Edgefield Advertiser

MISCELLANEOUS:

Liberality 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 rule of interpretation. Doing what is 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 Savior 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 our 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 hinders us, 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 principles 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 act 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 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 Savior 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 the 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.—Ogden.