'come a burden to others? Does religion require these things of us?' No, my brethren: Religion requires of you none of these things. On the contrary it forbids you to be idle: it commands you to be industrious, to follow your worldly business with diligence and activity. It expressly declares, that "if any will not work, neither should he eat;" that "if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.'* But is there no difference between industriously following your worldly business, and making the world your master, your idol, your God? Yes: there is a very wide difference between these things. While religion permits, nay commands you, to follow with diligence your worldly calling, it also commands you to serve God, and to make Him your master. It tells you, that while you are diligently following your wordly calling, you must yet be faithfully serving GOD; "not slothful in business," but at the same time "fervent in spirit, serving the LORD." Are you unable to understand how this can be done? I will endeavour to shew you.

1. You must follow your worldly business from right motives. You must be

* 2 Thess. iii. 10. 1 Tim. v. 8. Rom. xii. 11.

diligent, not merely because diligence is the road to wealth; but because it is your duty to be so. You must labour in your calling for conscience sake, from a desire of doing the will of GOD in that station of life, in which he has placed you.

2. You must follow your worldly business by right rules. You must be governed, not by the corrupt maxims and bad examples of the world, not by what may be called the laws or customs of trade, but by the precepts of God's law. What he forbids you to do, you must leave undone. What he tells you to do, you must do. You must patiently submit to the losses which this conduct may occasion. You must suffer your less scrupulous neighbour to get little richer than yourself, without envy and repining.

3. You must use your worldly gain in a right manner; not in gratifying your own lusts, your pride, your covetousness, or your sensuality; but to the glory of GoD, and to the good of your fellow-creatures; in acts of kindness and charity, in liberally communicating to others, in freely bestowing what God has given to you, in such a way as is most pleasing and honourable to

him.

In short, the world must not be your

treasure, and you must not follow nor use it, as if it was. In every thing you must sacrifice your worldly interest to the will and the law of God. You must have your treasure in heaven, and seek first those things which are above. This is what religion demands of you. It will be satisfied with nothing less than this. At the same time it will enable you to do all this; if you earnestly desire it, and humbly and constantly pray for grace and strength to do it.

It now only remains, my brethren, that I apply this subject to yourselves. You cannot serve GOD and Mammon. One of them you must serve. Both you cannot serve. The question is, Which will you serve? Will you be the servant of GOD, or the servant of the world? Before you decide, consider well the ground on which each claims your service. There are but two things which can weigh with a man in the choice of a master, interest or gratitude. If he prefer one master to another, it must be, either because he believes that one can do more for him than the other; or because he feels, that one has done more for him than the other. Now on both these grounds, GoD most decidedly claims your services above the world. Whether you would consult your interest, or would avoid

the charge of ingratitude, you cannot but choose God for your master. Let me reason this matter with you.

1. God can do more for you than Mammon can do. He will reward your services with higher and better wages. You are not sure, that with all your toil and foresight, you shall acquire that worldly gain, which you are now so diligently seeking. A thousand things may disappoint your hopes. But even, if acquired, it cannot secure to you happiness. It cannot free you from pain or sickness, or sorrow. It cannot prevent you from feeling the loss of friends, the infirmities of age, and the fears of death. It cannot silence the voice of conscience, and give you peace at the last. And what will the world do for you at the Day of Judgement? Could you gain the whole world, what, in that aweful day, would it profit you? Will Mammon turn aside the sword of vengeance, deliver you from the sentence of the judge, or save you from the fire of hell? No. It will leave It will leave you comfortless and defenceless. Nothing of what you have here possessed will then remain. All which you will have in that day, is the recollection of what you have been; and the misery, the remorse, and the shame, which that recollection will bring with it. These

will be the wages, the rewards, with which Mammon will repay your services.-But will such be the consequence of having chosen GOD for your master? Will he thus repay your services? Far otherwise will be the case. Be faithful to him, and you shall find the blessedness of serving him. "His ser

vice is perfect freedom." Even in this life you shall be free from those tormenting fears, and anxious cares, which the servants. of Mammon undergo. You shall have a supply of such worldly things as are good and needful for you. You shall have peace with GoD, and in your conscience. You shall enjoy the delight of communion with him in prayer, the sense of his love and favour shed abroad in your hearts, and the cheering hope of a glorious immortality. Nor will the blessedness of serving GOD end with the present life. Nay it will then be immensely increased. Then the advantage of having chosen Him for our portion will indeed appear. How joyfully will these words sound in the ears of every one who has served GoD instead of Mammon: "Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!" And when he has entered there, how vast will be his happiness, how inconceivable his bliss! Then in truth will he be