תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

THOUGHTS ON 1 CORINTHIANS vi. 20.

Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

THE POWERS OF THE MIND.-A FRAGMENT.

THE WILL. Let it choose God in Christ, in preference to all things. Judgment. Let it, as instructed by the word of God, and enlightened by his Spirit, carefully determine what is to be believed and to be done. Memory. Let it treasure up the word of God, the sins I have committed, the mercies I have received. Conscience. Let it be exquisitely tender, without unnecessary scrupulosity. Invention. Let me endeavor to discover new methods of doing good, and how I may do the utmost possible good with the means I possess. Imagination. Let my imagination delight to trace the similitudes used in Scripture; such as where a soul dead in sins is compared to a dead body; and where spiritual things are illustrated by the objects of creation. PASSIONS1. Admiration. Let it be employed upon God's attributes and works. 2. Anger. Let it be turned against myself for sin. 3. Contempt. Let it be of worldly pleasures and vanities. 4. Covetousness. Let it be of the true riches, and of the best gifts. 5. Fear. Let me have a filial fear of offending God, a fear of coming short of the heavenly rest, of the misery hanging over the wicked. 6. Grief. Let it be for my own sins, and those of others. 7. Gratitude. In reference to God, let it be exerted as in the case of the cleansed leper:* in reference to men, as in the case of Elisha to

*Luke xvii. 18.

wards the Shunamite.* enly happiness, of attaining greater conformity to Jesus; of the further extension of Christ's kingdom; of men's not being so wicked as they seem to be. 9. Jealousy. Let me have a godly jealousy of my own heart. 10. Joy. Let it arise from victory over my sins; over death. Let me rejoice in God, and in the progress of the truth. 11. Love. Let it be of God on account of what he is in himself, what he hath done for me, is doing for me, and will do for me; of the brethren, and of all mankind. 12. Revenge. Against myself for sin, and against sín as my great enemy. 13. Shame. Let shame arise in me on account of sins committed, duties omitted, the strength of indwelling sin, and my little knowledge of God. 14. Zeal. Let my zeal be for God's honor, and for good works. SENSES-Sight. Let my eyes continually look up to God in prayer, faith, and humble dependence. Let them be employed in reading his word, and other pious and useful writings. Let them gaze upon his wonderful works of creation. Hearing. Let my ears be attentive to God's word, read or preached. Let them be swift to hear the instruction of the righteous. Smelling. Let the fragrance of every sweet flower, or other odoriferous substance, lead me, as it did the ancient Israelites, to return thanks to that God who could as easily have made every scent in nature ungrateful to my nerves. Taste. Let the pleasant flavor of my food lead me to thank the Lord who could, with equal ease, have made all my food nauseous. GIFT OF SPEECH. Let my tongue be talking of God,

8. Hope. Let it be of the heav

[blocks in formation]

and for God; let it be employed in praying to him, and singing his praises; let my discourse be always gracious, wise, reasonable, and kind. Hands. Let them be raised towards heaven in prayer; let them write for the instruction and comfort of my fellow-creatures; let them diffuse Divine truth in the distribution of the Scriptures and other religious books; let them minister to the bodily necessities of the indigent. Knees. Let them bend at God's footstool. Feet. Let them go on the messages of God. J. H. D.

ON BANKRUPTCY.

"Is it the duty of a bankrupt to consider himself bound, in the sight of God, to make up his dividend 20s. in the pound, if, after setting up in business, he prospers, and is able to do it? And may he retire from business without making up his dividend, when he finds himselfTM possessed of sufficient property, and consider himself an honorable Christian, eligible for any public station in the church?”

IF the Scriptures be consulted, the answer to such an inquiry is short and conclusive. Nothing can be more decisive than those two passages: "Render unto all their dues," and "Owe no man any thing." The first requires a strict attention to the just claims of others. The second forbids the protracted existence of a debt, when he who incurred it is capable of tendering the payment; nor does it make any exception, such as 'You need not pay, if your creditor be richer than yourself;

he does not want it; it is of no consequence, because a small sum.' The command ("Owe no man any thing") VOL. III.

* 2.5

is so clear and forcible, that he who runs may read and

understand.

A man of the world, who has little to do with conscience, except so far as it may be impressed by the laws of the land, may feel perfectly satisfied with the legal decisions relative to bankruptcy; and when he is safe from the arrests of creditors, may consider himself equally so from the demands of Justice: but a Christian, who is taught in a higher school, and whose proficiency should not only appear in the sublimity of his sentiments and hopes, but in the tenderness of his conscience and rectitude of his actions, should ever consider the law of God as his primary authority and rule. Its plain and positive precepts cannot be diminished in their importance, by the allowances which human laws make for the unsuccessful in secular occupations.

[ocr errors]

It should also be remembered, that the Bankrupt Laws were instituted for the relief of the truly unfortunate; and were not intended to acquit persons of the real and intrinsic claims of right. Coincident with which idea is the opinion of Dr. Paley, who, speaking of a debtor, says, "But when he refuses to pay a debt, of the reality of which he is conscious, he cannot plead the intention of the statute, and the supreme authority of the law, unless he could shew that the law intended to interpose its supreme authority to acquit men of debts, of the existence and justice of which they were themselves sensible." And, doubtless, it is the occasion of deep regret to those who "hold fast their integrity," that what was originally designed as the asylum of the distressed, proves, too often, the refuge of the indolent, extravagant, and unprincipled.

The subsequent part of the Query, "May he retire from business without making up his dividend," &c. derives its answer from the solution of the first.

If he possess a sufficiency to support himself and family, besides what will discharge his debts, he is warranted in retiring; if not, he cannot relinquish his occupation without being in danger of falling under that censure, "If any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel." How far that Christian can be honorable who neglects obedience to a clear command, even in circumstances which favor its observance, may be safely left with common sense to decide; and how far such a person can be eligible to office in the church, who "returns not to the owner his right," when in his power to do it, those cutting questións may perhaps determine: "Thou, therefore, that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?" H.

EXPLANATION OF 1 TIM. 1. 20.

REQUESTED BY A CORRESPONDENT.

Of whom is Hymeneus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

ST. PAUL is here animating the evangelist Timothy to maintain the truth of the Gospel at Ephesus, in opposition to some false teachers who had crept in there, and who taught differently from the inspired apostles of Christ. Instead of inculcating the "love" of God and man, pro

« הקודםהמשך »