work at all, that you
might help them, or how you might assist the work of God at home or
abroad? There is a great temptation for a brother whose earnings are
small to put off the responsibility of assisting the needy and sick
saints, or helping on the work of God, and to lay it upon the few rich
brethren and sisters with whom he is associated in fellowship, and thus
rob his own soul!

It might be asked, How much shall I give of my income? The tenth part,
or the fifth part, or the third part, or one half, or more? My reply is,
God lays down no rule concerning this point. What we do we should do
cheerfully and not of necessity. But if even Jacob, with the first
dawning of spiritual light (Genesis xxviii. 22), promised to God the
tenth of all he should give to him, how much ought we believers in the
Lord Jesus to do for him: we, whose calling is a heavenly one, and _who
know distinctly_ that we are children of God, and joint heirs with the
Lord Jesus! Yet do all the children of God give even the _tenth_ part
of what the Lord gives them? That would be two shillings per week for
the brother who earns one pound, and four shillings to him who earns two
pounds, and two pounds per week to him whose income is twenty pounds per
week.

In connection with 1 Cor. xvi. 2, I would mention two other portions: 1.
"He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth
bountifully shall reap also bountifully." 2 Cor. ix. 6. It is certain
that we children of God are so abundantly blessed in Jesus, by the grace
of God, that we ought to need no stimulus to good works. The forgiveness
of our sins, the having been made forever the children of God, the
having before us the Father's house as our home;--these blessings ought
to be sufficient motives to constrain us in love and gratitude to serve
God abundantly all the days of our life, and cheerfully also to give up,
as he may call for it, that with which he has intrusted us of the things
of this world. But whilst this is the case, the Lord nevertheless holds
out to us in his holy word motives why we should serve him, deny
ourselves, use our property for him, etc., and the last mentioned
passage is one of that kind. The verse is true, both with reference to
the life that is now, and that which is to come. If we have been
sparingly using our property for him, there will have been little
treasure laid up in heaven, and therefore a small amount of capital will
be found in the wor