CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP.
On account of heavy domestic afflictions, and the failure of my own
health, I was induced, a few years since, to visit the United States.
Full well I remember my feelings when returning to my native land. I had
been laboring among a heathen people, and impressions by the eye are
deep and affecting. I had seen degradation and vileness, destitution and
woe. I had a vivid impression of the urgent claim of the destitute and
the dying; and I had formed some conception of the greatness of the
work, if we would put forth the instrumentality needed to elevate and
save them. And during a long voyage, I had time, not only to think of
the Sandwich Islanders, but to cast my thoughts abroad over the wide
world. The millions and hundreds of millions of our race often came up
fresh before me, sunk in untold vileness, covered with abominations, and
dropping one after another, as fast as the beating of my pulse--twenty
millions a year--into the world of woe. Painful as it was, I could not
avoid the deep and certain conviction, that such was their end.
Then I thought of the greatness of the task, if we would be the means,
under God, of saving them from perdition: that we have idol gods without
number to destroy--a veil of superstition forty centuries thick to
rend--a horrible darkness to dispel--hearts of stone to break--a gulf of
pollution to purify--nations, in God's strength, to reform and
regenerate. With such thoughts the conviction forced itself upon me,
that the work could not be done without an immense amount of means, and
a host of laborers.
Think, then, how chilling and soul-sickening the intelligence that met
me as I landed on my native shores, (in the spring of 1838,) that
Christians were disheartened by the pressure of the times, and were
receding from ground already taken: that the bread of life must not
issue from the press, though millions were famishing for lack of it;
that thirty heralds of salvation then standing on our shores must not
embark, though the woes and agonies of dying souls were coming peal
after peal on every wave of the ocean; that they must be turned aside
from the perilous yet fond enterprise to which the love of Christ had
constrained them, and that future applicants must be thereby
discouraged--that missionaries abroad must be trammelled in their
operations for want of means; and that multitudes of children and youth,
the hope of the missions, gathered with much care, and partially
instructed and trained with much expense of time, strength and money;
the centre of solicitude, love, and interest; the adopted sons and
daughters of the missionaries, must be sent back--in Ceylon three
thousand in a day--to wallow again in pollution, bow down to gods of
wood and stone, and wander, stumble and fall on the dark mountains of
heathen superstition; a prey to the prowling monsters that lie thick and
ready to devour in all the territory of Satan. Surely, thought I, (and
had I not grounds for the thought?) Christians in America must be
destitute of the common comforts of life: nothing but the direst
necessity can induce them thus to surrender back to Satan the ground
already taken and the trophies already gathered, and to put far off the
hope of the latter day glory.
I looked abroad and made inquiries. I found indeed a derangement of
currency and a stagnation of business. But did I find, think you, that
Christians were destitute of the ordinary comforts of life? that they
were in a distressing emergency for food and clothing? that their
retrenchments had been made _first_ in personal expenditures, and last
in efforts to save souls? Alas! it was evident that the principal cause
of the retraced movement was not found in the reverse of the times. It
was found to lie deeper; and to consist in wrong views and wrong
practice on the great subject of Christian stewardship. To this subject,
then, my thoughts for a time were much directed, and I tried to look at
it in view of a dying world, and a coming judgment. The subject, I
perceived, lay at the foundation of all missionary effort; and my
position and circumstances were perhaps advantageous for contemplating
it in a just and proper light. Be entreated, therefore, Christian
reader, to look at the subject in the spirit of candor and
self-application.
* * * * *
A little heathen child was inquired of by her teacher, if there was
anything which she could call her own. She hesitated a moment, and
looking up, very humbly replied, "I think there is." "What is it?" asked
the teacher. "I think," said she, "that my sins are my own."
Yes, we may claim our sins--they are our own; but everything else
belongs to God. We are stewards; and a steward is one who is employed to
manage the concerns of another--his household, money or estate. We are
God's stewards. God has intrusted to each one of us a charge of greater
or less importance. To some he has intrusted five talents, to others
two, and to others one. The talents are physical strength, property,
intellect, learning, influence--all the means in our possession for
doing good and glorifying God. We can lay claim to nothing as strictly
our own. Even the angel Gabriel cannot claim the smallest particle of
dust as strictly his own. The rightful owner of all things, great and
small, is God.
To be faithful stewards, then, we must _fully occupy_ for God all the
talents in our possession. A surrender, however, of all to God--of time,
strength, mind and property, does not imply a neglect of our own real
wants. A proper care of ourselves and families enters into God's
arrangement. This is not only allowed, it is required of us; and if done
properly and with a right spirit, it is a service acceptable to God.
This is understood then, when we say, that all our talents must be
occupied for God. With this understanding, there must be no reserve.
Reserve is robbery. No less than all the heart and all our powers can be
required of us--no less can be required of angels.
It is our reasonable service. We require the same of the agents we
employ. Suppose a steward, agent or clerk, in the management of your
money, your estate or your goods, devotes only a part to your benefit
and uses the rest for himself, how long would you retain him in your
employment? Let us beware, then, that we rob not God. Let us be faithful
in his business, and _fully occupy_ for him the talents intrusted to us.
God has an indisputable right to everything in our possession; to all
our strength, all our influence, every moment of our time, and demands
that everything be held loosely by us, in perfect obedience to him. For
us or for angels to deny this right, would be downright rebellion. For
God to require anything less, would be admitting a principle that would
demolish his throne.
No less engagedness certainly can be required of God's stewards, than
_worldly men exhibit in the pursuit of wealth and honor_. Let us, then,
look at their conduct and learn a lesson. They are intent upon their
object. They rise early and sit up late. Constant toil and vigorous
exertion fill up the day, and on their beds at night they meditate plans
for the morrow. Their hearts are set on their object, and entirely
engrossed in it. They show a determination to attain it, if it be within
the compass of human means. Enter a Merchants' Exchange, and see with
what fixed application they study the best plans of conducting their
business. They keep their eyes and ears open, and their thoughts active.
Such, too, must be the wakefulness of an agent, or they will not employ
him. Notice also the physician who aspires to eminence. He tries the
utmost of his skill. Look in, too, upon the ambitious attorney. He
applies his mind closely to his cause that he may manage it in the best
possible way.
Now, I ask, shall not the same intense and active state of mind be
required of us, as God's agents or stewards? Can we be faithful
stewards, and not contrive, study, and devise the best ways of using the
talents that God has intrusted to us, so that they may turn to the
greatest account in his service? Is not the glory of God and the eternal
salvation of our ruined race, an object _worthy_ of as much engagedness,
as much engrossment of soul and determination of purpose, as a little
property which must soon be wrapped in flames, or the flickering breath
of empty fame? Be assured, we cannot satisfy our Maker by offering a
sluggish service, or by putting forth a little effort, and pretending
that it is the extent of our ability. We have shown what we are capable
of doing, by our engagedness in seeking wealth and honor. God has seen,
angels have seen, and we ourselves know, that our ability is not small,
when brought fully into exercise. It is now too late to indulge the
thought of deceiving either our Maker or our fellow men on this point.
We can lay claim to the character of faithful stewards, only as we
_embark all our powers_ in serving God, as worldly men do in seeking
riches, or a name.
Then, too, to be faithful, we must be as _enterprising_ in the work that
God has given us to do, as worldly men are in their affairs. By
enterprising, I mean, bold, adventurous, resolute to undertake. Worldly
men exhibit enterprise in their readiness to engage in large
projects--in digging canals, in laying railroads, and in sending their
ships around the globe. No port seems too distant, no depth too deep, no
height too high, no difficulty too great, and no obstacle too
formidable. They scarcely shrink from any business on account of its
magnitude, its arduousness, or its hazard. A man is no longer famous for
circumnavigating the globe. To sail round the world is a common trading
voyage, and ships now visit almost every port of the whole earth. A
business is no longer called great, where merely thousands of dollars
are adventured; but in great undertakings, money is counted by millions.
Such is the spirit of enterprise in worldly matters.
Now, I ask, are we not capable of as much enterprise in using the means
ordained by Christ for rescuing souls from eternal burnings, and raising
them to a seat at his right hand? Had the same enterprise been required
of men in some former century, they might have plead incapacity. But it
is too late now to plead incapacity. Unless we choose to keep back from
God a very important talent, we must put forth this enterprise to its
full extent in the great work of the world's conversion.
Such enterprise is needed. If the latter day glory is to take place
through human instrumentality, can it be expected without some mighty
movement on the part of the church? Can a work of such inconceivable
magnitude be effected, till every redeemed sinner shall lay himself out
in the enterprise, as worldly men do in their projects? If the promises
of God are to be fulfilled through the efforts of men, what hope can
there be of the glorious day, till men are resolute to undertake great
things--not for themselves merely, but for God, their Maker and
Redeemer.
Is it not a fact that will strike us dumb in the judgment, that it is
the love of money, and not zeal for God, that digs canals, lays
railroads, runs steamboats and packets, and, in short, is the main
spring of every great undertaking? The love of money has explored the
land and the seas, traced rivers in all their windings, found an
entrance to almost every port, Christian or heathen, studied the
character of almost every people, ascertained the products of every
clime and the treasures of the deep, stationed agents in all the
principal places, and in not a few ports, a hemisphere distant, erected
shops, factories, and even sumptuous palaces.
Men exhibit no such enterprise in serving God. How many ships sail the
ocean to carry the Gospel of Christ? And in ports where one magnificent
Exchange after another is reared, stretching out its capacious arms,
and towering towards heaven, how difficult it is to sustain a few humble
boarding-houses for wandering seamen. Worldly enterprise is bold and
active, and presses onward with railroad speed. Shall, then, Christian
enterprise be dull and sluggish, deal in cents and mills, and move along
at a very slow pace? The thought is too humiliating to be endured.
Suppose angels to be placed in our stead, would they, think you, be
outdone by the seekers of wealth in deeds of enterprise? No: their cars
would be the first in motion, and their ships the first on the wing.
They would be the first to announce new islands, and the first to
project improvements, and _for what?_ that the Gospel might have free
course and be glorified. Enterprise and action would then be exhibited,
worthy of our gaze and admiration. "O! if the ransom of those who fell
from heaven like stars to eternal night, could only be paid, and the
inquiry of the Lord were heard among the unfallen, 'Whom shall we send,
and who will go for us?' hold they back? No: they fly like lightning to
every province of hell; the echo of salvation rolls in the outskirts as
in the centre; a light shines in the darkest dungeon; the heaviest
chains are knocked off, and they rest not till all is done that angels
can do, to restore them to their former vacated seats in the realms of
the blest."
But if angels would act thus, we too, as the stewards of God, ought to
be the first in enterprise. God's work is infinitely more important than
wealth or honor. And how shall we, in the judgment, be found faithful,
if the seekers of wealth or the aspirants for renown are suffered to
outstrip us on every side.
It is not faithfulness for any one to consume _on himself or his
children_ more of God's property than he really needs. Suppose you hold
in your hand an amount of property. It is not yours you remember, for
you are merely a steward. God requires that it be used to produce the
greatest possible good. The greatest possible good, is the promotion of
holiness in yourself and in others. Luxury, pride and vanity can lay no
claim. Speculative knowledge, taste, and refinement must receive a due
share of attention, but be kept in their place. Our real wants, of
course, must be supplied. But what are our real wants--our _wants_, not
our _desires_--our _real_ wants, not those that are artificial and
imaginary?
We really need for ourselves and families what is necessary to preserve
life and health; we need a mental cultivation answerable to our
profession or employment; need the means of maintaining a neat, sober
and just taste; and we need too, proper advantages of spiritual
improvement. Things of mere habit, fashion, and fancy may be dispensed
with. Luxuries may be denied. Many things, which are called
conveniences, we do not really need. If provision is to be made for all
things that are convenient and pleasant, what room will remain for
self-denial? Things deemed comfortable and convenient may be multiplied
without limit--consume all of God's wealth, and leave the world in
ruins. If the world were _not_ in ruins, then it might be proper to seek
not only the comforts, but even the elegancies of life.
Take a simple illustration: In the midst of the wide ocean I fall in
with a crew floating on the few shattered planks of a hopeless wreck. I
have a supply of water and a cask of bread, but the poor wrecked
mariners are entirely destitute. Shall I keep my provisions for my own
comfort, and leave these sufferers to pine away with hunger and thirst?
But suppose I have not only bread and water, but many luxuries, while
the men on the wreck are perishing for the want of a morsel of bread and
a drop of water? And then, suppose I have casks of bread and other
provisions to dispose of, and intend with the proceeds to furnish myself
with certain of the conveniences and elegancies of life; and my mind is
so fixed upon obtaining them, that I refuse to relieve the poor tenants
of the wreck, and leave them to the lingering death of hunger and
thirst. O, who of you would not shudder at the hardness of my heart and
the blackness of my crime!
But the world dead in sin is surely a wreck. Millions upon millions are
famishing for the bread and water of life. Their cry--their dying cry
has come to our ears. Shall we then take that which might relieve them,
and expend it in procuring conveniences, elegancies, and luxuries for
ourselves? Can we do it, and be guiltless of blood?
But, perhaps here, some one may have the coolness to thrust in the
common objection, that a man's style of living must correspond with his
station in society. It is wonderful to what an extent this principle is
applied. A man, it is said, cannot be a governor of a state, a mayor of
a city, a member of Congress, or hold any high office, unless his house,
his equipage, his dress and his table, exhibit some appearance of
elegance and wealth; and if a man live in a large and opulent city, he
must be somewhat expensive in his style of living, that he may exert an
influence in the higher walks of society. Then, country towns, and small
villages, take pattern of the large cities, and the plea goes down
through every rank and every grade. Scarcely a Christian can be found,
who is not familiar with the doctrine. It is a very convenient doctrine.
In a _qualified_ sense it may be true, but in its unlimited
interpretation it may be made to justify almost every article of luxury
and extravagance.
It seems to be conformity to the world, and the world has always been
_wrong_. The principles of the Gospel have always been at variance with
the maxims and customs of the world. _Conformity is always suspicious._
Again, the doctrine cannot be applied to all places. Suppose a
missionary conform to the society around him. Instead of raising up the
heathen from their degradation, he would become a heathen himself. The
descent to heathenism is easy. The influence of comparing ourselves with
ourselves, and measuring ourselves by ourselves, is felt by those living
among barbarians as well as at home, though the insidious influence
leads in another direction. If there is a man on earth, who, more than
any other, needs to cultivate neatness, taste and refinement, both in
his mind and in his whole style of living, it is the man who is
surrounded by a heathen population. Here, then, the rule contended for
fails. Travel round the world, and how often will it fail?
Let us turn away, then, from this fickle standard, and look to reason
enlightened by the Word of God. Shall we not then find, that
substantially the same style of living that is proper in one latitude
and longitude, is proper in another; _substantially_ the same, paying
only so much regard to the eyes of the world, as to avoid unnecessary
singularity and remark; and that this rule, founded on the principles of
the Gospel, makes a proper provision for health, mental cultivation, and
a neat, sober and just taste? Are not these the real wants of men
allowed by the Gospel, whether they live in London or in Ethiopia?
But the ground on which I choose to rest this inquiry more than any
other, is the perishing condition of our dying race. Is fashion,
splendor and parade, appropriate in a grave-yard, or in the chamber of
the dead and dying? But the whole world is a grave-yard. Countless
millions lie beneath our feet. Most of our earth, too, is at this moment
a chamber of dying souls. Can we have _any relish_ for luxuries, folly
and needless expense, amidst the teeming millions commencing the agonies
of eternal death?
I erect a splendid mansion; extend about it a beautiful enclosure;
furnish it with every elegance; make sumptuous entertainments, and live
in luxury and ease. In the midst of it, the woes and miseries of my
ruined race are brought vividly before me--their present wretchedness
and eternal agonies. And it is whispered in my ear, that these woes
might have been relieved by the expense I have so profusely lavished. O!
how like Belshazzar must I feel, and almost imagine that the groans of
lost souls are echoed in every chamber of my mansion, and their blood
seen on every ornament!
Let us have the love of Christ in our hearts, and then spread distinctly
before us _the world as it is_--calculate the sum total of its present
wretchedness and eternal woes. In such a world and as God's stewards,
who can be at a loss in regard to the course of duty? When twenty
millions of men every year are entering upon the untold horrors of the
second death, and we are stewards to employ all means in our power for
their salvation, O, away with that coldness that can suggest the
necessity of _conforming_ to the expensive customs of the world. May we,
in heaven, find one of these souls saved through our instrumentality,
and we can afford to forego all we shall lose by a want of conformity.
There is a nobleness in taking an independent stand on the side of
economy, and saving something to benefit dying souls. There is a
heavenly dignity in such a course, infinitely superior to the slavish
conformity so much contended for. It is an independence induced by the
sublimest motives; a stand which even the world must respect, and which
God will not fail to honor.
But how shall those possessing _large capitals_ best employ them as
stewards of God? I speak not of the hoarding of the miser; that would be
a waste of breath. I speak not of property invested in stock that
habitually violates the Sabbath. No remark is necessary in so plain a
case. But I speak of large capitals, professedly kept to bring in an
income for the service of the Redeemer. The subject is involved in many
practical difficulties; and they who are business men have some
advantages of judging in the case which I have not. I will therefore
merely make one or two inquiries.
Is not the practice in many cases an _unwise investment_ of God's funds?
Is there not a reasonable prospect that one dollar used now, in doing
good, will turn to more account than twenty dollars ten years hence? A
Bible given now may be the means of a soul's conversion; and this
convert may be instrumental in converting other souls, and may
consecrate all his powers and property to God; so that when years shall
have passed away, the one dollar given to buy the Bible may have become
hundreds of dollars, and, with God's blessing, saved many precious
souls. One pious young man trained for the ministry _now_, may be
instrumental, before ten years shall expire, in bringing into the Lord's
kingdom many immortal souls, with all their wealth and influence; and so
the small sum expended now, become ten years hence entirely inestimable.
The same may be said of a minister sent now to the heathen, instead of
ten years hence; and the same, too, may be said of every department of
doing good. It would appear then, that, in all ordinary cases, to make
an immediate use of funds in doing good is to lay them out to the
greatest possible interest; that by such a course we can be the means of
peopling heaven faster than in any other way. We can hardly appreciate
how much we save by saving _time_, and how much we lose by losing it.
Worldly men, in their railroad and steam-packet spirit of the present
day, seem to have caught some just sense of the importance of time, and
we, in our enterprises to do good, must not be unmindful of it.
Again, is not the expenditure of property in the work of doing good, not
only the most advantageous, but also the _safest_ possible investment of
God's funds? Whilst kept in capital, it is always exposed to greater or
less risk. Fire may consume it. Floods may sweep it away. Dishonest men
may purloin it. A gale at sea may bury it. A reverse of times may ingulf
it. But when used in doing good, it is sent up to the safe-keeping of
the bank of God; it is commuted into the precious currency of heaven; it
is exchanged for souls made happy, and harps and crowns of gold.
Again, A. keeps a large property in capital, and therefore B. resolves
to _accumulate_ a large property, and then give the income. But whilst
accumulating it, he not only leaves the world to perish, but also runs
the risk of ruining his own soul--the awful hazard which always attends
the project of becoming rich. And the result is, in ninety-nine cases
out of a hundred, that the summons of death arrives before the promised
beneficence is paid in.
In view of such considerations, would it not be _wiser, safer, and very
much better_, in most instances at least, that the greater part of large
capitals should be made use of at once in the service of the Redeemer?
It is said of Normand Smith, that "he dared not be rich;" and that "it
became an established rule with him, to use for benevolent distribution
_all the means_ which he could take from his business, and still
prosecute it successfully;" and that he charged a brother on his dying
bed, to do good with his substance while living, and not suffer it to
accumulate to be disposed of, at the last extremity, by will. Sound
advice. A few other such men there have been in the world, and they are
the SHINING LIGHTS. Their example is brilliant all over with true
wisdom.
It is not acting always as faithful stewards, merely to accumulate
wealth to promote the cause of Christ; for there may be more need of our
_personal service_ in disseminating the Gospel, than of any pecuniary
means we can contribute. Christians are not faithful stewards, merely
when they labor for Christ, but when they do _that_ by which they may
most promote the cause of Christ. The dissemination of Gospel truth is
the great end to be aimed at, either directly or indirectly. Now, it is
evident that many must further this object by accumulating the pecuniary
means; but the danger is, that too many, far too many prefer this
course. Many conclude, with perfect safety and justness, that in
practising law or medicine, or in selling goods, in tilling a farm, or
in laboring in a shop, they are doing as much to further the object as
in any other way; but some, it is believed, come to such a conclusion
either from mistaken views or mistaken motives. The fact that so large a
proportion of God's stewards resort to the notion of operating by proxy,
and that so few choose to engage in the direct work, shows that there is
danger existing. Not only the fathers, but a vast majority of the middle
aged and the young, prefer to advance the cause of Christ by
accumulating the pecuniary means. Now, why is there such a rushing after
this department of the great work?
The Saviour calls for a great army of preachers, to carry his Gospel
everywhere, and to proclaim it to all nations, kindreds and people. In
truth, you need not go beyond the limits of the United States to feel
the force of this remark. Look at the destitutions in the more newly
settled states and territories, and see if there is not need of men to
preach the Gospel. But notwithstanding this need, only a small number,
comparatively, offer themselves to the work. Almost all young men, even
the professedly pious, slide easily into lucrative occupations; but to
bring them into the direct work of making known Christ, they must be
urged and persuaded by a score of arguments.
It is needed, too, of lay members of the church, to do much in searching
out the destitute and the dying, who exist in multitudes, even about
their own dwellings; to give here a word of warning, and there a word of
consolation; to add here a helping hand, and impart there the restoring
effect of sympathy and kindness; in short, to employ some hours in the
day in going everywhere, as the early disciples did, from house to house
and street to street, and in communicating, in an appropriate way, the
simple truths of Jesus. Laymen, too, are needed in great numbers in
the foreign service. There are reasons numerous and urgent, which I
cannot here name, why lay members in the church should go abroad.
But notwithstanding this call for personal effort, it is too often that
we meet with church members who are completely engrossed, from early
dawn to the close of day, in accumulating wealth; and who deny
themselves the luxury of spending either hour of the twenty-four, in
conversing with souls, and leading them to Jesus. Such persons will give
somewhat of their substance, when called upon; and press on, almost out
of breath apparently, in the cares of the world, not thinking to say to
this man or that, on the right hand and the left, that there is a heaven
above and a hell beneath, and death is at the door. You would almost
imagine, from the conduct of some, that they would like to commit to
proxy even their own faith and repentance. Now this entire engrossment
in worldly cares, even though professedly for Christ's sake, will never
illumine the dark recesses of the earth--will never usher in the
millenial day.
It is not so much, after all, an accumulation of wealth that is needed,
as the personal engagement of Christians in making known everywhere, at
home and abroad, the precious news of Jesus. The disposition to go
everywhere, regardless of wealth, and with Jesus on our lips, must be
the spirit of the church, before we can expect much good either at home
or abroad. The world will not be covered with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea, till men to make known that word are
scattered like rain on all the earth--not only in heathen lands, but in
the streets and lanes of large cities, and throughout the Western
desolations. "So long as we remain together, like water in a lake, so
long the moral world will be desolate. We must go everywhere, and if the
expansive warmth of benevolence will not separate us, so that we arise
and go on the wings of the wind, God, be assured, will break up the
fountains of the great deep of society, and dashing the parts together,
like ocean in his turmoil or Niagara in its fall, cover the heavens with
showers, and set the bow of hope for the nations, and the desert shall
rejoice and blossom as the rose. God is too good to suffer either Amazon
or Superior to lie still, and become corrupt, and the heavens in
consequence to be brass and the earth iron." God is too benevolent also,
in the arrangements of the moral world, to allow his people to be
inactive--to have here a continuing city, and be immersed in the cares
of the world as though here were their treasure, while thousands about
them are dying for lack of instruction, and the heathen abroad are going
down to death in one unbroken phalanx. The church must take more
exercise, and the proper kind, too, or she will become frail and sickly,
too weak in prayer, and too ignorant in effort to usher in the millenial
day.
It is a possible thing to seek wealth _honestly_ for God; but he that is
called to such a work, has more occasion to mourn than to rejoice: he
has occasion to tremble, watch, and pray; for to be a faithful steward
of God's property, requires perhaps more grace than to be a faithful
steward of God's truth. We find many a faithful preacher of the Gospel
where we find one Normand Smith, or Nathaniel R. Cobb, or one firm of
Homes & Homer. The grace needed is so great, and the temptations to err
so many, that almost all prove defaulters, and therefore it is that the
world lies in ruins: not because the church has not wealth enough, but
because God's stewards claim to be owners.
How small the sum appropriated by a million and a half of God's stewards
to save a sinking world! The price of earthly ambition, convenience and
pleasure, is counted by millions. Navies and armies have their millions;
railroads and canals have their millions; colleges and schools have
their millions; silks, carpets and mirrors, have their millions; parties
of pleasure and licentiousness in high life and in low life have their
millions; and what has the treasury of God and the Lamb, to redeem a
world of souls from the pains of eternal damnation, and to fill them
with joys unspeakable? The sum is so small in comparison that one's
tongue refuses to utter it.
There must be a different scale of giving; and the only way to effect it
is, to induce a different style of personal consecration. Let a man give
himself, or rather let him have a heart that cannot _refrain_ from
telling of Jesus to those who are near, or from going to those who are
more remote, and the mere item of property you will find appended, as a
matter of course, and on the plain principle that the greater always
includes the less. We must learn to devote, according to our vows, time,
talents, body, soul and spirit. Bodies and minds are wanted; the bones
and sinews of men are required: these more substantial things are
needed, as well as property, in arduous services at home and still more
self-denying labor abroad; and no redeemed sinner can refuse either the
one or the other, and continue to be regarded as a faithful steward of
Jesus. _Money, though needed, is by no means all that is required of
us._
Though God has devolved upon us, as stewards, a responsible work, the
weight of which is fearful, and sufficient to crush us unless aided
from on high, yet the employment is one of _indescribable delight_. It
is a pleasant work. Angels would rejoice to be so employed.
Is there any professed Christian who does not relish the idea? To such
an one I would say, Your condition is by no means enviable. You deny
yourself all true happiness. If you do not delight in the thought of
being God's steward; of holding not only property, but body, soul and
spirit at God's control, then you know not what true luxury is. There is
pleasure in doing good; there is a luxury in entire consecration to God.
The pleasures of this earth are empty, vain and fleeting; but the
pleasure of doing good is real, substantial and enduring. The pleasure
of doing good is the joy of angels; it is the thrill of delight which
pervades the soul of Jesus; it is the happiness of the eternal God. In
not wishing to be God's steward, you deny yourself this luxury; you
refuse angels' food and feed on husks. O, there is a richness of holy
joy in yielding up all to God, and holding ourselves as waiting servants
to do his will. This fullness of bliss you foolishly spurn from you,
and turn away to the "beggarly elements of the world." Do you feel that
the principles of stewardship contained in the Bible are too
strict--that too entire a devotement is required of you? Angels do not
think so. Redeemed saints do not think so. The more entire the
consecration, the more perfect the bliss. In heaven devotement is
perfect, and joy of course unalloyed. Blot out this spirit of
consecration, you blot out all true happiness on earth; you annihilate
heaven.
But it is not only a luxury, but _an honor_ to be the stewards of God.
What honor greater than that of continuing the work which Jesus
commenced; of being employed in the immense business of saving a ruined
race? What work more glorious than that of being the instruments of
peopling heaven? What employment more noble than to rescue immortal
souls from endless agonies, and to raise them to eternal joys; to take
their feet from the sides of the burning lake, and to plant them on the
firm pavement of heaven; to rescue victims from eternal burnings, and to
place them as gems in the diadem of God? Would not Gabriel feel himself
honored with a work so noble and glorious? Were a presidency or a
kingdom offered you, spurn it and be wise; but contemn not the glory of
being God's stewards.
Remember, too, whether these are your views or not, the work of God will
go on. The world will be converted. The glorious event is promised.
Almighty power and infinite wisdom are engaged to accomplish it: all the
resources of heaven are pledged. The God of heaven, he will prosper his
true servants, and they shall arise and build; but those who do not
relish the idea of being God's stewards, can have no portion, nor right,
nor memorial in Jerusalem. The wheels of God's providence are rolling
onward: those wheels are high and dreadful. Will you, being a professed
Christian, dare to oppose the march of God? "Ah! we do not _oppose_,"
say you. But I reply, There can be no neutrality; you must either help
onward his car of victory, or you do really stand in the way--will be
crushed by his power, and ground into the earth by the weight of his
chariot. Take then, I entreat you, this warning, which is given you in
earnestness, but in the spirit of love.
Joy, glory and immortality, to all who will cordially assent to be
co-workers with Jesus. They shall ride with him in his chariot from
conquering to conquer, and shall sit with him on his throne in the day
of triumph.
Be entreated, then, professed Christian, first to give your own soul to
the Lord, and with your soul all you have, all you are, and all you hope
to be. Make an entire consecration. You will never regret having done
so, in time or in eternity.
May God give us all grace to imbibe wholly the true principles of
stewardship. Not the principles popular in the world, but the principles
of the Bible; those principles which hold out the only hope of the
latter day glory--of means commensurate with so great an end.