she therefore regardless of good works ? Did she not rather abound in them ? and was not this the foundation of that high esteem in which she has been held by the Church of God in all ages ? That we may be stirred up to follow her example, let us con- sider the account here given of her :
I. Her character —
What was her condition in life we do not exactly know ; but we suppose that she was in a middle state, between poverty and riches : but of the use that she made of her time and property, we are fully informed : she employed herself much in administering to the necessities of the poor, and particularly in making garments for them. In a word, her character was,
1. Most lovely in itself —
[The doing of good in any way is amiable ; but her mode of doing it was peculiarly so ; inasmuch as it argued a habit of consideration, compassion, diligence, and self-denial. The bestowing of money is a small act of love in comparison of hers : for though money will procure necessaries for the poor, yet her mode of disposing of it made it go farther, if we may so speak, than if it had been expended by the poor them- selves ; and at the same time, it kept alive in her heart a con- stant principle of love. By this practice of hers the poor were continually, as it were, before her eyes ; she thought for them, acted for them, worked for them, and sought her own happiness in contributing to theirs. As her Lord and Master " went about doing good," so she made it her daily business and occu- pation to diffuse blessings all around her: she not only " did good works," but was full of them, and made the exercises of benevolence her habitual 'practice a.]
2. Most acceptable to God —
[Doubtless, if her actions had proceeded from an osten- tatious or self-righteous principle, they could not have been pleasing to God ; for " without faith it is impossible to please him :" but if they were the fruits of faith in Christ, they were most truly acceptable unto God. See how strongly this is
declared in different parts of Holy Writb In speaking
on this subject, many religious persons feel a very undue degree of jealousy: they are afraid of declaring all that God
a This is the real force of the words &v eiroiei, ver. 36. Compare 1 John iii. 9. in the Greek. b Hch. xiii. Hi. Phil. iv. IS.