The Faithful Steward | Page 2

our Creator and to one another, are
sundered; as a race, severed from the governing Centre of all, each has
chosen a centre for himself, and is moving on in darkness and ruin;
selfishness the rule, self-interest the end.
Benevolence is not, therefore, natural to man. To practise it requires the

greatest effort; it is reascending to that lofty height whence we have
fallen. Hence the importance of System in the great work of
beneficence.
System in action implies a principle from which it proceeds.
Fluctuating opinions and feelings produce fickleness of conduct; while
settled convictions, stability of affections, and fixedness of purpose,
give birth to persevering and methodical action. A system of
beneficence must be founded on abiding principles and dispositions.
_I proceed to show in the first place, the Duty of Systematic
Beneficence thus founded_.
I. _I argue the duty of systematic beneficence from the analogy of
nature_. The Author of nature is the perfection of order. Whatever he
does, he does systematically. He proceeded in the great work of
creation with regularity. Order moulded the planets, and every star that
gems the evening sky; it launched them forth in their orbits, and guides
their glorious way, producing "the music of the spheres." Order
stretched the very layers of the everlasting rocks like ribs around the
earth, and shaped the crystals of the cavern. There is order in the
structure of every spire of grass, of every flower and shrub, of every
tree and trembling leaf; in the mechanism of every animal, from man in
his godlike attitude, to the smallest microscopic tribes. All organic
existences are preserved in being, nurtured, grow and mature,
according to certain laws. Even the winds, that stir the petals of the
flowers, breathing fragrance and health, and the tornado, that bows the
forest and dashes navies, obey established principles. Now, shall there
be order all around me, and in my physical frame, in the flowing blood,
in the heaving lungs, and chiseled limbs, while the accountable actions
of this finely-knit and symmetrical form, especially the loftiest actions
for which it was made, the diffusion of good, are exempted from this
universal law? Such an exception, how incongruous! It would be an
excrescence on the very vitals of nature.
II. From the characteristic of Divine beneficence. The supply of our
physical necessities and comforts comes in the order of those natural
laws already referred to. Social and civil blessings result from certain

principles of mental, moral, and political science. Method is equally
characteristic of our spiritual blessings. No sooner had man fallen, than
God began to unfold the remedial scheme. But he is influenced by no
impulses in accomplishing the wondrous plan. He rushes not to the
result with an impetuosity indicative of a zeal that flames along its
course uncontrolled by reason. But there is a steadiness of onward
movement, showing that unwavering principles of order preside over
all his proceedings. The world, the intelligent universe, must be
prepared for such a stupendous event as the incarnation and death of
the Son of God; prophecies, promises, types, and ritual institutions
must gradually open the scheme, ere the final development could be
suitably made. After forty centuries of preparation, Christ came; and
yet years must pass away, before, in that order of events which God had
established, the crowning event of all could occur,--the propitiatory
sacrifice be offered up. In extending the kingdom thus founded, the
same order, the same adaptation of means to ends, is observable. The
word of God, the Sabbath, the sanctuary, the workings of the Holy
Spirit, and the co-operation of the individual reason and conscience, are
all linked consecutively to each other, or work in beautiful harmony
together. Thus, throughout the entire scheme of spiritual blessings,
reaching from the opening promise of a Saviour to the incarnation; and
from the incarnation to the judgment; and onward to eternity,
everything is done systematically.
This is the result of the unchanging principles of the Divine Mind.
They grow with a steady heat, equally prompting him to activity at
every moment. Hence, like the sun shining in its strength, God sends
down unweariedly the rays of his love, both on the evil and on the good,
crowning their days with "loving-kindness and tender mercies." Indeed,
should the ardor of his love cool, or the hand of his power or grace be
withdrawn but for a single moment, all our hopes would be dashed, our
very existence cease.
From this characteristic of the Divine beneficence, the inference is
irresistible. If man is bound by the condition of his being, to imitate
God in his moral character and conduct, he must cherish the same
abiding principles of benevolence, and carry the same steady hand in

diffusing good. The ardor of his love may never cool; his