Many and important are the lessons which we may LEARN from hence —
1. That God acts sovereignly in the disposal of his gifts —
[We should not hesitate, if any one presumed to direct us in the disposal of our own favours, to put this question to him ; " Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own^?" Yet we are offended if God assert this liberty, and we think ourselves injured if any be chosen by him in pre- ference to us. But how unreasonable and absurd is this! It is unreasonable, because we have no claim upon him for the smallest benefits. Who imagines that the fallen angels have any ground of complaint against him for withholding a Saviour from them, while he provided one for us? Yet they are a superior order of beings to us, and therefore might have been supposed more worthy of God's attention. What right then can any of us have to murmur, if he be pleased to impart sal- vation itself to some and not to others, when none possess the smallest title above their brethren? But it is absurd also: for God will not alter his dispensations because we choose to quarrel with them. That he does act in this, sovereign manner we cannot doubt ; for he dispenses his temporal favours according to his own will ; and sends his Gospel to us, while it is withheld from far the greater part of the world : and he tells us no less than three times in the short compass of our text, that he has "chosen'' some in preference to others. Let us not then dare to "reply against God*^:" but, while we confess his right to confer his benefits on whomsoever he will'', let us humbly implore an interest in his favour, and lie as clay in his hands, that he may, for his own glory sake, fashion us as " vessels of honour meet for the Master's use''."]
2. That there is not so much inequality in the Divine dispensations as we are apt to imagine —
[It is certainly God who causes some to be born to ease and affluence, whilst others are born to labour and penury. In a time of health there may not be any great diff'erence
2 1 Cor. iv. 7. * 1 Cor. xv. 10. »> Matt. xx. 15.
« Rom. ix. 20. ^ Rom. ix. In — 18. « Rom. ix. 21 — 2.3.
IG 1 CORINTHIANS, I. 26—^. [l931.
between them : — but what is there in a time of sickness ! The one has all the comforts of medical aid, of numerous atten- dants, of delicacies suited to his appetite ; whereas the other, in a cold and comfortless habitation, is without food, without fuel, without friends, his wife and children as well as himself almost perishing for want, destitute of every thing proper for his disorder, and subsisting only by the scanty pittance hardly obtained, and grudgingly bestowed by an unfeeling dispenser of the public charity. Compare these ; and there appears as wide a difference between them as can well be imagined. But pause a moment : Is this the whole of God's dispensations towards them ? Can we find nothing to counter- balance this inequality ? Yes : look to the spiritual concerns of these two persons : perhaps, like Dives and Lazarus, the one has his portion in this life, and the other in the next: perhaps God has said to the one, " Enjoy all that the world can bestow ;" to the other, " Enjoy my presence, and the light of my countenance i" to the one, " Be rich in learning, wealth, and honour ;" to the other, " Be rich in faith and good works:" to the one, " Possess thou kingdoms for a time ;" to the other, " Be thou an heir of my kingdom for evermore." Now, though this is not God's invariable mode of dealing with men, (for there are some who are poor in both worlds, and others rich,) yet it accords with the general tenour of his proceedings : it accords also with the text, and therefore is peculiarly proper for our present consideration. Take then the whole of his dispensations together, and it will be found that the spiritual advantages conferred upon the poor are more than an equiva- lent for any temporal disadvantages they may labour under. Let the rich then not pride themselves on their distinctions ^ ; for " it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for them to enter into the kingdom of heaven^ : nor let the poor, on the other hand, be dejected on account of their present troubles ; for God has chosen them (if they do not despise their birthright) to be partakers of his richest blessings, even life for evermore'' : but let all, whether rich or poor, seek to have " God himself for the portion of their cup, and for the lot of their inheritance'."]