advance to the uttermost the glory of his name : for " herein is our Father glorified, when we bring forth much fruit d." This is the duty of every man, without exception. Men's duties, in reference to society, differ according to the rank and station which they hold : the prince and the peasant, the parent and the child/ have different offices to perform : but towards God we all stand in the same relation ; and all have to render the same services ]
For the performance of this work, we are " sent" into the world —
[We are not sent here to eat, and to drink, and to pass our time in pleasure ; but to do the work assigned to us. Every moment of our time is given us for that purpose, and should be employed for that end. When we rise in the morn- ing, we should inquire, What duties have I to perform this day? And, when we lie down again at night, we should in- quire, how far we have executed the will of our heavenly Master. The performance of our work should supersede every thing else. Nothing should occupy our mind in comparison of it. To every one who would call us from our duty, we should reply with Nehemiah, " I am doing a great work, so that . cannot come down. Why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you6?" The conduct of Abra- ham's servant, when ordered to seek out from amongst the family of Abraham a wife for his son Isaac, will admirably illus- trate our duty towards God. Having received his instructions relative to the conduct he should pursue, he implored of God his unerring guidance, that so he might be led to a successful issue. And when, by Divine Providence, he seemed to have attained his end, having been led to the very house of Abraham's own nephew, Bethuel, he was desired to refresh himself after his long journey. But what was his reply ? It was truly memo- rable ; and shewed how much he had at heart the execution of the trust committed to him : " There was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errandV Here, we see, he preferred his duty " before his necessary foodg." This is exactly what we should do. Our blessed Lord has set us the example: and, like him, we should be able to say, " My meat is, to do the will of Him that sent meV]
With our duty, our blessed Lord sets forth also,
II. The urgency of it —
We have but a " day" to do it in —
d John xv. 8. e Neh. vi. 3. f Gen. xxiv. 33.
e Job xxiii. 12. h John iv. 34.