OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY BY THE REV. THOMAS SMYTH, D. D. CHARLESTON, S. C.: THE RULE AND MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY. DUTY OF MINISTERS TO PREACH FREQUENTLY ON THIS SUBJECT. Allow me still further to occupy your attention while I endeavor to expound the rule and measure of christian charity, as it is laid down by the Apostle in 1 Cor., viii. 12. "For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what a man hath, and not according to that he hath not." Such an exposition will, I am aware, seem unreasonable and unnecessary. What, you will say, "are we to be continually lectured upon the duty of giving money to the endless objects for which our charity is demanded?" In reply I would say, that it is the duty of every minister of the gospel not only to preach that gospel to those who are still impenitent, just as certainly to "TEACH" those who have received the gospel, "ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER CHRIST HAS COMMANDED." But the great duty enjoined upon us by Christ, is to employ every means within our power, to extend the knowledge and the means of salvation to every creature at home and abroad; in our own neighborhood; in every part of the country; and in every part of the world. And as this work at once puts into requisition all the available resources of every individual believer, it follows, that no duty is more imperative, none more important, and none more necessary to be enforced, than the duty of consecrating our resources, as well as our bodies, souls and spirits, to the cause of Christ. Without such consecration the work of the Lord cannot be carried on in any one department of christian effort, and must therefore be abandoned. And while a cold and partial discharge of this duty characterizes christians, it is as evident that but little good can be accomplished; and that no millennial reign can ever arrive until ALL who love the Lord Jesus Christ are found labouring for Him, and not for themselves, and freely distributing to His cause, ALL their possible means. As it has been proved that charitable collections are an instituted means of grace, and a part of the public worship of God, and therefore an essential part of christian faith and practice, no one can possibly "fulfill the work of the ministry," who does not endeavor to train up his people in the habit of christian liberality, so that they shall be found as "ready to distribute and as willing to communicate," as to pray, to read the Scriptures, to be humble, to be holy, and to add to their faith every other grace. And as these various graces are to be preserved 17-VOL. VII. 258 THE RULE AND MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY. and increased by "line upon line, and precept upon precept," so it is also with this grace and duty of christian charity. Further, the christian minister is to be guided in the selection of his topics of brotherly admonition by "the analogy," or proportion "of faith," and the relative importance and practical necessity of the various duties enjoined by Christ, and implied in christianity. Now, the fulness and variety of Scripture on the subject of christian charity, is very remarkable. No other duty is more clearly, more frequently, or more solemnly commanded. Such precepts as these-"honor the Lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thine increase," "remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 'it is more blessed to give than to receive'"-are found every where throughout the sacred volume. "As they therefore who must give account unto God" for the manner in which they have taught in his name, ministers must take heed that they give due prominence to this matter, "whether men will hear, or whether they will forbear." But still further, is there any danger to which more than others, his people are exposed, and in consequence of which they are in danger of "making shipwreck" of their everlasting hopes? is it not, I ask, the duty of every christian teacher. the more carefully, earnestly, and constantly to bring THAT danger to the view of his people, to forewarn them of it, and to endeavor to save them from its dreadful overthrow. But THERE IS SUCH AN EVIL, AND THAT EVIL IS COVETOUSNESS,—the love of money and of property, and the consequent unwillingness to part with it in the exercise of charity, or to give it in that measure of liberality which the word of God enjoins. There is no other crime so often referred to and denounced both in the old and new Testament as this is, nor one that is so frequently adverted to, and so terribly condemned, by our blessed Saviour during his personal ministration on earth. Neither does Christ. exempt any churches from this duty, or from these charges because of their poverty. We suppose that we shall be allowed to be perfectly safe in asserting that the churches over which the apostle Paul exercised a superintendence possessed, among their members, far less wealth than most churches in the present day. Opulent men may have been found here and there among them. But when we remember that the christian faith was a discreditable one,-the "sect every where spoke against," -a fellowship into which "not many mighty, not many noble," were called-we can have no doubt that, as compared with our own time and country, the christians of the apostle's day must have been truly "an afflicted and poor people," whose simple maxim was "Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content." THE RULE AND MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY. 259 Yet it was to these poor and despised societies that the apostle NEVER wrote without using the most emphatic warnings against covetousness and motives to charity. And it deserves our particular attention, to observe the rank and order in which he places this "respectable" vice of covetousness. It is always classed by him with the most enormous offences. 1 Cor. v. 11.-"I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, -with such an one no not to eat." Ephes. v. 3.-"But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you. For ye know that no unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ or of God." Coloss. iii. 5.-"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and coventousness, which is idolatry." Heb. xiii. 5.-"Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have." 2 Tim. iii. 2.-"In the last days perilous times shall come,men shall be covetous." That minister, therefore, is "a false prophet," "a lying deceiver," and the greatest enemy of his people, who through fear or favour attempts to hide, or to invalidate, or to soften down, the declarations of the most High God, who associates not misers merely, but all who are covetous, with the vilest of criminals; characterizes them as "idolaters;" threatens them with the direst punishment; and excludes them absolutely from the kingdom of heaven. And hence it is the greatest kindness a minister can possibly exhibit to his people, to bring before them the enormous guilt and danger of covetousness, and the imperative necessity of christian liberality. "The love of money," said Andrew Fuller, "will, in all probability, prove the eternal overthrow of more characters among professing people, than any other sin, because it is almost the only crime which can be indulged, and a profession of religion at the same time supported." And what evil is more prevalent or alarming at the present day, or more fatal to the progress of true piety than this, and what is the result? By accumulating wealth beyond the amount necessary for the comfortable support of our family, and dependents, we multiply the attractions of the world; wean our affections from the things that are above; enhance our fondness for the vain, trifling and costly ornaments of life; minister to our taste for pomp and distinction; nurture our love for ease and indolence, encourage pride, arrogance and selfishness; are tempted to esteem ourselves higher and better than others; become wise in our conceits, confident in our own wisdom, dogmatic in our own opinions and overbearing in our tem |