THE BIBLE AND ITS LESSONS.

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CHAPTER XII.

THE BIBLE'S ANTIDOTE TO THE RULING PASSION.

"Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. That they do good, that they be rich in good works; ready to distribute, willing to communicate. Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."-1 TIM. vi. 17-19.

Luke xii. 13-21.-The "mindless man"-Mammon-God's plans reversed -The duty of pastors-The early Church-The secret of its successOur age and its tendencies-Inventions-Progress-Earnestness in the world-Shall the Church be less earnest ?-Hope from the youngRadical cure for covetousness-Growth in godliness-Louis PhilippeConclusion.

ALL that has hitherto been said, has proceeded upon the general principles which are embodied in the Bible, regarding money, its use and abuse. But before drawing to a close, it may tend to confirm and consolidate the positions which have been advanced, if we advert to a particular example of the general truth as propounded in Scripture.

The book of God leads us far into the knowledge of man, of his heart, and his ways. Though that book was written for a state of society widely different from ours, its lessons are just as applicable now as they were in the days of Abraham, of David, or of Paul. The

reason of that mainly is, that man is in all ages the same by nature-whether he occupies a palace, or a hovel --whether he rejoices amid the blessings of civilized life, or roams the forest, the companion of wild beasts, and just more ingeniously savage than they. The simple account of man by nature is this-God is not in all his thoughts. There is no fear of God before his eyes. He likes not to retain the knowledge of God in his heart. There may be superstition, but there is no religion. There may be quaking fear, and human sacrifices offered to hush it. But there is no love to God, as long as man is under the power of nature. Everywhere, and evermore, he lives without God, and without hope, as long as nature is his only guide, and that makes him in David's age, in Paul's, and in ours, identical in heart.

But to shed light upon all this, let us study a passage in the word of God-Luke xii. 13-21-which describes one of the most selfish characters which even that word depicts. The man there spoken of is not represented as flagitious. He is not described as living in gross sin, as men measure iniquity-nay, he was a busy and an active man. He was much employed in improving his estate; and judging from the graphic sketch which the Saviour here presents, it is obvious that He had in view a character which was not slothful in business. But along with that, we have here a perfect specimen of selfishness-a complete illustration of what it is to live unto ourselves.

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And the first point we would mark is that which tells that it was the "ground of the rich man that fur

"VANITY AND VEXATION."

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nished his wealth. The word may mean an ample territory, or a large estate. It was no fluctuating or uncertain thing, nay, it was the firm and solid earth which supplied his stores. With the least possible risk, therefore, he had plentiful returns, and ample riches.

How happy, then, that man, according to the common estimate of happiness! How free from care! How certain and secure his stores! Such is the judgment of men upon a case like his. In multitudes of minds, there might be no feeling but that such a man's life consisted in the abundance of the things which he possessed. As if the immortal spirit could be satisfied with land, or with its produce, many think nothing more to be necessary to make man blessed.

Was the rich man happy, then? Surrounded as he was with wealth, did he find that he was at rest? Nay; mark what follows. His very abundance became the. source of his trouble. "What shall I do," he asks?

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I have no room to bestow my fruits." He was just as far as ever from rest and satisfaction, for he was seeking repose in the wrong object; and while others might be envying his affluence, he himself was compelled by it to ask, "What shall I do?" He had found out what millions have discovered, and never been the wiser, that we may as well try to lave the ocean dry, as to satisfy the soul with gross, material things.

Nor should we pass over the words, "He thought within himself," in this picture of a covetous soul. The character of this rich fool is finely sustained, and there is not one gleam of heaven's light in all his mind. He

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A PICTURE OF MAN.

never alludes to the heavenly wisdom. He never consults God; God is not in all his thoughts. He only thought "within himself”—that is, he took counsel of his own heart, and his God was out of sight, and out of mind. Just as many a man never appeals to the Wonderful, the Counsellor, amid the plans or the purposes of life, this man acted as if there were no God to consult; and this is human nature sketched in one single clause.

But had this man taken God into his counsels-had he asked the guidance of the heavenly wisdom-what might have been his determination? He might have discovered that he had poor neighbours, whom he could have fed with his stores. He had the naked, whom he could have clothed. He had the ignorant, whom he could have instructed. In other words, he had God's work in God's world to promote by the abundance which God had given. But not a thought of all that shot into this man's mind. What were the poor to him? He needed larger barns. What were the ignorant, or the homeless to him? He only wanted to store up his goods; and he stored them up, without one thought either of charity or mercy. The widow, the orphan, the sick, or the ignorant, would have been places of safe keeping, according to the Scriptures, "for he who giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord;" but we hear nothing of all these in this man's thoughts. Like Achan, and his wedge of gold-like King Ahab, and Naboth's vineyard-like Ananias and Sapphira, with their wealth-he sought only to get and to keep, although death might be only a few paces away.

But let us trace onward the course of his ungodly

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thoughts, and see more and more clearly how God is kept out of mind. The man's resolution was first to pull down his old storehouses; then he was to build new ones; and after all this care and trouble, implying, perhaps, months or years of labour, he was to store up his fruits and his goods.

Now, it is here that the utter selfishness of this character is most distinctly revealed-" I will pull down my barns; in new ones I will bestow all my fruits, and my goods. Not one thought of the Great Proprietor of all—not one glance at Him to whom the earth and its fulness belong. The silver is God's, and the gold is God's-it is He that gives us power to get wealth, but this man never glances at all that. The mind, or the will of the Bountiful Giver is utterly set aside. It is self, and the indulgence of self, that forms the rich fool's only rule. He says, "My barns-my fruits— my goods," and he says no more.

And who has not noticed how completely that tendency reigns in the heart of man? Take, for example, a little child. Attempt to teach him that God is the Great Proprietor of all, or that He has a right to all that man possesses, and, in spite of all your lessons, that child may hasten away from your knee to consult only self-God is set aside even by him. Or take some one capable of forming a more comprehensive judgment than a little child. Try to persuade him that the will of God should guide our all, just as the hand of God has given it, and you will find that after all your lessons, God is still set aside. Self, and the things of self, are