Luke xix. 26. I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given ; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away.
THE force of habit, irrespective of any particular influence from above, is well known. But, in addition
to that, God has annexed a blessing to the use of means, and has promised that they shall not be em- ployed in vain. The words before us were uttered by our blessed Lord on different occasions. They seem to have been used by him as a kind of proverb. At all events, as being so repeated by him, they de- serve particular attention. We may well consider them in a threefold view : I. As a principle established —
God has ordained, not only that means shall be used in order to the end, but that the very mercies he has vouchsafed to us shall be either augmented or diminished, according as we exert ourselves for the improvement of them, or suffer them to lie by us unimproved. This he has established as a principle,
1. In nature —
[Every thing, in the first instance, is the gift of God. The fertility of the earth, the vegetative power of the seed, the genial influence of the sun and rain, are all of God. But still they would all be in vain without the labour of man. Adam was required to labour, even in Paradise : and so, now, man must till the ground, and use all the means which the different kinds of agriculture require, in order to ensure a crop ; and, if he neglect his duty in these respects, not only will he lose the fruits which he might otherwise have obtained, but his land will sustain an injury which the labour of years will be scarcely able to repair. This is the account given us by Solomon, after beholding with his eyes the very event itself: " I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding ; and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken clown. Then I saw and considered it well : I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep : so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man1." Through his neglect of the proper means, not only does he fail to be enriched ; but he loses what he pos- sessed ; and poverty, with gradual and irresistible force, seizes hold upon him.]
2. In grace —
[All the faculties which we possess are given us from above. But the understanding must be cultivated, the affec- tions must receive a proper direction, and the conscience be
a Prov. xxiv. 3 — 34.