Making the heart a treasury of good principles
I. THE TREASURE. Innumerable impressions are constantly being made upon our minds, and as constantly transferring themselves into memories. Frivolous thoughts, false notions, corrupt images, once harboured, take up their abode in the soul, and ultimately modify its Character to the likeness of themselves. It is most important for us to guard our memories from such things, and to fill them with more worthy stores. Consider, therefore, the best subjects for contemplation and memory.
1. The Law of God. Divine truth is the highest truth, the noblest theme of meditation, the supreme guide to conduct. Truth concerning our actions, the revealed will of God, is for us the most valuable Divine truth. Other forms of truth may please and help us, but this is essentially needful as a lamp to our feet. We can afford to lose sight of the stars if the harbour light shines clear on the waters over which we have to sail. This practical Divine truth—not our dreams and fancies, but utterances of God's will—we are called to remember. Hence the importance of studying the Bible, which contains it. It is well for children to store their minds with passages of Scripture. These will afford strength in temptation, guidance in perplexity, comfort in sorrow.
2. Mercy and truth. "The letter killeth:" It is superstition that merely treasures up the words of Holy Writ, and repeats them parrot-like, as though a spell were to be wrought by the very utterance of them. The truth contained within these ancient words is what we need to recollect. And it is not the exact verbal bearing of the Law, but the wide-reaching principles underlying it, that Christians are called upon to treasure; not rules of sacrifice, but principles of mercy; not merely the prohibition, "Thou shalt not steal," but the higher precept, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
3. Christ. Christ is the Truth; he is the incarnation of mercy, our great exemplar, the visible manifestation of God's will, the perfect Ideal of our life. If we are weary of reading dry legal rescripts, and fail in contemplating bare abstract truths, we have a better way of treasuring good principles, by cherishing the vision of Christ.
II. THE TREASURY. This is the heart. It is not enough that the Law has been once for all revealed, that we come under it and under the institutions of the Church, that we treasure the Bible in our library, that we hear it read in hasty moments. Much superstition prevails on these points. People seem to think that there is a virtue in the mere act of reading a chapter from the Bible, and some seem to go through the task as a sort of penance, imagining that they thus score some points to their credit in heaven. The Bible is valuable to us only in so far as it influences us. To influence us it must be known and remembered. The Law graven on stone, locked in the ark, and hidden behind the thick curtains of the sanctuary, could do the people of Israel little good. It needed to be written on the fleshy tables of the heart. This involves:
1. An intelligent understanding of Divine truth, so that it comes to us, not as a mere string of words, but as clear ideas.
2. A good memory of it.
3. A love of it, so that it is treasured thoughtfully, and becomes part of our very being, moulding our character, colouring our thoughts and affections, and directing our conduct. It is not difficult to see that such a treasury of such treasure will secure favour with God and ultimately also favour with men.
Divine guidance
I. THE NEED OF DIVINE GUIDANCE. Several considerations force this upon us; e.g.:
1. The complexity of life. The longer we live, the more do we feel the profound mystery that touches us on every side. Innumerable avenues open out to us. Innumerable claims are made upon us. Conflicting duties perplex us. We feel as autumn leaves before the driving winds. We are helpless to choose and follow the right.
2. Our ignorance of the future. Like Columbus, we set our sails to cross unknown seas. We know not what a day will bring forth, yet we must boldly face the next day, and plan for many a day in advance. Our whole life must be arranged with respect to the future. We live in the future. Yet the future is hidden from us. How needful, then, to be guided on to that unknown land by One who sees the end from the beginning!
3. The claims of duty. We need a guide if we have only our own interests to consider. Much more is this the case when we are called to serve God. We are not free to choose our own path, even if we have light to do so. The servant must learn the will of his master before he can know what he is to do. Our prayer should be not so much that God should guide us safely, as that he should show us his way.
II. THE CONDITION OF DIVINE GUIDANCE. This is trust. The lower animals are guided by God through unconscious instincts. But having endowed us with a higher nature, God has given to us the dangerous privilege of a larger liberty, and the serious responsibility of voluntarily choosing or rejecting his guidance. But then he vouchsafes this great help on the simplest of all conditions. We have not to deserve it, to attain to it by any skill or labour, but simply to trust with the most childlike faith. Consider what this involves.
1. Self-surrender. "Lean not to thine own understanding." We sometimes pray for God's guidance insincerely. We want him to guide us into our own way. But his guidance is useless when we should go the same way without it. It is only when human wisdom diverges from Divine wisdom that we are called expressly to follow the latter; we do so unconsciously under easier circumstances. This does not mean, however, that we are to stultify our intellect; we must rather seek God's Spirit to enlighten it—not lean to our understanding, but to God for the strengthening of that understanding.
2. Whole-hearted faith. "Trust in God with all thine heart." It is useless to have certain faint opinions about the wisdom of God. Every thought, affection, and desire must be given over to his direction; at least, we must honestly aim at doing this. The more completely we trust the more surely will God guide us,
3. Active faith. God guides, but we must follow his directions. The traveller is not carried up the mountain by his guide; he follows of his own will. It is vain for us to pray for a Divine leading unless we consent to follow the directions indicated to us.
III. THE METHOD OF DIVINE GUIDANCE.
1. Through our own conscience. Conscience is our natural guide. It is not, therefore, the less Divine; for God is the Author of our nature. Conscience, clear and healthy, is the voice of God in the soul. But conscience is liable to corruption with the rest of our nature. Hence the need of prayer for the gift of the Holy Spirit to purify, enlighten, and strengthen it.
2. Through inspired teaching. God guides one man through his message to another. Prophets and apostles are messengers of Divine guidance. We need such direction outside our own consciences, especially in our present imperfect condition, or we may mistake the echoes of old prejudices and the promptings of self-interest for voices of God. God's word in the Bible is "a lamp to our feet."
3. Through the disposition of events. God guides us in his overruling providence, now closing dangerous ways, now opening up new paths.
Consecrated property
I. WE CAN HONOUR GOD WITH OUR PROPERTY. It is not to be supposed that because religion is a wholly spiritual power it has no bearing on material things. Our religion is a mockery unless it affects the way in which we spend our money, as well as all other concerns of life. Property can be consecrated to God by being spent in conscious obedience to his will and by being used for the promotion of his glory, as in the maintenance of worship, the extension of missions, the relief of the poor, the sick, the widow and orphan.
II. GOD HAS CLAIMS UPON OUR PROPERTY.
1. It originally came from him. He created the materials and powers of nature. He gave to us our faculties. We sow the seed, but God gives the increase.
2. It is only lent to us for a season. Till recently it was not ours; soon we must leave it. While we have it, it is a talent to be used in our great Master's service, and for which we shall have to give an account. Rich men will be called to a Divine audit, where all their wealth will be reckoned and their method of spending it apprised. But so also will the poor; for we are all answerable for the use we make of our possessions, whether they be much or little. The one talent must be accounted for as well as the five talents.
III. OUR WHOLE PROPERTY SHOULD BE CONSECRATED TO GOD. It was all given to us by God. We shall have to give account of the use we make of all of it—of the substance or capital and of the increase or yearly income. We cannot compound for the abuse of the larger part of our goods by sacrificing to God a small proportion of them. If we give a tithe of our possessions to God, we do not thereby receive a dispensation to give the rest to Mammon. Is the mendicant friar, then, the typical Christian? No. An enlightened Christianity will teach us how to consecrate our possessions to God, while retaining the control of them. We are to be stewards, not beggars.
IV. THE BEST OF OUR PROPERTY SHOULD BE MORE DIRECTLY OFFERED TO THE SERVICE OF GOD. While all we have should be held sacred to God, some should be spent on objects that plainly involve self-sacrifice, and that manifestly concern the kingdom of heaven. We must not make the lofty thought of the consecration of all our property an excuse for low selfishness in spending the whole on ourselves. God expects the best. He should have the firstfruits; his claims should be recognized before all others. People often give to religious objects what they think they can spare after satisfying all other calls. They should give to these first, and see afterwards what is spared for more selfish things.
V. IT IS WELL TO DISPOSE OF OUR PROPERTY ON A CERTAIN METHOD. People who give to religious and philanthropic objects on a system of setting apart a certain portion of their income for such purposes, find that they can thus give most readily and justly. It is for each to settle in his own conscience and before God according to what proportion he should give. One may find a tithe too much, considering his duty to his family etc. Another may find it far too little, considering his ease and affluence and the needs of the world.
VI. THIS CONSECRATION OF PROPERTY TO GOD BRINGS A BLESSING ON THE OWNER. If it is not always rewarded with temporal riches, it is repaid in better treasures—pleasures of sympathy and benevolence and the smile of God.
Chastening
I. GOD CHASTENS HIS CHILDREN WITH SUFFERING. All suffering is not chastening. Some trouble is the pruning of branches that already bear fruit, in order that they may bring forth more fruit (John 15:2). But when it meets us in our sins and failings, it is to be regarded as a Divine method of correction. It is not then the vengeance of a God simply concerned with his own outraged anger; before this we should tremble with alarm. It is not the chance product of the unconscious working of brute forces; such a materialistic explanation of suffering might well induce blank despair. The teaching of revelation is that suffering comes with a purpose, and that the purpose is our own good; it is a rod to chasten us for our faults, that we may be led to forsake them, and a pruning knife to fit us for larger fruitfulness.
II. THE MOTIVE WITH WHICH GOD CHASTENS HIS CHILDREN IS FATHERLY LOVE.
1. God must be angry with us for our sin. His anger, however, is not the fruit of malignant hatred, but the expression of grieved love. For love can be angry, nay, sometimes must be, if it is pure and strong. The weak kindliness which is a stranger to indignation at wrong doing is based on no deep affection.
2. If God chastens in love, it is for our own good. Weak love seeks the present pleasure of its objects; strong love aims at the highest welfare, even though this involve misunderstandings and temporary estrangement.
3. God's paternal relation with us is the ground of his chastening in love. We do not reel called upon to correct in strange children the faults for which we chastise our own family. The very love we bear to our children rouses indignation at conduct which we should scarcely heed in others. True love is not blind to the faults of those who are loved, it is rather rendered keen sighted by sorrowful interest. Hence we may take the chastening as a proof of the love and Fatherhood of God. If we were not children, God would not thus put us to pain. Instead of regarding trouble as a proof that God has deserted us, we should see in it a sign that God is owning us and concerning himself with our welfare. The worst curse a man can receive is to be deserted by God and left unchecked in pursuit of folly and sin (Hebrews 12:8).
III. TO RIGHTLY RECEIVE DIVINE CHASTENING WE MUST NEITHER DESPISE IT NOR GROW WEARY OF IT. The good it will do to us depends on the reception we give it. Like other graces, the grace of correction may be received in vain, may be abused to our own hurt. We must not be satisfied, therefore, with the mere fact that we are being chastened. Two evils must be avoided.
1. Despising chastening. Cynical indifference and stoical hardness will render the chastening inefficacious. We must open our hearts to receive it. It blesses the broken heart. The very sorrow it induces is of the essence of its healing grace.
2. Growing weary of chastening. This is the opposite failing. We may despair, complain, show impatience, and rebel. Then the chastening loses its utility. The right reception is evidently to feel its grievousness, but to submit humbly and to seek to learn its bitter but wholesome lessons. The two all-essential thoughts, that suffering is for our own good, and that it is sent in love and is a proof of God's fatherly care for our welfare, should help us neither to be indifferent to it nor to rebel against it, but thus humbly to accept it.