The Faithful Steward | Page 5

But it may be prevented by the timely admonitions of experience. For that selfishness can be suppressed, and benevolence sustained, only by the strong hand of principle and systematic effort, is the voice of ages.
VI. From Scripture. All duties enjoined in the Scriptures, if contemplated in their principles, will be found subjected to the control of reason; and, if they lie under the control of reason, they must be conducted methodically. All acts of worship, from the first requisition of Divine homage given in Eden, onward through the successive generations of the patriarchs, were to be performed with decency and in order. The Mosaic economy was one of the most rigid exactness. The ritual prescribed to the Jews required the utmost method. The same law held in regard to the payment of tithes and their multiplied gifts to the Lord. This precision, with which every one must be struck in reading the Old Testament, is doubtless designed for the instruction of all succeeding times. But what is its peculiar lesson to us? It, at least, shows us that God is pleased with regularity in the conduct of his people; and not less in their beneficent transactions than in the discharge of their other duties. The same principle of order is transferred to Gospel times. Here, there may be liberty, but there must be regularity. This is taught in that general commendation of Paul to the Colossian christians for the order and steadfastness that rejoiced him. (Col. ii. 5.) But if regularity in other things is pleasing to God under the New Dispensation, why is it not in this divinest work of an intelligent being? This is specifically shown in the injunction of Paul to the Corinthians,*[1 Cor. Xvi. 2.] for each one to lay by him in store on the first day of the week, as God had prospered him. Now, without pushing this text to extremes, and affirming that the Holy Ghost intended to require of all christians in all circumstances and in all ages, to contribute a portion of their substance in charity every Sabbath, the passage most distinctly shows that God is pleased with systematic benevolence--with stated appropriations of income to objects of munificence. As order is nature's first law, so it is of the Scriptures.
System in our benefactions is thus clearly a duty devolving on all. It is alike the voice within and the voice from heaven. It cannot be neglected without imminent peril. It is a subject of vital interest. It must be deeply pondered. It must be earnestly prayed over. The great idea must enter, like a consuming fire, into the very heart's core, and inflaming it with zeal, bring forth fruit an hundred fold to the Lord.
One thing more. Every man is bound to make the most of his being. All his powers, both of body and of mind, are to be taxed to the utmost, and exerted in the most effective manner. Each duty, without intrenching on others, should be performed in such a way, as best to secure the end aimed at in the obligation. Manner may not be disregarded. If there is reason to believe that the end contemplated in the obligation to beneficence may be best reached by a course of systematic effort, the very fact should lead to its immediate adoption. At the close of the preceding arguments, without reasoning in a circle, this may be adduced as a consideration of no small force, inducing every one to cast about him, and solemnly consider whether he is conducting his charities in the most efficient method; manner and spirit being as binding as the generous deed itself. And on this principle, every precept, promise, and example of revelation, enforcing benevolence, is really a precept, promise, and example, arousing to systematic benevolence. The same is true of the various incentives to this glorious work, offered in the ensuing pages; and in this light let the reader regard them.
_In the second place, what is the Nature of a Scriptural System of Beneficence_? This is an important inquiry. Every system, as we have seen, must be founded in principle--a principle rooted in the active powers, resting down upon the main-springs of the soul, so as to be moved forward by all the mental energies combined. But it must not only rest on principle; it must rest on right principle. The moral character of a system depends on the character of the moral feelings from which it rises; and it is the moral character of any scheme of action, which, under the government of God, gives it permanent efficiency; for to succeed, it must have his co-operation and aid. Besides, a system of benevolence is designed to combat the selfishness of the heart; a principle, strong, subtle, insidious, and developing itself in ten