“Neither will I offer . . . unto the LORD my GOD of that which doth
cost me nothing.”
IT was a thrice enforced precept of the law that none should appear
before GOD empty; that when men drew near to Him to celebrate His past
mercies and deliverances, to ask for blessings, to deprecate wrath, to
render thanks, to acknowledge dependence on His providence, they should
at the same time present unto Him some offering of their substance. And
this, be it observed, was not a mere temporary ordinance. It was not,
like the sacrifices of bulls and goats, a ceremonious shadowing forth and
pleading of the one sacrifice by which alone GOD could be approached and
propitiated. It was a free-will offering, an acknowledgment that all
things come of GOD, and that all things, though intrusted to them,
belonged still to GOD. It was a confession of His Lordship, an act of
homage, an exhibition of gratitude, a pledge of readiness to yield all
that He might require. As such, it was to be offered whenever man
perceived GOD to be operating upon, or for him, or whenever he would have
GOD to be thus operating; it was to be presented at prescribed places,
and under prescribed circumstances, which rendered pains and exertion
necessary in the offerer; and it was to be of a kind and in a measure
which should make it a real sacrifice—the giving up of something valuable
and valued. “Every man shall give as he is able,” says Moses. “I will
not offer unto the LORD my GOD,” exclaims David, “of that which doth cost
me nothing.”
Under the Gospel, this duty is not only continued, but, like all the
other moral sanctions of the law, enlarged and spiritualised. We
Christians are to present ourselves, our souls and bodies, continually,
as a reasonable sacrifice unto GOD. We are to give up our wills, our
powers, our affections, our time, our substance, our lives to Him. Our
prayer is to be instant; our praise continual; our sacrifice perpetual;
our offering all that we are and have. He who withholds anything from
GOD, gives Him nothing. He who does not deny himself, denies GOD; he who
loves any one or anything more than GOD, hates GOD; he who bestows more
thought and pains, and spends more of his substance on any other object
than on religion, takes no thought, bestows no pains, spends none of his
substance on GOD. Lip-service, stinted service, careless or partial
service is no service; easy religion, cheap religion, intermittent
religion is no religion. Religion, to be worthy of the name, must cost
something; yea, and much—much thought, much feeling, much affection, much
labour, much self-denial, much submission, much renunciation, much
cheerful sacrifice of self and substance. The only limit to our offering
is to be our capability; the only time when we may forbear to offer it,
is when GOD gives us no opportunity. Hence it was, that the young man
who would not sell all that he had, and give to the poor, and follow
Christ whithersoever He went, could not be His disciple. Hence it is,
that selfishness, and worldliness, and pride, and self-glorying, and
covetousness, are such grievous sins. Hence it is, that life must not be
counted dear, when to be faithful to religion would endanger it. Hence
it is, that not only _directly_ spiritual acts are to be frequent, and
spiritual offerings to be many and large, but that everything we have is
to be held for religion, and everything we do, to be done for religion;
our daily tasks, our rest and labour, our very eating and drinking.
Christ has purchased us entirely soul and body, talents and possessions,
to glorify Him by perpetually offering to Him the sacrifice of love; and
there is no love in that offering which is formal, indolent, unwilling,
self-saving; which is restrained from thought, and effort, and hazard,
and bountifulness, by the consideration, how much it will cost. “I will
not offer unto the LORD my GOD,” and the LORD my GOD will not accept “of
that which doth cost me nothing.’”
This is the principle and measure of Christian offering to GOD. Would we
offer affection? it must be all affection. “My Son, give me Thy heart.”
Submission? Deny Thyself in all things. Time? Let it be all
time—instant, continual, day and night. Substance? Be ready to part
with all that thou hast. Work? It must be all work; every labour, and
every occupation. Whatsoever thou doest, do all to the glory of GOD,
that GOD in all things may be glorified through JESUS CHRIST. We, and
all that we are and have, are claimed as whole sacrifices to GOD. The
duration of the offering is to be the length of our life. The altars
upon which we are to be offered, are all the places and all the
circumstances in which GOD puts us, or we put ourselves; and we are to be
continually laying ourselves upon these altars, without fear or grudging
of the cost, yea, rather with cheerful incurring of it.
It is a great and difficult service. The very best of our fallen race,
the Abrahams and the Pauls, who have most realised this service, and
loved it, and laid themselves out to render it, have yet fallen short,
very far short of the perfect offering. Many a time have they
reluctantly laid the costly sacrifice on the altar; many a time, alas!
have they substituted the lame, the halt, the lean, the blemished, for
the firstling of the flock; many a due sacred journey has not been
undertaken; many a holy service has been unperformed, or performed amiss;
many an altar has been bare, without an offering. Yes, the most godly,
the saints that excel, have fallen far short of GOD’S standard, and have
withheld or offered amiss what GOD required. But yet through infirmity,
not through wilfulness or selfishness, have they done it, and speedily
and deeply have they repented of it, and then have they straightway laid
upon the nearest altar the sacrifice of a broken and a contrite heart, in
whose fragrance the ill savour of the other has been lost, with whose
costliness GOD has been well pleased. Such a sacrifice He never
despises. Those who offer it shall be forgiven all that is past. They
shall be dealt with by the after, not the former life. But, my brethren,
if such as these fall short of GOD’S standard, what of us, who, alas! can
lay no claim to attempted perfection, or to grief and contrition for
shortcomings? What of our service of GOD? What do _we_ offer Him? What
does religion cost us?
It should cost us much thought—more thought than anything else. Does it?
Is it the most frequent and most encouraged employment of our minds to
meditate on GOD, our Creator and Preserver, our Redeemer, our Sanctifier,
our Lord and Judge, on heaven, on holiness, on trial and reward, duties
and hopes? We all of us have some favourite subject of thought and
meditation, something which we ponder chiefly, and lay most plans about,
and zealously occupy our mental faculties upon. Is it religion? Does
that cost us more thought than anything else? or does business or
pleasure, or politics or philosophy, or worldly prospects or cares? If
so—no matter how innocent the object, how laudable in some respects its
concern—in making it a chief consideration, we leave nought to offer GOD
but that which costs us nothing, and which is therefore nothing accounted
of, yea, rather is rejected by Him.
Again, religion should cost us much affection. Our affections should be
chiefly set on it, and only on other things when they can be lawfully
considered the adjuncts of religion. Is it so? Do we love GOD more than
anything else? Do we desire heaven’s treasures more than earth’s;
eternal glories more than temporal? Do we delight above all things in
spiritual pursuits? If any other person, any other thing presents itself
as a candidate for our best affections, is it rejected because the place
is already filled? Is it disliked, if opposed to religion? Is it but
moderately esteemed and distantly entertained, when though not opposed to
it, is not religion itself? If otherwise, then religion costs us not our
best affections, and so of our hearts we offer unto GOD of that which
doth cost us nothing.
Again, religion should cost us much labour, much self-denial, much zeal
and patience, more than anything else. Does it? Is there nothing for
which we toil more, and endure more, and encounter more; nothing which we
pursue more constantly and zealously? Do we take more pains to please
GOD than man? Do we make more strenuous endeavours to become good
Christians than to become apt scholars, profound philosophers, able and
respected politicians, successful tradesmen, accomplished members of
society? Would we, and do we rather rise early, and late take rest, go
without our usual meals, undertake fatiguing journeys, contend with
difficulties, suffer reproaches for religion than for anything else? Do
we bear the inconvenience of a warm church more cheerfully than that of a
close shop, a crowded hall of business or pleasure? Do we venture forth
on religious errands, in cold, and wet, and forbidding weather, more
readily than we do for anything else? In what do we wear out our
strength and energies, run our greatest risks, and consume our time? Is
it, directly or indirectly, in religion; or is it in business or in
pleasure? For what do we renounce all needless occupations, for what do
we get through as speedily as may be our necessary work? Is it to have
time and strength for religion, or for what? The answer, my brethren,
which your consciences honestly give to these questions, and many like
them that might be asked, will help to determine what religion costs you
in this respect, and whether or no, you offer unto GOD only of that which
doth cost you nothing.
Again, religion should cost much of our substance. In one sense, it
should cost us all our substance, _i.e._ we should never spend one mite
on a sinful or doubtful pleasure or business, or in contributing to an
unhallowed end. Much, indeed, we must lay out in the sustenance of our
natural life, in the prosecution of our worldly calling, in the support
and advancement of our families, in the maintenance of our social
position. Something, too, we are allowed to spend on our innocent
recreations and those of others. But that which is to cost us most, on
which we are to spend all that we can, and to yearn to be able to spend
more, is on GOD; directly, by spreading the knowledge of His name, by
promoting His service, by building fit temples for His worship, and
adorning them suitably to our devotion and His glory; indirectly, by
ministering to His representatives, the poor, and afflicted, and
helpless, and ignorant.
What, my brethren, let me ask in all plainness, for I speak for GOD, and
GOD’S representatives—the poor—what does religion cost you in this
respect? Are you sure that you have left no Lazaruses to perish of
hunger? no pining sick to die for want of the nutriment or attention
which you could have afforded? no children to grow up in ignorance and
blasphemy whom you could have maintained at school, and helped to make
enlightened, serious, holy men and women? Have you looked to these
things, yourselves? or have you ungrudgingly, liberally supported those
who do? Have you ascertained that the sick and visiting funds of your
parish are able to meet the many demands upon them? that there is no
difficulty in maintaining the necessary staff of the poor’s best
guardians, the clergy? that the alms-boxes will hold no more, or that
there is no demand on their contents? Have you done all this before you
have laden your tables with rich viands and costly wines, and bought
expensive toys and ornaments, and gone on unnecessary excursions, and
paid much for amusements? Or have you consulted self first, and fed, and
decked, and petted, and amused self, and then been ready (not, perhaps,
even then, _forward_, but waiting to be asked) to give up something of
what self could conveniently spare, for crying, grievous
necessities—sparing GOD your leavings, that which you did not want, or,
at least, could easily do without? Remember, brethren, I lay no charge
against any one of you. I only, in faithfulness, put to you plain
questions, which it is your duty to consider; and bid you speedily
discover, from their consideration, what your religion costs you;
whether, in your succour, temporal and spiritual, of those worse off than
yourselves, you deny and inconvenience yourselves, giving what you cannot
part with without feeling its loss and curtailing from other things on
account of it (as you all ought to do); or whether you offer unto GOD, in
this way, of that which doth cost you nothing.
Once more, religion should cost you much in the direct service of GOD; in
providing amply for His wide and becoming worship. I pass by now, as
duties which there are other opportunities of enforcing, the maintenance
of missions, at home and abroad; the building and endowing of schools and
churches, and many like things, that I may dwell for a few moments upon
the costliness of the materials of our churches, and their furniture,
and, let me add, their ornaments; for all which, if I understand the
Bible, we Christians are bound to provide. In the descriptions given us
in the Bible, of heaven and heavenly things, there is frequent mention
and great display, as it were, of gold, and precious stones, and musical
instruments, and beautiful robes, and the like. There are some who
understand these descriptions literally, and who suppose that, being
raised in material, though glorified bodies, the redeemed will inhabit a
material heaven—either this earth transformed, or some other planet—and
will be surrounded with glorious material objects, the most beautiful and
precious of nature’s productions, fashioned like to art’s best
accomplishments. If this is to be so, then it is urged, earth’s
tabernacles, as the type of heaven, should be as nearly assimilated to
heaven as possible; we should improve and furnish our plainer and barer
churches as much as we can; we should build our new churches in the best,
the handsomest style of art; and decorate and furnish them in the most
substantially costly manner.
Without subscribing to this view (though there is really much to be said
for it), I would humbly suggest that, since GOD, when He designed an
earthly tabernacle, prescribed that it, and all in it, should be costly
and ornamental; and that when He speaks of heaven He does so under the
image of all that is accounted splendid and costly on earth, He either
must have meant to require that we should erect and adorn our churches
after this description, or He must have taken for granted that we should
best understand spiritual beauties and excellencies by their comparison
with what we account earthly beauties and excellencies, and that we
should naturally honour and worship Him with the best of these within our
reach. It seems, then, to be our duty, nay, to be natural to us, if we
are in earnest, whichever view we take, to make our churches and their
contents beauteous and costly, either as images of the future church in
heaven, or as the nearest representations to it which we can furnish, and
the best copies of GOD’S own pattern.
To this it has been objected, firstly, that the primitive Christians
afford us no such example; and, secondly, that it seems unfitting,
trifling, unseemly, to decorate the spiritual palace as we would an
earthly mansion. The first objection falls to the ground, when we
remember, that the early Christians were very poor, and, moreover, were
obliged to hide themselves, and, therefore, to refrain from all that
would attract attention; and that, as soon as they had the means and
liberty, they made their churches very splendid, and furnished them very
gorgeously. And the second objection is as soon disposed of. What is
unfitting, trifling, unseemly, for the Master, is surely as much, and
more so, for the disciple. If GOD is to dwell in tents, we ought not to
dwell in ceiled houses; if gold, and precious stones, and beautiful arts
are unfit for Him, then they are pre-eminently unfit for us. If we may
not furnish His house with rich furniture, and put into it, for instance,
the best musical instrument, we must not do so in our own houses. It is
enough for us, that we should be as our LORD. We must not be above Him,
or different from Him. We must not glory in what is unfit for Him. Be
then our own abodes rude; let everything in them be homely, unadorned,
inferior; banish from them all traces of the artist’s skill; or give all,
and use all, more exceedingly upon and in the house of GOD.
One more argument for adorning and furnishing to the utmost, the house of
GOD:—We must not offer unto GOD of that which doth cost us nothing of our
substance. Now, all that we offer indirectly, no matter how much, how
frequently, may yet cost us nothing—that is, it may be only the laying
out of that for which we get an immediate equivalent. When you relieve
the sick, rescue the tempted, raise the fallen, by the contribution of
your substance, if you have not the reward of their gratitude, there is
at least the felt human satisfaction of the act; and that would and has
remunerated many an infidel. The sacrifice, therefore, in this case,
ceases to be a sacrifice; it is a laying out for those who pay you again.
But when you expend your substance largely on the direct service of GOD,
hoping for nothing again, perhaps getting nothing, then you offer of that
which costs you something; something for which you do not expect an
equivalent. The exercise is a good one, and the duty is imperative. If
you got your money’s worth, and your human satisfaction, for its outlay,
then you would be offering to GOD of that which doth cost you nothing.
Let this consideration urge you, then, first, indeed to provide what is
_necessary_ for the service of GOD by yourselves; afterwards, what may
help others in like manner to serve Him; and then, not by mulcting them,
but by denying yourselves, to give some true gift, some free-will
offering, which is costly in itself, and promises no present equivalent.
Thus shall you overcome selfish and mere human feelings, and render
dutiful, and grateful, and costly sacrifice unto the LORD your GOD.
My brethren, depart not with the notion that you have heard nothing of
Christ this morning. It is a deep-rooted error that, under the law men
were commanded to do, but under the Gospel they are forbidden; that
_then_ salvation was a work, but _now_ it is only a contemplation. The
contrary is the truth. Men might contemplate and wait idly and dreamily
before their Redeemer came; they must be up and doing now that He has
laid His hand upon them, and given them a lifelong, arduous,
self-sacrificing work to do.
It is because Christ has purchased you wholly, body, and soul, and
spirit, thoughts, words, and deeds, talents and substance, to be an
entire and constant sacrifice unto Him; it is because He is watching over
you, and working for and in you, to make you that sacrifice; it is
because presently He will judge and deal with you, according as you have
been, or have not been what He required, that I have enforced on you the
pre-eminently Christian lesson of taking solemn, anxious heed, that you
offer not unto the LORD your GOD of that which doth cost you nothing.
SERMON IX.
SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.