in that he is exalted, but the rich in that he is made low." It is the glory of the Gospel to raise and ennoble every condition and employment in life, however humble; none are cut off from a high pitch of Christian perfection, if they seek for it in their own appointed path. But if they wander from this path, hoping to ascend by a shorter and forbidden road, then they will miss their object; he who thinks that he knows any thing, knows as yet nothing; he who would aspire to a higher duty, neglecting to perform the one placed before him, shall but receive the greater condemnation. To the same purpose St. Paul adds, "Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate; be not wise in your own conceits," because, although the Gospel would fix our hearts on the highest heaven, yet it would have our eyes and our thoughts fixed upon the simple business of our lives, not to go out of our calling, but to abide in it with God. The Apostle therefore goes on to the end of the thirteenth chapter, in mentioning that conduct and those feelings, which, being within the reach of all, will tend to bring all onwards to the height of Christian perfection. "Let love be without dissimulation; abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one toward another, with brotherly love, in honour preferring one another." In the last of these verses, he gives a sentiment very much in agreement with that passage in his Epistle to the Galatians, in which he classes emulations with hatred, wrath, strife, envyings, and those other works of the flesh, which, if a man do, he shall not inherit the kingdom of God. So here he bids us not to be vying with one another, which shall get the most honour, but in honour to prefer one another. For the highest blessings there can be no emulation; heaven is open to all who try for it, but it may be safely said, that no man whose affections were heavenly, ever wished to be better than his neighbours, that he might obtain a higher place in heaven than they. We know how Christ reproved those who asked to be seated the one on His right hand, and the other on His left, in His kingdom; and how He strove to quell all thoughts of rivalry about such a matter, by saying that he who was most childlike in humility, the same should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. In fact, they who are most labouring to improve themselves in goodness, and are most anxious to win the favour of God, are above all others desirous of bringing others on in the same heavenly road with themselves; the wish of being perfect as God is perfect, is truly noble and inspiring, but that of being more perfect than their brethren, becomes at once low and earthly. And equally low and unchristian is it to wish to be more wise, more distinguished, more learned, or more loved than our brethren, however much the principle may be encouraged by those who are ignorant of the true nobleness of Christ's discipline. It is said that emulation leads to many great works, and so it may, but it does not lead to good ones; it makes us wise, but not with that wisdom which is descended from above, but with that other which is earthly, sensual, devilish; in other words, it may give us knowledge, but it injures our wisdom. Assuredly the principles of love and duty may be too weak in many minds to urge them to conquer their natural indolence; but one reason why they are so weak is, because from infancy they are so seldom appealed to; because children are constantly taught to act upon lower motives, till their relish for the higher ones is utterly lost. But even the lower motives of fear and the hope of reward, are far preferable to that of emulation; the fear of lawful authority, far from degrading the character, on the contrary sobers and exalts it; it is the fear of unlawful authority that is mean and mischievous, the fear of our equals, the fear of ridicule, the fear of the opinion of the world. Fear of punishment and hope of reward, we may safely use with children, and with all imperfectly formed characters, because God Himself has thought fit to use them. They are not the best motives certainly, but they may and do often lead to the best; they keep our practice right, till the habit of acting is acquired, and then we do good easily, and for the higher motives of love and duty. Whereas emulation, as it is in its very essence a breach of charity, a struggling to obtain a good thing in preference to our neighbour; so it fosters pride in our hearts, and a spirit of selfishness, the very two feelings which are most at variance with those of heaven, and most congenial with those of hell. But immediately after he has condemned emulation, he gives us in one short verse, the picture of a Christian acting in the business of life on Christian motives. "Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." Emulation cannot make the most ambitious man alive labour more heartily than the love of Christ will make the Christian. "Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit." Life is too short, and we have too much to do in it, to allow of our being idle. Our business, indeed, is infinitely various, and some have the privilege of not being bound to any one of necessity, but of choosing for themselves that for which they are most fitted; but woe to him who lives without choosing any, or who is slothful in that which is laid upon him by necessity. Most certainly we may here apply our Lord's words, "If ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous Mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?" If you have been idle in your earthly stewardship, if you have turned to no profit the time and the faculties lent to you by God for His service, you will assuredly never be allowed to waste in the same manner the never ending time, and the incorruptible faculties, which are the portion of the just in heaven. Be not slothful then in your daily business, but fervent in spirit, not going through it as a heavy drudgery, with your minds fixed on some future enjoyment, but doing it actively and cheerfully, and with your hearts in the work. Yes, I may say with your hearts in the work, if you bear in mind the words that follow,-"Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." So long as you remember in whose service you are working, and are thus restrained from those sins which often beset the industry of a worldly man, an unscrupulousness in the means of getting rich, and a carefulness and covetousness even when there is no dishonesty; so long as you remember who is your Master, and how long your service to Him will last, not for seventy years only, but for ever and ever, so that your earthly labour is but the smallest and the poorest part of it, the mere cheap materials which are given us to practise on, till we have the skill to use something better; so long as you do this, you may have your hearts in your work, and they will only be the more in |