increase should become a member of the christian body. And if, therefore, the disinclination or objection of impenitent men are to be our rule, I am afraid we shall have to abandon christian worship altogether; for it is becoming daily more manifest that if the influence of such men can prevail we shall have no longer a christian Sabbath observed among us, since it is clear that even now great commercial companies have decided either that there is no Sabbath instituted, or that in the command which enjoins it there is an exception made in favor of railroads and steamboats, and the farmer would say of wagons, and the merchant of the post-office and the unposted day-book, and the mechanic of his unfinished work, and the literary man of his studies; and that, while formerly it was a sin against God and against their souls to require our servants and employed assistants to work on the Sabbath, that now it is for the good of their morals and the benefit of stockholders that they should work on the Sabbaths even as on other days. To the views of such earthly-wise and money-making economists, there is no wisdom in the divine philosophy, though all history has attested its truth, that "righteousness exalteth a nation, and that sin is a reproach to any people."

The truth is, there is a great want of genuine faith and confidence in the divine character of christianity among its professed disciples. There is among us an alarming prevalence of cowardice and unmanly timidity, and this arises from the fact that we do not ourselves really believe what we profess, and do not, therefore, practically act upon the principle that this world is not our home, that this world's goods are not our riches, and that we are really stewards for God, as it regards all the influence and property he has put within our power. The gospel, my brethren, is infinitely precious and valuable, beyond all comparison great, and beyond all other riches priceless. Its claims are plain, manifest and indubitable, and the alternative it presents to every man is salvation or perdition. To every human being, therefore, an interest in Christ and his salvation is worth more than worlds, and its loss irreparable throughout eternity. God, therefore, is under no obligation to accommodate the terms of salvation to any man's whims, caprices and objections, AND HE WILL NOT DO IT. He has provided salvation, and he has offered it on those conditions he thought conducive to his own glory and to our best interests. Any man, therefore, who is not prepared to recognize the claims of God to his body, soul and spirit, to his time, influence and talents, and to his money also, cannot be his disciple, and even though he may be a professor, IS NOT A TRUE DISCIPLE. To lower, therefore, this divine standard, to require less than

Christ makes essential, or to encourage any man to believe that on any other conditions he can enter the kingdom of heaven were to give him a forged title-deed to an inheritance from which he will be inevitably ejected, to place in his hand a lying hope, and to allow him, blindfold, to go down to perdition. Nay, it is not only thus to bring damage to such individuals, but to involve ourselves in the same condemnation, for "if any man will take away from" what God has said or enjoined "God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." The conclusion therefore, of the matter is, that whoever has been led by the Spirit of God to see his guilt, ruin and misery, and the unspeakable value of his gracious redemption, will at once perceive that all he is and has is the Lord's; that it is his glorious privilege to be consecrated to his service; and that until this change does take place, any attempt to conform the gospel to the tastes and desires of men only corrupts it and deludes them, while it leaves them still "dead in trespasses and sins."

Oh, if we could only boldly proclaim God's truths and carry out God's requirements, then would there be found among us "the spirit of power." It would be seen that "God is with us of a truth." We would gain favor with all the people, while fear would take possession of the enemies of the gospel. Our own hearts would be exceedingly joyful, and we would enter upon all the services of the christian sanctuary with gladness of heart, while the gospel would sound out from our midst into all the region round about us.

Let us then abide by God's plan of benevolence. It is plain, simple and easy. It is just, because it requires every man to give according to his means, and stamps as covetous hypocrisy and an unjust stewardship any amount less than his means would justify; and most assuredly no ground can be found in reason or Scripture for giving less than one tenth of our whole income. This plan is at the same time merciful, because it does not require of any man beyond what he is able, and stamps as high a worthiness upon the tenth part of that man's income, who may not have more than a few hundred dollars, as upon the tithe of that man whose income is as many thousands. This plan is also wise and holy, because it deals with every man alone and singly. It does not say how much any church should collect, and therefore, how much each individual ought to give, but it comes home to the bosom of every individual, and says to him, "God loveth a cheerful giver." "Freely thou hast received, freely give." "According, therefore, to the means God has given you, and the income you receive, offer to him a sacrifice 21-VOL. VII.

which shall be acceptable to him." It thus "speaks to every man's conscience in the sight of God," and charges him to remember that God, and his cause, have a claim prior and superior to that of husband or wife, or sons or daughters, or food or raiment, or dress and equipage, or fashion and indulgence, and that it is therefore, our duty, first to lay by for God's use what belongs to him, and then use the remainder in meeting our other wants; and not first to meet every wish for our family, or table, or increase of wealth, and then allow the claims of God to scramble for some pitiful remainder wrung from our selfish and covetous grasp.

By this plan, too, every man is made to feel that verily God looks upon his heart, knows his situation, can discover all his hidden ways of dishonesty or artifice, and will, as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira, render judgment and not reward to every man, HOWEVER MUCH HE MAY HAVE GIVEN, who has not given as much as he ought, and in that spirit of cheerful liberality and faith, and prayer and gratitude, in which he ought to offer it.

To conclude. Does any man think that the continued importunity with which we urge this subject requires apology? Then, I will give it in the words of Chrysostom to his congregation, at Antioch, some fourteen hundred years ago: "I am aware," says he, "that many in this congregation will again find fault with me, when I treat of these subjects, and will say, 'Be not, I beseech you, be not harsh and disagreeable to your audience. Make some allowance for their disposition; give some way to the mind of your hearers. For, in this case, you really do put us to shame; you make us blush.' But I may not endure such words; for, since neither was Paul ashamed to be continually troublesome on such points as these, and to speak words such as mendicants use, . . . . wherefore, also, I am bold to speak out. For, what shame is it to say, 'Give unto thy Lord in his hunger; put raiment on him going about naked: receive him, being a stranger?' Thy Lord is not ashamed, before the whole world, to speak thus: 'I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat.' He who is void of all want, requires nothing. And am I to be ashamed, and hesitate? Away with this. The shame is of the snare of the devil. I will not, then, be ashamed, but will say, and that boldly, 'Give to the needy.' I will say it with a louder voice than the needy themselves." And, if this is not sufficient, then let me bring before my reader the commission under which we act as ministers of the Gospel; and the solemn charge by which we are held bound to give answer for our faithfulness, at the bar of God. That commission enjoins us to "teach all things whatsoever Christ has commanded;" and

how frequently he has enjoined this duty you have heard. And that solemn charge is found in 1 Tim. vi. 17-19; "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches; but in the living God, who giveth us all things richly to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate: Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."

SYSTEMATIC BENEVOLENCE.

REPORT ON SYSTEMATIC BENEVOLENCE, BY THE REV. DR. THORNWELL, Adopted by the General AssemBLY.

THIS being the first time that a Committee on Systematic Benevolence has entered as an element into the organization of the Assembly, there seems to be a propriety in prefacing its first report with a brief statement of the principle which lies at the basis of the whole scheme.

It is not to be presumed that God's people are niggardly from meanness, or parsimonious from covetousness, and yet their contributions to the treasury of the Lord are amazingly disproportioned to their blessings and resources. This can only be resolved into ignorance of duty, or a failure to apprehend the real relation of liberality in almsgiving to their christian profession; and as "whatsoever is not of faith is sin," so, whatever does not appeal to their faith cannot permanently affect their hearts. It cannot be denied that our churches have been too much accustomed to look upon giving as purely a matter of christian liberty-a thing which might or might not be done, according to the impulses which happen to prevail at the moment, without, in either case, involving the integrity of christian character; what has been given has been regarded as a bounty, and those who solicit it represented as beggars. This has been a feeling implicitly recognized when it has not been explicitly enounced.

Appeals in behalf of the dearest interests of Christ's kingdom have been, in many cases, coldly received; in others, formally repulsed on the plea of repugnance to so much begging.

It was not that the people were penurious or mean, but that they did not understand the nature of the case; and the way to remove the difficulty is not by denunciation or invective, but by familiar exposition of the scriptural principle upon which these appeals are made. The law of the Lord, when clearly comprehended, can never fail to tell upon the hearts and consciences of the children of God. That law, in relation to the question before us, is, that liberality is a grace of the Spirit, almsgiving an office of christian worship, and collections for the poor and the spread of the gospel an ordinance of God.

Giving, in the scriptures, is put upon substantially the same basis as prayer-the one is the sacrifice of the lips, and the other of the substance; and the acceptance of our gifts is a greater proof of the Divine condescension, than the acceptance