iving is God's rule for getting_.

But the best illustration of this subject to be found in the Bible is
given in our Saviour's own experience. He not only _preached_ the
lesson of liberality, but _practised_ it. He is himself the greatest
giver ever heard of. In becoming our Redeemer he showed himself the
Prince of givers. He gave--not silver and gold; not all the wealth of
the world, or of ten thousand worlds like ours; but "He gave
_Himself_ for us." He can say indeed, to each of us, in the language
of the hymn:

"I gave my life for thee,
My precious blood I shed,
That thou might'st ransomed be,
And quickened from the dead."

And what is the result of this glorious giving to Jesus himself? St.
Paul answers this question when he says, "Wherefore God also hath
highly exalted him; and given him a name which is above every name;
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,
and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father," Phil, ii: 9-11. Because of what he gave "for us men, and
for our salvation," he will be loved and praised and honored in
heaven, on the earth, and through all the universe, above all other
beings, for ever and ever. What a glorious illustration we have here
of the truth of this statement, that "giving is God's rule for
getting." These are some of the illustrations of this lesson of
liberality that we find in the Bible.

_And now, let us look at some illustrations of this subject, that we
have in nature_.

Solomon suggests one of these when he says, "_There is that
scattereth, and yet increaseth_." Prov. xi: 26. He is evidently
speaking here of a farmer sowing his fields with grain.

Now suppose that we had never seen a man sowing; and that we knew
nothing at all about the growth of grain, or how wonderfully the seed
sown in the spring is increased and multiplied when the harvest is
reaped. Then, the first time we saw a farmer sowing his fields, we
should have been ready to say, "What a foolish man that is! He is
taking that precious grain by the handful, and deliberately throwing
it away."

Of course, we should have expected that the grain thus thrown away,
or scattered over the ground, would all be lost. But, if we could
have come back to visit that farmer when he was gathering in his
harvest, how surprised we should have been! Then we should have
learned that