the pleasure of doing good then look desirable? Do not these consequences present and future, invite to that blessed work? And does not his enjoyment rise the highest and appear the noblest, who can be the most efficient?

What can the man of covetousness enjoy? He can look upon his treasures, he can count his gains,—he can calculate upon future riches which he shall amass. And what then?-He must die and leave them all, perhaps to be squandered by prodigal heirs, or to be expended in some other way, equally grating to his feelings. He cannot enjoy his wealth as he goes along by the luxury of doing good;-he cannot lay up for himself a good foundation for the world to come. And when the day of death arrives, he sees that he has lived in vain—his wealth he cannot carry with him—and he cannot bear to leave it. He has set his heart upon a fleeting shadow, which the sun retiring has blotted out forever. And now, where are his hopes? and where are his joys?

One more motive for liberality I will mention in this connexion; and that is, that it gives a man an insight into the scriptures.

Says our Lord Jesus Christ, "If any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God." I take this, my brethren, to be a general principle of interpretation. Doing right then is the way to understand the scriptures; and this is undoubtedly the true spirit of that passage, "He that believeth hath the witness in himself." He that constantly goes on to do what God commands, shall find his light break forth out of obscurity, and his darkness as the noon day.

On the principle of interpretation then which our Saviour here lays down, what can a covetous man understand of such a passage as this, "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich ?" or such as this, "To do good and to communicate, forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased?" or such as this, "He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully ?” or above all, such as this, "It is more blessed to give than to receive ?"

What is the reason, my brethren, that so many wrest the scriptures to their own destruction by imagining that they derive from them those doctrines of licentiousness which give every man a hope of heaven? Is it not obviously because they do not adopt the principle of interpretation of which we speak, obedience to God? Why do so many damnable heresies walk abroad in the earth and receive the embrace of such multitudes who otherwise have strong pretensions to wit and learning? Doubtless because, amid all their speculations, they have not acted-they have not done the will of God. And for the same reason many who call themselves Christians have not drunk in the spirit of liberality, though the New Testament is full of precepts to inculcate it. They do not in this way, and therefore they understand not and feel not. And for the same reason too, when love to God and love to man are laid down as the essential properties of the Christian; and when the rule of judging the existence of these is no other than the conduct; many who lay claim to that

character, realize nothing of its force. They act not for the welfare of men-they do not the will of God in this respect; and therefore they understand not, and feel not the power of the divine requisitions.

It is remarkable, moreover, that the condemnation or acquittal of the last day is represented as depending on our performance or non-performance of the duties of liberality; these being, as we find in other passages of scripture, the evidence of our faith and love. "I was hungry and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger and ye took me in; naked and ye clothed me; I was sick and ye visited me; I was in prison and ye came unto me."-" Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

When this solemn and interesting account of the day of judgment stands so clearly before us as it does in the written word; and when the gospel is so full of exhortations to liberality as we all know that it is, how dare a man assume the name of a Christian while he does not hesitate to indulge all the niggardly calculations of covetousness as his daily food? Can such a man have learned the principle of interpretation which the Saviour has laid down, doing right?—If then, my brethren, you wish to take the full influence of divine truth into your hearts;-if you wish to understand that grace of the Lord Jesus which brought him down from heaven for your sakes;-if you wish to know and feel the power of Christian benevolence so abundantly inculcated in the scriptures; act--do the will of God.

Such is the influence of liberality on one's own self. With regard to its influence on others, I know not where to begin. A wide field opens before me; but Į

have only time to step into it, and then retire. Look at the consolation and hope which have lighted up the dark dwellings of poverty in this country and in Europe. See that weeping widow who but yesterday found no alleviation to her grief, now filled with joy and peace in believing. She has read in her bible which Christian benevolence put into her hand, that all things work together for good to them that love God; and that though no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous; yet afterward, it worketh out the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby. Look at that deaf mute who but lately was shut out from all the joys of intelligence, and who knew not the Saviour, now walking in the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Look at that youth whose parents never offered a prayer for his welfare and never gave him a word of instruction out of the book of life, and who was growing up to be a pest to society and an inhabitant of the world of wo, now rejoicing in the intelligence and virtue of Christianity. How was the curse which usually follows the children of wicked parents, reversed? He was trained up under the fostering care of a Sabbath school. Look into heathen lands, and see the thousands whose hopes in this life and whose prospects in another are entirely changed by the knowledge that Christ hath died. See the comfort and peace that spread around their habitations, and the laws of civilized and Christian life that are beginning to obtain among them. Look forward to succeeding generations of these same people, and see the increase of gospel light which shall shine on their lands. Nay follow them all through the ages of a blessed eternity; and then estimate, if you can, what has been done for

them. Go to any place on this earth where Christian liberality has but laid her finger, and her influence will be seen. She is the genuine offspring of Him who once walked about the streets of Jerusalem, healing all manner of diseases, and blessing with his life giving presence the poor and the afflicted. Let but her influence be universal ;—and this world which has so long groaned under the oppression of avarice and ambition, shall bloom in all the verdure of the garden of God.

Among the institutions of Christian liberality which our age has produced, is the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. This is the place, my brethren, where its first counsels were held. Here sat Worcester and Treadwell, those choice spirits whose influence has blessed the churches of Christ, and who now rest from their labours and their works do follow them-here they sat, with others like them, and laid the foundation of this noble institution. It has been in operation eighteen years. I need not tell you what it has done. The work is written in your hearts. I need not tell you that the cause in which this Board are engaged is the cause of God. You know it. You have read in your bibles that there is none other name given under heaven among men by which they can be saved than the name of Jesus Christ. And you have read also, that it pleases God by the preaching of Christ to save them that believe. And you admit the force of the apostle's reasoning when he says, “How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent." And you know that command which stands on the divine record, "Go