the loathsomeness and woe of our
outcast race? He not only contemplated, he shared our sorrows. Let
every one then survey the world as it is, and let its appalling scenes
glare on his conscience.
In the third place, we should hold up before our minds striking examples
of benevolence. God has raised up some with great hearts, who have
given bountifully in proportion to their means, to promote his cause.
Such were the poor widow, who gave "all that she had," the Macedonian
Christians, whose liberality exceeded their means, and the King of the
Friendly Islands already mentioned. Such was the late Mr. Goodell of
Vermont, who, with a house and farm not estimated at over $1,000,
contrived by labor, frugality, and self-denial, to pour his hundreds and
tens of hundreds into the treasury of the Lord. Such were the late Mr.
Smith of Hartford and Mr. Cobb of Boston, "the sweet savor" of whose
names awakens the kindliest associations, and whom God sustained, made
cheerful and happy in all their sacrifices for him. Such was the aged
African of Jamaica. He had earned, while a slave, ninety-six dollars.
Being afterward emancipated, he came to the missionary, and offered the
whole for the service of Christ; and when told it was too much, replied,
with the most generous devotion, "No, _I want to give it all_." Such
was the poor colored woman, who, while she had no dependence for support
but the labor of her hands, gave $60 at one time to educate pious young
men for the Gospel ministry. "When she offered the above sum, the agent
refused to receive it all, until pressed by the humble donor, who said
that she had reserved five dollars; and that she hoped to earn enough to
provide for her wants in her last sickness, and for her funeral." This
is said to be but a specimen of her liberality; and her hopes in regard
to her earthly wants were not disappointed.
Perhaps in the small circle of our personal acquaintance, we can number
some few, who, with souls more elevated and spiritually refined by
grace, have bestowed in benefactions all their income; peradventure,
even common farmers and mechanics--such as have fallen under the notice
of the writer--who, after frugally supplying the wants of their
families, have generously given the remaining proceeds of their labor to
the Lord.
On these, and such as these, we should fix our eyes; they are stars of
the first magnitude which God has fixed in the dark canopy of time as
guides. We may not be able to give as they did; but the sacrifices they
made, we can and ought to make. If we seek to ward off the force of
their example by arguing that they gave too much, or by referring at
once to professedly good men who have given far less, we may reasonably
conclude that covetousness is still grasping and palsying our christian
sympathies. Such efforts are clearly but the struggles of selfishness,
to ease the conscience of the dart. For, from such generous deeds, the
voice does, and will come inevitably, "Go, and do likewise."
10. The felicity of beneficence. That "it is more blessed to give than
to receive," is the voice of inspiration. Jehovah's felicity flows
mainly from that fundamental element of his being, disinterested or holy
love, and its infinitely diversified and glorious workings. He created
us in his own image; and when this love has possession of our hearts,
and our conduct is in obedience to its laws, the mental machine works in
harmony, and the result is enjoyment; but when the opposite principle
controls, its movements are obstructed, and the result is sorrow. It is
a law of our being, as fixed as the ordinances of heaven, that we drink
the richest draughts when holding the cup of enjoyment to another's
lips. Happiness eludes the grasp of the pursuer; while like a flower
that sheds its sweetest fragrance when crushed, only tread it under foot
in the eager pursuit of another's good, and its subtle influence
vibrates through all our frame. The blessedness of self-denying efforts
for the salvation of souls cannot be estimated. It is god-like; it is
harmonizing with our dying Lord; co-working with him in carrying out the
redemptive scheme; wakening a joy which the harps of eternity alone can
utter. "They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars
forever and ever." What a revenue of glory will forever flow into the
enraptured souls of such men as Baxter and Doddridge, and Swartz and
Martyn, and Goodell and Norman Smith, as they cast their crowns at the
feet of the Saviour; for it is the highest fruition of the redeemed that
all their glory is ultimately Christ's. Who, as he contemplates the
perpetually increasing joy and brightening exaltation of a soul restored
to the image of God, becoming through unnumbered years more and more
assimilated to its glorious Head, would not participate in a work so
transporting in its results? Perhaps you have had some feeble
conception of its blessedness, some half-waking desires to become a
standard-bearer in the hottest of the fight with the foes of God,--a
minister or missionary of the Cross, so as to labor more efficiently in
saving souls. But in your circumstances you find it an idle wish. Do
you hence smother these kindling emotions and fold your hands in
despair? The Gospel may be preached by your alms. There are many links
in the chain of influences which God employs in rescuing sinners from
death; and one of the most effectual at the present period, is the
bestowment of funds to send forth the heralds of salvation. These
desires, therefore, that feebly burn in your breast, may be gratified.
In an important sense, you may preach the unsearchable riches of Christ
to the nations, thereby becoming a coadjutor in a work, the sublimest of
heaven and the most felicitating to man. This is an interesting truth.
Let it blaze quenchlessly before the mind, warming the heart to mercy.
11. The sin and danger of covetousness. Covetousness is unlikeness to
God, to our compassionate Saviour, to the blessed spirits before the
throne, whose only symphonies are love. When indulged, the frown of the
holy universe is fastened upon us. It is violating the laws of our
mental frame,--an instrument so exquisitely attuned that the slightest
vibration of its delicate chords awakens notes of joy or wailings of
sorrow; and it thus becomes the source of irritation and remorse here,
and of disquieting premonitions of the most appalling woes in the world
to come. Hear what God hath spoken: "But fornication and all
uncleanness or _covetousness_, let it not be once named among you. For
no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor _covetous_ man, who is an
_idolater_, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Let no man deceive you; for because of these things cometh the wrath of
God upon the children of disobedience." This is terrible language, and
explicit as terrible. According to the plainest principles of
interpretation, covetousness is here put in the same category with some
of the worst vices that degrade man and provoke the wrath of heaven.
Indeed, if benevolence is required equally with justice, then
covetousness is as distinctly a violation of the divine law as
injustice; and he who hoards as the expense of the suffering poor, is as
guilty in the sight of God as he who rifles another's goods. And is it
strange that he who nurtures a principle thus pernicious in its
tendencies, should be excluded from heaven? No. Let us not flatter
ourselves; we cannot indulge in covetousness without imminent peril.
Who will dare thus offend his gracious Sovereign, and incur his wrath?
Let this bright, but awful truth, flash in our faces, deterring us from
the fearful sin, and inducing a sleepless vigilance over our selfish
propensities, lest they grow with our growth, and strengthen with our
increasing wealth.
12. The dignity and responsibilities growing out of the fundamental
truth before partially unfolded, that God, under the gospel, having
given us general principles and laws touching benevolence, has left the
amount and frequency or our contributions to our own decision. The
position we occupy under the new dispensation is full of interest and
solemnity. As it is one of peculiar dignity, it is one of peculiar
peril. God has now raised us to the true platform of intelligent and
moral beings; given our reason and consciences free scope to exercise
their own energetic and controlling powers. He has, indeed, always
given man this prerogative, but in a higher sense under the Gospel than
before; in other words, placed him in a position better fitted for the
development of his whole being. He has thrown him more entirely on
his personal responsibility and the decisions of individual judgment,
by laying down general principles from which he is to ascertain his
every-day duties. All the noble powers of the soul, directed by the
Spirit's influences, are to be brought into full operation and work in
concert; the heart, without impediment, concurring with the reason; the
purposes, with the affections. This is "the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free."
Paul has beautifully illustrated this subject by comparing the condition
of a son before and after becoming of age.*[Gal. iv.] While a minor, he
is kept in subordination to his father; "under tutors and governors,"
his judgment in the management of affairs is under the control of
another. While a minor, he is kept in subordination to his father;
"under tutors and governors," his judgment in the management of affairs
is under the control of another. But when he comes of age, he is
elevated to a new position, assumes new interests and new
responsibilities. He must then reason, judge, and act for himself. So
under the Jewish dispensation, God dealt with our race as minors; left
them not to the direction of their own individual wisdom--to form
specific rules from general principles; but led them by definite
precepts; not such always as rise out of the nature of things; but such
as he saw best fitted, by a sort of foreshadowing, to prepare them for
the more glorious state to which they were approaching. Hence all those
positive laws, rites, and solemn festivals--appointed "days, and months,
and times, and years," tithes and double tithes to which they were in
bondage. But when Christ came, this bondage was broken. We were
emancipated from this system of tutelage; henceforth, breathing the
spirit of adoption and enjoying the freedom of sons, we were to act
according to the dictates of our sanctified hearts and enlightened
judgments, like beatified spirits, who, swayed alone by reason,
conscience, and love, in the highest sense free and intelligent, speed
on their course in harmony with Jehovah. So, under the dispensation of
grace, every act must spring voluntarily from the mind, enlightened by
comprehensive views of Scripture principles. Charged with obligations
inalienable as our very being, we are sent forth on the career of
probationary existence, amenable alone to our own consciences and the
bar of final awards. God, so to speak, has reposed confidence in us,
and it may not be abused. This is true in relation to charity, as well
as to other duties. For the free discharge of this duty is one of our
most solemn trusts. Each one, enlightened by the great principles of
disinterested benevolence, is left to the decisions of his own mind in
shaping his conduct and alms to its requisitions. To be permitted to
judge for ourselves in matters of such high and solemn import is an
exalted dignity. But to every degree of dignity and privilege, there is
attached an increase of responsibility.
Such is our present attitude in relation to the work of benevolence.
Now shall we abuse this confidence, despise our privileges, and show
ourselves unworthy of our almost angelic exaltation? Shall we make this
liberation from the specific requisition of tithes "an occasion to the
flesh," an excuse for less pecuniary sacrifices than the Jews were
subjected to? What ingratitude! How displeasing to our Heavenly Father
who has raised us thus high!
Hence, exemption from tithes, instead of relaxing our obligations to
beneficence, rather strengthens them. As charity is purely a matter of
voluntariness, the whole soul must be enlisted in it. We must not only
guard against a betrayal of our trust, but against dispositions in the
least at variance with its duties. We must keep our hearts in sympathy
with Christ; lest, failing in sympathy with him, we fail to imitate him.
Let these responsibilities, together with the ingratitude and contempt
of God's favor implied in the non-fulfilment, be earnestly contemplated.
Let us tremble lest we make the privilege of a more spiritual
beneficence, and excuse "for withholding more than is meet," and turn
the blessing into a curse.
13. That benevolence is the measure of personal piety. Personal piety
is personal resemblance to Christ. "Let this mind be in you, which was
also in Christ Jesus." Christ's character is essentially love. This
induced him to die for lost man. Now just so far as we resemble Christ
we shall imitate him, and, therefore, feel for those on whom the wrath
of God is still abiding. And just so far as we feel for them, we shall
be willing to do for them; and just so far as we are willing to do for
them, we shall contribute of our substance in proportion to our means to
relieve their spiritual necessities. So that our beneficence or
sacrifices for the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom, will be the just
measure of our love to him. This truth we should wear in our hearts.
We should make it a principle to give that amount which we shall be
satisfied to recognize as the exponent of our piety, and be content that
others should thus regard it; such as we shall be willing to pen down
and hang up in our bed-chambers, so that we can contemplate it every
evening and morning as our full estimation of Christ's dying love;--such
that after counting our herds and flocks, examining our barns and
granaries, surveying our merchandise, and reckoning up our dues, we can
enter our closets and pray for the conversion of the world without
blushing before God. Does any one shrink from this criterion of his
piety? I fear he will shrink away from the presence of his final Judge,
and bury himself in the darkness of hell; his works and conscience alike
testifying his unfitness for the world of light.
14. That the true mission of the church in the present age is
beneficence. Though the gospel has been preached nearly 2000 years, yet
a deep night of spiritual darkness is still brooding over the greatest
portion of the world. Millions on millions have no knowledge of the
Saviour, and other millions have no right appreciation of his truth and
grace; while, blinded by sin and fascinated by its treacherous charms,
they are treading their way, rank after rank, to woes everlasting.
God's providence seems now to be moving upon the spiritual chaos,
preparing it for the reception of light. Obstacles to the introduction
of the gospel into benighted regions are fast giving way. The kingdoms
spread beneath the sun, from north to south, from China to the farthest
verge of the west, are seemingly in the posture of waiting for
evangelical instruction. The Macedonian cry is coming up from the four
winds. It is made to the church, the sacramental host of God's elect;
and _they must answer it_.
God appoints, in some respects, special duties to different ages and
nations. It was the peculiar mission of European Christians in the
sixteenth century to break the yoke of papal supremacy; of England in
the time of Cromwell to waken those notes of ecclesiastical and civil
freedom which are still reverberating among the mountains of Europe, and
shakings dynasties; of our fathers to achieve the political independence
of the United States,--to plant the genial tree of liberty, and water it
with their blood. Now what does the providence of God indicate as the
special ministry of the church in the present age? It is written all
over the face of the world. We learn it in the awakened condition of
heathen, barbarous, and half-civilized countries; in the stir of
intellectual energy which is sweeping over the kingdoms, jostling
thrones and alarming monarchs; in the tottering pillars of corrupt
religions, and of long-established institutions of iniquity; in the
progress of governmental science in connection with political liberty,
and the extension of the arts of civilization; in augmented facilities
for traveling, together with increased efforts for education, and the
consequent quickening of mind; in the degradation of those "who know not
God," the wants of seamen, of the oppressed, of the spiritually
destitute both in our own and other lands, and in the charitable
movements of the times. All these seem to declare unequivocally that
the special work of the church in this age is benevolence--to toil, to
endure privations, to make sacrifices of ease and of property to
evangelize the nations. God has opened channels flowing past almost
every man's door, ready to convey his donations to distant regions of
the globe, carrying light and salvation wherever they go. The appalling
condition of the heathen in bygone ages has been as great and pitiable
as now; but never have there been so many available opportunities to
reach them. These opportunities impose new obligations.
We have seen in a preceding part of this essay, that our bounties should
be in a compound proportion to calls and ability. This is a principle
which the present generation would do well to consider; letting it
penetrate the very heart's core. To meet such emergencies as are now
transpiring on the moral stage, perhaps, was one reason why Christ
designated no specific ratio of income for charity. He foresaw there
would be crises when no proportion would be adequate, and when the
christian heart would yearn to give more than his income, even all his
living. And may not the present be such a crisis?
Indeed, the multiplied opportunities afforded us of invading the
dominions of the prince of darkness plainly intimate that the present is
a crisis demanding the most generous sacrifices for God. The sigh of
every breeze that sweeps over the blood-stained regions of idolatry
declares it. The cries and outstretched arms of millions sinking into
the everlasting gulf declare it. Then let it be laid up in the mind as
a settled truth, that it is our peculiar ministry to break the chains of
ignorance and superstition, to demolish the habitations of cruelty, to
crush the thrones of intellectual and moral enthralment, to overthrow
the temples of idolatry, and bring up man from his long degradation to
reunion with God through the blood of the Lamb. There has probably been
no age since the foundation of the world, which has demanded so great
contributions as this, and, perhaps, no subsequent age will, till the
desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. At least in a few
generations we trust the Gospel light shall illumine every shore. Then
there will be no such urgent calls on our charities; certainly none
pressing with such undying interests. This, therefore, is emphatically
the age of _giving_; for the bulk of the church can aid effectually in
bringing about the happy consummation of millennial glory in no other
way. Would that Christians of the present generation could be induced
to look at this truth in its intense application to themselves
individually. Would that its accents could be made to ring over every
hill top, and echo through every valley in Christendom; startling the
soldiers of the cross to deeds of love, as the voice of Peter the hermit
once bristled with arms the plains of Europe to shed the blood of
infidels.
Not long since, thousands were starving and dying in Ireland. A cry of
anguish came up, and thousands of generous American hearts responded to
the call. This was noble. It was thought to be an especial occasion
for benevolence. Who did not feel that every Irish landholder should
have shared his abundance with the suffering and dying poor around him?
But what is the death of the body to the death of the soul! What is the
temporal destruction of a few thousands to the eternal damnation of
hundreds of millions! Was it the duty of the wealthy Irish to feed
their starving neighbors? And since the providence of God has made the
remotest of earth's dwellers who are perishing for lack of vision our
neighbors, should we not supply them with the bread of heaven, and thus
prevent untold agonies? I ask every candid reader, is not the present a
_special occasion_ for benevolence? and if the church is to be the
instrument by which God has determined to work in restoring the kingdoms
to his Son, will it not be such an occasion till that blessed period
arrives, when there shall be nothing to hurt or destroy in all God's
holy mountain?
15. The duties growing out of the possession of property in view of
death, judgment, and eternity. The obligations imposed upon us by the
possession of wealth may be irksome, but we cannot escape them; we must
bear them to the judgment. In our pride we may resolve that we will use
our money as we please; but God commands us to use it as he pleases. A
vivid sense, then, of the tremendous scenes before us should be ever
associated in our minds with ideas of property. We should realize how
our wealth will appear in the final hour, as its pleasures and
enchanting illusions begin to fade from the dying eye, and as we reflect
how short and unsatisfactory, like "a dream when one awaketh," all these
enjoyments have been. Rioting amid the luxuries of affluence, and giddy
with its bewildering joys, these may be unpleasant thoughts. But why
regard thoughts of that which we cannot avoid, unpleasant? We must not
only _think_ of these dread realities, we must _meet_ them, and
experience all their joy or woe. Then let us realize, now and always,
how all our uses of property will appear at the bar of God, where the
thought of every misimprovement will be sharper than a serpent's fang;
how, in eternity, as we contemplate those who might have been saved by
our liberality in undying misery; how, if we are lifting up our eyes
with them in torments; how, if, while we ourselves shall be saved as by
fire, we behold them excluded from those blissful seats by our
covetousness. Let each one put these searching questions to his own
conscience; and let him take heed that his gifts be such, that their
remembrance will not only sweeten his dying moments, but diffuse a
fragrance over all his future being.
16. The worth of money hoarded or spent unnecessarily, contrasted with
the worth of souls as gems in the Saviour's crown. The true value of
wealth as a worldly good we fully appreciate. It contains no hidden
excellence which the circumstances of life conceal. But the true glory
of a soul redeemed the mists of time obscure. Our attachment to the
world and the hallucinations growing out of it, prevent its full
appreciation. But soon all this illusion will vanish. Both will stand
before us in their true light. One will be seen to be vanity as it is;
the other to possess a worth which no language can express:--a worth
consisting not merely of the endless blessedness and glory it is itself
capable of enjoying, but also of the glory that will redound to the
adorable Trinity through its redemption. Take a position most favorable
for its true estimation. Transplant yourself into the heavenly state;
contemplate a blood-washed soul in all its peace, its joy, it
ravishment, as it circulates about the throne of love, approaching
nearer and nearer to its blissful centre, constantly increasing in
capacities, and more and more joyful in its high hallelujahs, till it
shall enjoy more blessedness in a single hour, than Gabriel has enjoyed
since the moment of his creation. Behold it, as it shines, a star, in
the Saviour's diadem; gaze upon it purifying and brightening there as
revolutions of eternity's time move on, till it shall attract the
admiration of the heavenly throngs, and call forth from their wondering
harps symphonies louder and more rapturous than have yet been heard in
that world of sweetest hosannahs. The comparative worth of money
hoarded or wasted, and the of the ransomed soul to itself, to the
Saviour who redeemed it, to the adoring hosts whose fruitions are
enhanced by the displays of grace evinced in its redemption, will be
then clearly seen. Oh, how trifling will that money which has been
squandered or grudgingly withheld from charity then appear, contrasted
with the results in glorified souls of what was cheerfully and
prayerfully bestowed. The condition of the churl and the liberal, how
different then! He who hoarded most will then be found the poorest; and
he who gave most with the greatest sacrifices, the richest.
17. The brevity of the period allotted us to labor and to make
sacrifices for the salvation of men. "A point of time, a moment's
space," is all we have. What we do in charity, the labors we perform,
the privations we suffer, must all be accomplished or endured soon. The
distress we relieve, the souls we save, the joys we inspire, must feel
the quickening hand of mercy without delay. Time is on his rapid wing.
Thousands who need our help are perishing daily; the entire generation
now occupying this stage of toil and probation, the great Destroyer will
speedily sweep from the scene. Almost "in the twinkling of an eye" we
shall stand together before the judgment throne. He who died to save
the poor as well as the rich, the heathen as well as the evangelized, is
now speaking from heaven; "whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with
thy might."
These are some of the intellectual views and obligations which should be
_systematized_ in the mind, forming both inducements to, and a
constituent part of, systematic beneficence. They should lie like
blazing fuel on the heart, kindling their appropriate feelings and
affections. I have briefly unfolded them, as a specimen of that process
of reasoning and personal application, which, according to our mental
laws, when attended by the Holy Spirit, is fitted to soften and
harmonize the mind preparatory to benevolent action; a process which
all, as rational beings, are bound to engage in and carry out. I know
this part of the system requires unpleasant work. Most are willing to
feel, but they would feel without principle; and if they act, they would
act only from the impulse of the moment. They shrink from
introspection; from working on their own hearts through the laborious
operations of the intellect, so that the affections may be at once both
right and rational. But if we would see the gorgeous palace towering in
symmetry and grandeur, unpleasant work must be done; the rubbish must be
removed, the soil excavated, the marble chiselled into form, and the
unsightly timbers erected. Without these, though it might glitter in
the sunbeams, it would be but a gossamer tissue. So this mental part is
the bone and sinew, the life, of a system of beneficence. Confined to
resolutions and conduct, its movements would be like the effects of
galvanism on the muscles of the dead--unnatural and spasmodic. The
truth is, there can be no system of action without some system both of
intellectual views and of the moral sensibilities. All inconsistency
among Christians arises from defects in one or other of these respects.
The fountain is not invariably at the same height, and therefore the
stream alternately swells and sinks.
Resolutions are proverbially frail; and they are so, because they rest
not on a mind consolidated by principles, and a heart glowing like a
furnace with corresponding feelings. When resting on such a mind and
heart, resolutions are not frail; but invincible as adamant.
Our purposes of charity, therefore, must rest on an unshaken foundation;
and in order to this, the principles and considerations fitted to
promote benevolent sentiments and feelings must be pressed on the mind,
till in view of them the bosom warms, and throbs, and swells, and bursts
forth in high and determined resolves. It is not enough that they pass
like a burning ray across the mind, producing a single flash of
benevolence. What is needed is a continuation of the same effect; and
for this, the same cause must continue to operate. It is important,
therefore, that these truths be systematically applied. Seasons should
be set apart for daily meditating and reasoning upon them, attended by
earnest supplication for the impressing influences of the Holy Spirit.
The mind must thus be drilled to reflection upon them till they become
principles of action, so vital and permanent, that a shape and
inflexibility shall be given to the moral sensibilities, which no wear
of time or circumstances shall change or efface.
This is the only process by which the soul can be brought into, and kept
in, that state of unity implied in volition; especially of that abiding
unity implied in a general purpose, without which no scheme of action
can be long sustained. This, too, is the only method by which unhappy
influences exerted on the heart by the pursuits of gain can be
counteracted. As one engages in active business, and his property
accumulates, his thoughts usually become more engrossed, and his love of
money increases. Why is it? Precisely on the principle recognized by
the Psalmist, "While I was musing, the fire burned." It is a law of our
mental nature, that the more we think of any subject naturally pleasing,
the greater interest we feel respecting it. Now the management, the
proper investment, and safe keeping of property, must engage, more or
less, the attention; and owing to the extreme selfishness of the heart,
are very liable to awaken a lively interest. Hence, the more people are
employed in the acquisition of affluence or competence, the more
covetous they usually become. This influence, so chilling to the
generous affections, can be resisted only by a counter process of
reflection. The truth that ourselves and all we have belong to God; the
extreme selfishness of the natural man; the insufficiency of worldly
good to satisfy the cravings of the soul; the dangers attending
acquisition; the obligations and privilege of giving; the benevolent
mission of the age; the spiritual wants of the world; the worth of a
soul redeemed; and all those great and solemn considerations fitted to
incite to munificence, must be presented before the mind as frequently
at least as ideas of property, in order to counterbalance the influence
of the latter; and, indeed, more frequently, so as to repress the strong
tendencies of the selfish heart, which the avocations of gain are so
well calculated to invigorate. This can be done by no merely external
system of benevolent action, any farther than such a system has a reflex
influence on the moral feelings. Farther than this, the effort would be
like attempting to stop the floods of the Amazon with a bulrush.
The great work, therefore, in erecting a system of beneficence, must be
wrought in the soul,--in impressing views and regulating affections.
For this there can be no substitute. This deep and steady current of
truth and thought, is to the mind in connection with the Spirit's
operations, what showers are to the earth. If there are none, it soon
becomes parched, and verdure withers; if they descend frequently and
copiously, the ground is filled with moisture, vegetation blooms, and
fruits ripen; springs burst forth, the streams dash along the valleys,
sweep through the meadows, and pouring into the ocean, roll their
mountain waves around the world.
II. Standing on this high ground of established principles and
correspondent affections, we are prepared to take the second step in a
universal system of beneficence; consisting in the exercises of the will
in the formation of general purposes and resolutions. These should be
made with a solemn sense of the responsibilities of our being; of our
relations to the world and to the judgment-seat; and with a full
conviction of our own weakness and entire dependence on the grace of God
to assist us in their fulfilment.
Reader, with this humble reliance on Divine aid, will you now make the
following resolutions your own?
1. As a foundation to all others, I solemnly consecrate myself, soul
and body, to God in an everlasting covenant.
2. I will prayerfully endeavor to keep my heart in sympathy with the
great principles and duties above unfolded.
3. I will make the benevolence of Jesus Christ, in its spirit and
design, the pattern of my own, constantly carrying about the conviction,
that I must practise great self-denial, and make continued sacrifices in
imitation of my dying Lord.
4. I will make unremitting war on the selfishness of my heart, knowing
it to be the worst of evils; and fully purposing that it shall never
influence my decision, either in regard to a general scheme, or a
particular act, of beneficence.
5. I will thoroughly and candidly consider the spiritual destitutions
of our country and the world; the peculiar mission of the church in the
present age; and manfully, and with a whole heart, make the
renunciations thereby demanded.
6. I will regard my health, strength, life, and property, as valuable
only as instruments of advancing the kingdom of Christ; and therefore
hold them all without reserve at the call of God.
7. I will seize every opportunity for doing good by example, by
conversation, by labor, and by contribution.
8. I will daily and prayerfully consider whether the circumstances of
the age in which I live do not require of me as great sacrifices in
alms-giving as were made by the Jews in contributing two tenths of their
income to the service of the Lord.
9. In laying all my pecuniary plans, and in all my labors to carry them
into effect, I will have the glory of God uppermost in view, and
therefore make it one of my leading objects to acquire property for
distribution; being thus, according to the injunction of Paul, "not
slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord."
10. To give to charitable purposes such portion of my property as God,
by his Word and providences, seems to demand, I will deem as sacredly
incumbent upon me as to make an economical expenditure of it in the
support of myself and family.
11. For the sake of strengthening the benevolent tendencies of the
soul, I will perseveringly cherish all its generous impulses by doing or
giving as they shall dictate, so far as scripture and ability prescribe.
12. I will fix upon a system of giving which shall be made solemnly and
prayerfully in view of my circumstances and calls; in the clear light of
God's Word and of the awful retributions of the last tribunal. As to
amount and frequency of donations, I will endeavor to make them such as
I shall wish they had been, when, bowing before the great white throne,
I shall gaze into the face of my crucified and exalted Saviour; actually
participating in the fruits of his unutterable sacrifices for me.
13. Cherishing, amid the toils of gain, an abiding sense of the
strength of the selfishness of the human heart, and the consequent
dangers of acquisition, I will daily pray and strive for disinterested
benevolence as the greatest good; also for direction as to the amount of
sacrifices I ought to make; and then agreeably to my prayers, act
according to the dictates of conscience uttered in the presence of God.
14. I will frequently and at stated periods solemnly renew these or
similar resolutions.
Now, if you refuse to make these solemn resolutions your own, can you
assign any reason for such refusal, which you will be willing to utter
in self-justification when facing your Final Judge?
Whatever theories we may adopt concerning volition, or the governing
determinations of the mind, all will agree in the fact, that the
energies of the human soul, when aroused, may be strung like fibres of
steel, giving and adamantine firmness and indomitable force to the will.
We have seen this exemplified in the fortitude with which one sometimes
endures surgical operation; in the heated courage of the soldier,
rushing with the loud huzza into the very face of the engulphing
battery; in the cool, calculating resolution which carries the
unflinching column with steady tread into the very centre of bristling
squares. All this is but the strength of will when the energies of the
soul are stirred. Now one's resolution may and should become thus
iron-like in the war with his own covetousness. He should determine in
the strength of grace to break it down, however much it may cost. God
has given us this power of will, and to him we are responsible for its
proper exercise; ever remembering that it is strengthened by cultivation
of reiterated effort. The raw recruit cannot be trusted at the post of
danger like the veteran, who has repeatedly nerved up his spirit,
till by habit it has become as unyielding as a rock. The latter has
learnt to be brave. So we should learn to be soldiers in the war
with selfishness, by perseveringly girding our minds to the deadly
conflict.--Has depraved man such energy of will in spreading devastation
and death; and shall not Christians exhibit as great force of resolution
in diffusing the blessings of salvation? Who dare say, I cannot, or will
not, exercise it? Let us be mindful of our obligations. If our minds
may be wrought up to such invincible firmness and energy of resolution
to do evil; surely, God assisting, they may not only be inspired with a
lofty enthusiasm to resist the solicitations of selfishness, but also
roused to a sublimity of generous emotions, to engage, like a Mills or a
Howard, in disinterested and self-denying efforts for the good of
others.
III. We are now ready to take the last step in erecting a general
system of beneficence, viz.: the carrying into effect right principles
and well-directed resolutions. While, on the one hand, the intellectual
and emotional qualities of the mind give character and vitality to
action; on the other hand our conduct exerts a powerful reflex influence
on the affections and purposes. Nothing tends more to give strength and
spirit to a mental principle than accordant action; and nothing tends
more to obliterate an emotion from the breast, or to paralyze a
resolution, than the neglect of its appropriate manifestations. However
deeply the one may be engraven on the soul, or however solid the texture
or vigorous the life of the other, a few instances of neglect or
violation will strike them with the chills of death.
Principles and resolutions, then, are of little avail without
corresponding efforts. The "well of water" must not only spring up in
the soul, it must flow out in the life. We must act as well as think
and resolve; and act, as if we _felt_ that ourselves and all that we
have belong to God by the twofold right of creation and redemption; act,
as if selfishness were our deadliest foe, and as if it were our great
business to attain its mortification and overthrow; act, as if
disinterested love, a soul like angels, like God, were the greatest good
to be possessed by an intelligent being; act, as if we were prayerfully
watching the calls of Christ on our generosity, and were ready and
determined manfully to meet them; act, in laying our pecuniary plans, as
if the highest object of acquisition were the means of diffusing good;
act, as if self-denial were the main condition of our being on earth,
and as if the circumstances of the age were requiring of us peculiar
sacrifices in order to rescue millions, perishing in mental thraldom,
whose souls are as precious as our own; act, as if we were in earnest,
as if the whole soul were kindled to a blaze of zeal, and bent on the
most determined efforts for the exaltation of Christ in the salvation of
men; knowing that the time allotted for the accomplishment of a task
eternal in its consequences, is but a hand-breadth.
Act with _forecast_. This is a point of unspeakable importance. I
would reiterate and enforce the thought, till it shall be wrought into
the very web of all our benevolent purposes. There must be
_contrivance_ to give. Worldly men make previous arrangements to
increase their stores. Lovers of pleasure contrive to support their
follies. Why should not lovers of Christ be equally wise to fill the
world with light, and heaven with anthems?
Act _systematically_. With a mind illumined with knowledge, a
conscience impressed with obligation, and a heart glowing with love of
God and man, form an individual system of beneficence; and let it be one
you will not blush to review in heaven. Be particularly careful,
therefore, that it be such as will come most strongly in collision with
the selfishness of the heart, and yield the richest revenue to the Lord;
requiring as generous and frequent contributions as circumstances will
allow, agreeably to the Divine injunction: "Every man shall give as he
is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he hath
given thee;" in a word, let it be such as system as you will be willing
to hand in at the judgment-seat, as decisive testimony that you have
loved your neighbor as yourself. And when it is formed, never violate
its rules by giving _less_, except impelled by imperative necessity;
though ever stand ready to deviate from it, when Providence commands, by
giving _more_.
Let benevolence be ever operative, like the sun ever shining. Wait not
for the modest poor, or heedlessly perishing, to ask for aid; but go
forth in search of objects appropriate for philanthropy to relieve, to
enlighten, to cheer. Obey the voice from heaven: "Open thy hand wide
unto thy brother;" "Sow beside all waters;" scattering a little here and
a little there, and thus, to the extent of ability, aid in bringing back
"the state of Eden's bloom," and planting trees of righteousness all
over the world.
Let deeds of charity be consistent one with another, and harmonize
with a general deportment, elevated to the true Gospel standard of
self-consecration; so that they may exert an influence, not only in
relieving the wants of the needy and forlorn, but as examples of
heartfelt beneficence, inciting others to the glorious work. Let Christ,
therefore, be the pattern of all charitable efforts. Let the love that
moved him to endure a life of privation and a death of agony, take full
possession of the soul, prompting to the same unwearied and self-denying
activity in doing good. With a constancy and vigor based on this
life-giving principle, let each one endeavor to make his influence felt
throughout the world; becoming, in his sphere, like one of those fixed
stars that sparkle in the midnight sky--a blazing sun to those that are
near, a gem of sweetest ray to those afar.
Such is the system, and, as we believe, substantially the only universal
system of beneficence, with which God will be well pleased. It grows
out of our relations to him as intellectual and moral beings. Its
life-spring is in the heart. It is purely spiritual or moral in its
character. It rejects all machinery, and can be permanently helped
forward by no scheme of merely external actions. It occupies the whole
soul; with its roots winding round every intellectual and virtuous
principle, it shoots up its stately trunk, sending forth its far-reaching
branches, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.
It is a system forming an essential part of Christian character. It
requires that the great themes of our meditation be spiritual and
eternal, that the mind be so imbued with thoughts of God, his government
and law, of Christ, his love, his sufferings and death, of the
restorative scheme thereby wrought out, of its relation to this apostate
world, of our responsibilities as co-workers with Christ in spreading
the knowledge of his name, and of the consequences both to ourselves and
others of fidelity to our trust--it requires that these thoughts be so
thoroughly impressed, and the heart so permeated, warmed, and animated
by their influence, that they shall become, as it were, inherent
elements of moral action, involuntarily suggesting themselves as often
as occasions for their operation arise. But all this is but another
process of thought and emotion descriptive of the _spiritually minded_.
It also requires the same intellectual and moral discipline which is
essential to the formation of the benevolent character. This does not
consist in a single act, a single out-gushing of generous activity, but
in a series of generous actions, flowing from an established principle;
a principle pervading the whole soul, never wavering, never succumbing
to the biddings of selfishness. But the benevolent character thus
deeply laid is the _Christian character_. The scheme further requires
consistency of moral and religious conduct. While it no more demands
regular and persevering beneficent action than it demands other
Christian duties, it imperiously demands regular and persevering
beneficent action as an essential branch of Christian conduct,
inevitably resulting from those immutable principles which form the
basis of the Christ-like character. Thus the particular or individual
system grows, by a moral necessity, out of the general system of
thoughts, affections, and volitions, here unfolded; it being a moral
impossibility for one cordially to adopt the latter, in all its length
and breadth, without determining upon such a private system of
beneficence as his means, his relations to God and to the wants and woes
of our species, demand. To refuse this system of benevolent principles
and correspondent actions, therefore, is to refuse to be spiritually
minded; is to refuse to exhibit consistency of holy conduct; is to
refuse to exert all our powers and embrace all opportunities to do good;
in a word, it is to wear a blot on our Christian name which many waters
can never wash out.
Hence the beauty of the system,--general and particular--here presented,
is that, resting down on the eternal and changeless foundations of the
spiritual universe, and consequently harmonizing with the spirit of
Revelation and with the laws of mind, it rises up and expands into a
beautiful exhibition of the fruits of the Gospel, the legitimate product
of its holy precepts. It gives no encouragement to the idea that God's
favor may be secured, or duty done, by any mere external system of
munificence, any farther than the external system proceeds from right
affections and sound principles. It must originate in the renewed
heart, be nourished by the life of grace, and increase its
productiveness as light and holiness increase in the soul. In its
perfect development, _it is the full and symmetrical development of the
Christian character_.
Thus it is a system equal in its pressure, and therefore adapted to
fasten on the conscience of every one, whatever his age or
circumstances. No one can justly plead exemption from its claims. None
can reasonably propose questions of casuistry to shield his bosom from
its shafts. None can shake off the convictions of duty it impresses,
but by shutting its principles from the mind, or by rousing the heart to
resistance. In short, it leaves every man to himself, facing his God,
his conscience laid bare to the quenchless rays of truth.
CONCLUSION.
Who will refuse thus systematically to reflect, to feel, to resolve, to
give? Will you, professed follower of the self-denying Jesus? Can you,
"bought with blood divine," when looking around on the possessions God
has bestowed, have a heart to deny that aid which undying millions
demand? Is it not beyond expression inconsistent to profess to give
yourself to Christ, and then withhold your property from him?--But what
are your relations to him as implied in this profession? and what are
his claims upon you, as growing out of it? With the last tribunal and
the sorrows of Calvary in view, will you give these a moment's prayerful
reflection?
Go back with me to those delightful scenes so full of gentle joy, of
ineffable sweetness, and hallowed peace, when first you cast your all on
Jesus, and felt
"The Saviour's pard'ning blood,
Applied to cleanse your soul from guilt
And bring you home to God."
Then, calm and trustful in spirit, transported in the freshness of a
new-born life, you could sing with a ravished heart,
"I am my Lord's, and he is mine:
He drew me--and I followed on--
Charm'd to confess the voice divine."
These were precious seasons. "How sweet their mem'ry still!" Then came
an hour of tender, impressive, and almost awful interest. You entered
the sanctuary of God, and in the presence of men, of angels, and your
adored Saviour, avouched the Lord Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
to be your God, consecrating yourself and all your possessions,
unreservedly, to his service. Was this an unmeaning ceremony? No. You
remember the occasion, the hopes and fears of your trembling faith,
those sweet experiences, those glimpses of your Redeemer's smiles, which
forced the tear to your eye; the solemn and faltering accents of your
beloved pastor; and the weeping sympathy of a dear father and mother--
now, perhaps, gone to their rest--who had long yearned over a
thoughtless child. Or you may remember your soul's peaceful trust in
God, as you stood _alone_, with no sympathizing kindred; and felt, as
you tasted the cup,--the emblem of your Saviour's blood, and the pledge
of the eternal sacrifice of yourself to him,--that you could cheerfully
forsake brother and sister, father and mother, all, for Christ. It was
a touching scene; and you thought you should never forget it. And, ah!
it never has been forgotten in heaven. The eternal Judge, and those
blest spirits who affectionately stooped to sustain and strengthen you
for the irrevocable vow, remember it.
Now have you acted up to this surrender of your all to Christ,
especially in relation to the duty of beneficence? In that impressive
hour, did you make a mental reservation, withholding certain sources of
private gratification,--the privilege of using your property as you
pleased, of seeing yourself and family supplied with the conveniences,
the comforts, and even the luxuries of life, ere you attended to the
cries of the myriads sinking to woes unutterable for the want of
Gospel light? Were you thus unfeeling? Did you think to deceive
the heart-searching Jesus? Oh, no! I cannot believe it; and you
are appalled at the suspicion. But what did you mean by those
all-surrendering vows? What do you mean, often as you renew them at
the sacramental board? Let the question come home to your conscience;
_what do you mean_? If they lead you not to hold your property at the
call of God, ought you not to tremble lest you never gave yourself away,
and are, therefore, with all your professions an heir of hell? Did
Christ once weep over covenant-breaking Jerusalem? Does he not now
weep over you, as he thinks of all his agonies to rescue you from
unquenchable fire; of your voluntary vows; your unfaithfulness; and your
mockery, as perhaps you have prayed that the kingdoms of the world might
speedily become his; while amid your numerous comforts, you have refused
to deny yourself scarce a convenience, or even superfluity, for the
salvation of those whom he died to redeem? How inconsistent! Well
might tears still bathe the Saviour's cheeks. Oh think, are these the
kind returns you owe for pardoning love? It is unreasonable that you
spend your worldly goods for him, who shed his blood for you? Go, I
beseech you, to your closet, and there plead, till from the heart you
can say: "Lord, here I am and all I have. Take the worthless sacrifice,
now and forever."
Will the rich, they who have enough and abound, reject this rational
scheme of principles, feelings, actions? What treatment is this of the
compassionate Giver of your abundance? Do you not owe to him alike your
being and possessions? Perhaps you refuse to give even _yourselves_ to
him; and employ to private ends those bodily and mental powers with
which you are endowed for his service. Is not this robbing God? And
how is it with the favors of his hand? Have not the crucibles of your
selfish hearts melted and moulded them into household gods? As the
streams of Providence have poured in upon you to overflowing, instead of
dispersing abroad as God intended, have you not carefully enlarged your
own reservoirs so as to retain the whole? Thus grasping all that lies
within your reach of that wealth which God has created for the
advancement of his kingdom, have you not withheld it from its
appropriate channel, and thus become doubly guilty of robbing God?
What a spectacle do you present to holy intelligences! They behold you
rational and accountable beings like themselves; upheld in existence by
Jehovah's mercy, partaking freely of his bounties, and treasuring up
future supplies; but resolutely refusing to share your abundance with
the perishing, even when the generosity required would but enhance your
personal enjoyment. And yet, perchance, you are the professed followers
of the compassionate Jesus. Dare you compare your spirit and conduct
with his?
Truly, you, who have redundant stores, sustain tremendous
responsibilities; would that you might realize them. You enjoy glorious
privileges; will you slight them? With the power, under God, of
relieving the sorrowful, enlightening the ignorant, elevating the
degraded, and diffusing a vital energy through every pore of this
suffering world, will you stand like some bleak Alpine cliff, breathing
perpetual frost, merely an object for the curious to gaze upon? so
live that your selfish heirs shall rejoice at your death, and the
judgment-day clothe you with eternal shame?
Do you say, "My money is my own; I may use it as I please?" Hark! God
thunders, "Thy gold and thy silver is mine." Will you trifle with
Jehovah's voice, and incur his righteous wrath? Hear the terrible
denunciations of James: "Go to, now, ye rich men, weep, and howl for
your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and
your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the
rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as
it were fire." Absorbed in the pursuits of gain, or whirling on your
glittering rounds of pleasure, you may heedlessly disregard the appeals
of distressed humanity, and proudly congratulate yourselves on your
exalted positions, your honors and flatteries; but, rely upon it, you
are only heaping "treasure together for the last day." Every call of
charity from which you turn coldly away will be a drop of anguish to
your undying soul. How trifling your gifts to the Lord, compared with
the vastly greater sacrifices of many far poorer than yourself, and
whom, perhaps, you now despise. When these shall shine forth as the sun
in the kingdom of their Father, where, O, where will you be found? O,
how will all that affluence in which you have garnered up your hopes
appear, when hearing the voice of your Final Judge, "Inasmuch as you did
it not to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not to me;"
and bereft of your treasures and your hopes together, you find the
prison of despair a dread reality, where covetousness will eternally
work without restraint, and unrelieved; a fire shut up in the soul,
agonizing it evermore?
Will the young refuse to enter upon this systematic course of doing
good?--You who are in the warm glow of youthful affections and
sympathies, I presume are not prepared to answer in the negative. You
feel that it would be delightful, the highest grade of human excellence,
to go about scattering charities--feeding the hungry, relieving
distress, smoothing the dying pillow, and sending the light of salvation
to those on whom the dayspring of the Saviour's mercy has never dawned.
This, perhaps, you intend to do at some future time; but you cannot now;
you have not the ability; you must first amass the means. But let me
warn you; here lies the treacherous pitfall. You have within a subtle
and malignant principle, whose maturity is utterly destructive of
benevolence. This the very employment of acquiring the means of charity
will fan to a flame, unless, in all your plans and avocations, you carry
along with you the spirit of Christ's good-will to men. The work of
charity must be begun in the infancy of the selfish tendencies. A small
blaze among the withered leaves of autumn a child may extinguish; but
when the winds have hurled it, and the wild fire is running and leaping
from point to point, streaming up trees and wrapping the forest in
sheets of flame, it will take the energies of thousands to quench it.
So it is with the principle of avarice. It must be repressed early,
before its giant coils wind around the entire heart, crushing its better
purposes. Hence, as the morning of life is peculiarly favorable to the
formation and fixing of habits, the importance of inuring yourself to
battle with this inward foe, in this flexible season. Put on the armor
at once, and learn to wield it; for victory is as much dependent on
skill as on strength.
Let the spirit of benevolence be the warmest aspiration of the youthful
breast. Let it be the early, the earnest, the daily inquiry, "What can
I do for my race?" Good to others should be your aim when means are
small. True, its light at first may be no more than the feeble
glimmerings of the glow-warm by the pathway of the benighted traveller;
yet it will be genial, soothing many a sad and torn heart. In the very
commencement of business, then, cherish a Christ-like spirit; and,
adopting a system of accordant action, maintain it all along the path of
life; so that when you arrive at its close, it will be seen, a line of
light stretching around the world, with many a flower of Paradise
blooming on its borders. But wait till you obtain the means before you
begin to seek in earnest the benefit of others, and, unless Divine Grace
powerfully interpose, by the time, in your own judgments, the means are
procured, your hearts will have become like the nether millstone.
Be persuaded, then, to lay your youth a victim on the altar of charity.
Let your whole being burn there till life is extinct; and when you enter
upon the peaceful rest of heaven, you will find multitudes there, aided
thither by your timely munificence, with whom you may unite in
transporting hallelujahs forever.
Finally, let me entreat readers of every class deeply to ponder the
subject here unfolded. No rational being, with any sense of his
responsibilities, can treat it with indifference. I beseech you, pass
not over these pages with a hasty glance, and then throw them aside.
Meditate upon them till your hearts burn within you. Pray over them
till you feel a harmony of soul with Christ; and, in this spirit, come
to a solemn determination whether you will adopt or reject this system
of views, of affections, of resolutions, and of accordant actions. Do
one or the other. No other course is either rational or christian. And
while you deliberately decide, realize that the eye of the Triune
Jehovah is fixed upon you, and that that dread Judge, before "whose face
the earth and the heavens" shall flee away, will review the transaction.
How solemn your position! What amazing consequences are depending on
your present determination! It will affect your usefulness here, and
your relations in eternity. You are striking a chord of the mighty harp
of the universe, which will tremble with the songs of the redeemed, or
the moanings of the damned. Can you touch it heedlessly?
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