son is first, and then give what money God in his good providence may enable you. How well does the Psalmist say, "He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them!" I have noticed that when men defraud the poor, deny the claims of charity, and of religion, and of the gospel, in order to accumulate money, and leave it to those that come after them, it never proves a blessing; but, on the contrary, those who have responded liberally and largely to every good, noble, and beneficent claim, have their children growing up like olive-plants round their table, blessed, and calling them blessed. I believe in a God acting in providence and watching all, and I believe that never yet was there a liberal man, in the right sense of that word, liberal to all the claims of religion, and charity, and benevolence, who was not in some way blessed by God. Even men of the world, who are liberal men, seem to be far happier men than others; and if there be one man worthy of the name of miser, it is he who has neither the heart nor the habit of giving to the claims of Christ and of the gospel- he that layeth up treasure on earth, and is not rich toward God." There are two ways in which a man may be rich toward God; the first is by possessing the unsearchable riches of Christ, the pardon of sin, peace with God, acceptance through the blood of Jesus, the adoption of a son. These are the first, the chiefest, the greatest things. Nothing must supersede them; nothing can be a substitute for them; and if a man has not peace with God, if he is not a Christian, no matter what he may be in the estimate of man, that man is poor-poor indeed. But there is a second way in which one may be rich toward God; and that is by giving to God a portion of one's wealth. You ask, "How give to God?" He is enthroned upon the riches of the universe; to give to him would be like to add a drop to the ocean, or hold a taper

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to the meridian sun. blessed Lord has told us, and never forget it, "Whosoever shall give to one of the least of these a cup of cold water, verily I say unto, he shall not lose his reward."

How can we give to God? Our

We may draw one or two conclusions from the parable we have thus endeavoured to explain. First, the possession of wealth is not sinful. I believe indeed that the greatest calamity to the social system would be the universal equalization of all society, the bringing down all to one level. I rejoice that there are the rich, I know that there will be the poor, and if there were no rich and poor, there would be no opportunity for the interchange of those bright and noble feelings, that, like the lightning's sweep through the skies, illumine the gloom of this world, and show that it has affinities still with heaven. When a man

gives freely for Christ's sake, that man does an act that makes the nearest approach to the character of Christ, that is, if he gives simply to do good.

Here, too, it is important to notice, that increase of money brings with it in every case this peril, that it exposes to many temptations, it adds many and mighty responsibilities. I hope that all who have will feel this. I mean, by a rich man, one who is able to pay all his debts at Christmas, and have something over. I do not mean one who has half a million, but one who has something left after paying all just and proper demands. I mean one who can look back upon the last year, year, and say, shocks have been here, convulsions there, and ruin has drawn its ploughshare along one place, and death has entered another. I have been prospered, and my prospects for the year to come are still bright, and I will, as a new-year's offering, give something for Christ's sake.

A day comes when the richest sinner on earth shall be seen to have been poor, and the wisest worldling a fool.

Let us look on such in the light of eternity. Let us here, in some degree, live in the future, and let the present be spent in God's strength, and according to his word, and the future will be rich in blessings to us. Let us feel as candidates for a glorious treasure. Let us live as expectants of eternal joy. Let all things remind us this is not our rest, or our home. We look for a city. Christ is our treasure beyond the age that now runs out. Let our hearts beat beside him, and be happy by responding to his touch.

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LECTURE XI.

TRUE RICHES.

And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all thir gs are possible.-MARK X. 17-27.

THE young man recorded in this passage, which seems to be an actual history rather than a mere parable, was perfectly sincere, and went forth in the earnest pursuit of the highest duty that devolves on man. His attitude was "running”—that of intense and anxious desire, and his position, when he arrived, that of kneeling, an indication of his humility of mind; and the language in which he addressed our blessed Redeemer was in all respects such as became him: "Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" At this point Jesus offered an objection, apparent at least, to the young man's application

of the epithet "good." The sequel will show the reason of this. The young man thought himself good, and Jesus just such another as himself. Our lord was about to convince him of sin, and therefore he alludes by implication to the only good One, who alone is perfectly good, and so teach the young man to feel himself defective in real good. It was meant to raise the young man's standard of good by presenting that standard in all its perfection, and to indicate that if he recognised not Jesus as God, he wholly misapplied the epithet good. Our Lord, at verse 19, quotes the last five commandments, or the second division of the moral law, first, probably, to show how far the natural man may go in obedience to inherent and in itself unblamable, constitutional, or conventional feeling, and other ordinary standards, in discharging the duties that he owes to his brethren of mankind, not that he could have stood the test if it had been presented in all its spirituality as it is explained in Matt. v. 21, 22, 27, 28: «Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. . . . Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." But it appears, from all we can gather, that the outward character of the young man was in every respect unexceptionable, amiable, benevolent, generous, and kind. And, while all this was no ground of justification in the sight of God, yet so far as it went, it was so lovely, that Jesus even regarded it with