[4.] Opportunity in doing good is considered. Where opportunity is wanting, God taketh notice of affection. God considereth what is in our hearts : 1 Kings viii. 18, ' Whereas it was in thy heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.' He approved David's purpose, though opportunity served not as yet. So the apostle excuses tire defect of the Philippiaus by lack of opportunity : Phil. iv. 10, ' Ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.' The want of opportunity, not through our defoult, doth justify for a time the forbearance of positive duties. But then we must take heed —
(1.) Tliat it be not want of good-will, but of opportunity : 2 Cor. viii. 12, ' For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what a man hath, and not according to what he hath not.' If he doth according to his ability, that which he is not able to do shall not be expected of him.
(2.) That we do not lose the opportunity by giving way to every discouragement : 1 Cor. xvi. 9, ' A great door and effectual is opened to me, and there are many adversaries.' The apostle would stay at Ephesus, for there was great hope of doing much good by propagating the gospel in those parts, though there were many which did oppose the truth.
[5.] Whether we do much or little for the quantity, God chiefly looketh to the affection. Affectus pretmm rebus imponit — Affection gives a price to things, without this, pompous services are rejected; 1 Cor. xiii. 3, ' Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.' If it be not out of love to God's glory, and aiming at others' good, it is not fruit abounding to our account. On the other side, ' Whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, he shall in nowise lose his reward,' Mat. x. 42. God doth respect the heart of the giver. Many poor christians have a large heart, but can do little. God loveth not copiosiim, sed hilarem datorem ; not a large, but a cheerful giver, where ability and opportunity will afford it. A liberal and open heart will not be defective in quantity ;
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386 SERMONS UPON LUKE XII. 48.
they think nothing too much for God, but all seemeth too little: 1 Chron. xxii. 14, 'Now behold in my trouble/ or in my poverty, 'have I prepared for the house of the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand, talents of silver, and of brass and iron without weight.'
[6.] In employing our gifts, our faithfulness is measured and judged by our endeavour, not by the success : Isa. xlix. 4, ' I have laboured in vain, and spent my strength for nought and in vain ; yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work is with my God.' Though there be little fruit and effect in men, yet it is not the less regarded and rewarded by God. We read of a ' crown of righteousness,' 2 Tim. iv. 8, and of a ' crown of fruitfulness ; ' Eev. ii. 10, ' Be thou faithful to the death, and I will give thee a crown of life ; ' 1 Thes. ii. 19, ' What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing ? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming ? '
Use 1. Let this assuage the envy and trouble of the meanest. If thy gifts be mean, thy account will be so much the easier. Alas ! it is no easy thing to stand in the judgment. How much have others to account for !
2. To persuade those who have received greater gifts than others to do so much the more good with them. That which God will accept from others he will not accept from you. You will be deeper in the state of condemnation if your fruit be not proportionable. The rich in this world must be rich in good works : 1 Tim. vi. 18, ' That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.' Those that have more helps than ordinary should have the more grace : ' He fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, &c., and looked that it should bring forth grapes,' Isa. v. 2 ; Heb. vi. 7, 8, ' The earth which drinketh in the rain that cometli oft upon it, and bringeth fi^rth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God, but that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned.' So for them that have more grace. Others have common mercies, but you have the great and special mercies ; and should not you abound in love and holiness ? You are made partakers of a divine nature, and therefore you should be some- what more than ordinary men. You have the Spirit, and will you not walk in the Spirit, and mortify the flesh by it ? Surely God expecteth more from you, for he hath given you more, and will do more for you. As there is a great difference between heaven and hell, so should tJiere be between your lives and theirs that shall perish for ever.