SINNER, "look where you are going." You are in the path of danger, and in the road to death. You are wandering from God, and are going down into the pit. Every step you take, every moment you live, your danger is greater, you are nearer to hell. Satan binds you faster, sin makes you harder, and the world entangles you more fully in its web. You are warned, that you may be saved. You are alarmed, that you may escape. You are within a step of Jesus, in one direction; take that step, and you are saved. You are within a step of hell, in another direction; take that step, and you are lost for ever. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will deliver you from the wrath to come; live in unbelief, and you must perish for ever. Jesus is the only way to the Father, the only way to heaven; walk in him, and you will come to the Father on the throne of grace now, and you will come to him on the throne of glory soon. But, if you remain where you are, and what you are, you must perish, and perish for ever. If you make up your mind to go to hell, you need not trouble yourself, let things take their course, and no doubt you will reach that fearful place but if you wish to go to heaven, you must strive for it, as Jesus said, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate." Strive and you shall enter, and entering be saved. : A DUTY. ISRAEL were a peculiar people, the type of the Lord's people, whom he hath chosen for himself. Their privileges represented ours, and many of their duties pointed out what we should do. God's worship was to be sustained by them, and God's poor were to be supplied by them. They were required to be liberal, and to contribute to the cause of God, every one according to his ability. The language of Moses speaking as the mouth of God is very explicit. "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God upon him." Deut, xvi. 17. Wealth comes to us from God's providence, it lays us under obligation, and imposes upon us important duties. God gives us temporal things, to enjoy a part thereof ourselves, to help to make others happy, and to carry on his cause in the world with the rest. The words of Moses to Israel, are strictly applicable to us, and therefore let us look at them a little more closely. Jehovah, is the Lord our God. We are in covenant with him, and he is in covenant with us. He has taken us to himself for a people, and we have avouched him to be our God. Many have no God, therefore they live godless lives. Many worship an idol, and are influenced thereby. There is more idolatry in England at this day, than there is true christianity. But, blessed be God, he has revealed himself to us in his holy word, in the person of his Son, and by the light and teaching of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We know him and therefore we love him, worship him, and make him the object of our trust. He has not only revealed himself to us, but he has become engaged for us. In the everlasting covenant, and by the promises of his holy word, he has engaged to take us to himself for a people, and to be to us a God; working for us, and bestowing upon us, all that we really need. He has engaged to be our Father, providing for us; our Friend, walking with us; and our God, defending and protecting us. Nor only so, he is enjoyed by us. Our God is the source and centre of our happiness. He maks us happy, by manifesting himself unto us, conferring his grace upon us, and shedding abroad his love in our hearts. We are the Lord's people. His peculiarly. Not only his by creation, as all others are; but his, as chosen from among others, and set apart to be his portion, his heritage, and his praise. He lays claim to us as his children, his flock, his purchased people; whom he has formed for himself, loves as his own, and has redeemed by the blood of his Son. We are his entirely. He claims both body and soul. Every faculty of the soul, every sense of the body; every talent we possess, and every gift we exercise, is his. He holds us responsible for the use of them, and expects us to glorify him in the exercise of them. We are his eternally. He will never part with one of his people. Not one of them is lost. Not one of them ever will be. He watches them with his eye, holds them in his hand, and guards them with his constant care. He leads them out of nature into grace, and then from grace to glory. The Lord blesses us, as his people. He blessed us in Christ, with all spiritual blessings; even as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world. He gives us blessings through Christ, whom he has constituted the medium and channel, through which all passes from himself to us. He gives us blessings by Christ, in whom all fulness dwells, and out of whose fulness we receive, and grace for grace. All our blessings pass through the hands of our dear Lord and Saviour. He gives us spiritual blessings for the soul, temporal blessings for the body, and eternal blessings for both. He gives us blessings the most costly, the most suitable, and sufficient. He blesses us like a God: according to the largeness of his heart, the immensity of his wealth, and the infinity of his wisdom. Being blessed of God, he requires us to be a blessing to others; of what he has given us, we are to give to them. His poor are to be supplied, and his cause is to be supported. Observe the duty, "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God upon him." None are excepted, but all must give. The widow her two mites, the labouring man his pence, and the rich man his pounds. Every man should give.' All are regulated. "Every man shall give as he is able. That is up to his ability. Not merely his redundancies, but a part of all, a due and proper proportion. Our ability is the rule of our benevolence. Many render themselves unable, by their costly style of living, by their expensive mode of dressing, and by their indulgence in carnal pleasures; for this they must account to him, who requires them to give, in proportion, to what he has given them. God knows what we have, he requires of us as he has given to us, he observes whether we regard his word, and give a due proportion, and he deals with us accordingly. He has said, and he carries out his word, by his providence, "He which soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully." 2 Cor. ix. 6. Many a professor, who has kept back God's rights, and slighted God's requirements, has wondered at his losses, and been surprised that he could not succeed; but one text would clear all up to him if he would but consider and believe |