Vers. 24-26.-Expensive fconomy, etc. We are accustomed to speak as if the man who spends freely is a spendthrift, and as if the man who restrains his hand is on the way to wealth. But if that is our thought, we are often and much mistaken. '!'here is an- I. EXPENSIVE EOONOMY. "There is that withholdeth," etc. 1. If we keep back the wage that is due to the workman, we shall miss the blessing that goes with justice 1 and suffer the curse which at_tends injustice (Jas. v. 1---4). 2. If we keep back the corn we should sow more plentifully, or the strength we should expend more liberally, or the meuta_l power we should employ more patiently and systematically, we shall reap less bount1fnlly, we shall make less profit, we shall do less ,vork in the spiritual sphere. " He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly" (2 Cor. ix. 6). 3. If we shut up our thought and our care to our own heart, or even our own home, we shall lose all the harvest of love and blessing we might reap if we did not withhold ourselves from those outside our door. It is a poor economy, indeed, that hides its talent in a napkin. II. PROFITABLE EXPENDITURE. There is a bound beyond which we should not go in putting forth our resources, physical, pecuniary, mental, spiritual. What that limit is e.ery one must decide for himself. Regard should certainly be had to the preservation of health and to the necessity for replenishment.. llut we may often wisely and rightly go very much further than we do; and if we did we should find that we were liberally repaid. Our scattering would mean increase, our liberality would mean nourishment, our endeavour to enrich others would result in our own growth and ripeness; waterino- them, we should ourselves be watered. This is true of: 1. Human sympathy and lov:. The friendly man makes many friends; and to have true friends is to be blessed indeed. 2. The energetic pursuit of our vocation, whatever it may be. It is the man who throws his full energies into his work who is repaid in the end. 3. Generous helpfulness. Give money, time, thought, counsel, whatever you have to give, unto those who need it, unto the young, the ignorant, the baffled and beaten, the unfortunate, the slain in life'8 battle-field; and there shall come back to you that which will be far more valuable than anything or all that you have expended. There shall come to you (1) the smile of that Divine Saviour who gave himself for us, who, though he was rich, for our sake became poor; (2) the gratitude of those whom you serve, afterwards and yonder if not now and here; (3) spiritual enlargement,-the "soul will be made fat," the heart will expand, and Clmstian graces of many kinds and of much beauty will make their home there. III. THE SUPERIOR CLAIM. (Ver. 26.) A man has a right to do the best he can for himself; the best, even, for his own purse, though that is saying something very different and much less. But this right may soon be traversed. It is so crossed when a man cannot go any further without injuring his brethren; that bift-s his way; obligation limits claim. In other words, the claim of our fellow-men is greater far than that of our individual self. When the people are lacking bread, we may not hold back our corn. God has given us our powers and our resources, not that we may build up a fortune, but that we may be of true service in a world which is full of need. 'l'o grow rich is not at all necessary to any one, and proves to be a curse to multitudes; to feed the hungry, to mi □ ister to want and sorrow, to still the cry of pain or perishing, to make glad the heart and bright the life,-that is the real privilege and heritage of ma.n.-C. Ver. 30.-Wisdom's brightest crown and hardest task. " He tha.t winneth souls is wise." Wisdom doefl many things for us; but we shall find- I. ITS BRIGHTEST CROWN in the souls tha.t it wins. Wisdom wins wealth, honour, friendship, knowledge; acquaintance with men and with nature; high position and com- mandin" rule; the gratification that attends achievement. Wisdom makes great changes"'in the face of nature, and effects great result.a in the organization of men. But the crown which it wears is its beneficent work in human souls. "He that winneth souls is wise" indeed. For to do that is: 1. To arrest a stream of evil influence, the full outflow and consequence of which it is impossible to estimate. 2. To originate a stream of holy and helpful influence, the growing and widening !ange of which we cannot imagine. 3. 'l'o tum back a human spirit from a course which leads downward tl• an opposite course which leads homeward and heavenward; it is to change tile OU, Xll, 1-28.] THE PROVERBS. 233
direction of one in whom are boundless capacities of accomplishment and of endnrance, and to change it permanently for the better. 4. It is to give joy of the purest kind to hee.rts of the greatest worth, e.nd satisfaction to the Divine Saviour himself (see Jas. v. 19, 20). It is wisdom's brightest crown; but it is also- II. !Ts HARDEST TASK. He that winneth so11ls must be, or needs to be, wise indeed; Tor he bas a very great thing to do. He has : 1. To oppose himself to he kno\vs not what supernatural hostilities (Epb. vi. 12). 2. To do battle with human obduracy and the evil spirit of procrastination. 3. To contend with the spiritual blindness and insensibility which are the sad consequence of long disloyalty. 4. To baffle the arts of false friendship and overcome the blandishments of an evil world. 5. 'l'o silence the deceitful voices which whisper to the awakened soul that there is no need to render an immediate and whole-hearted decision; and thus to lead it to a full surrender to Christ and to his service. 6. To persuade to a life of earnest and habitual devotion and holy usefulness. The practical lessons of the text are: (1) That we cannot expend ourselves too iavishly in the great work of winning men to Jesus Christ. There is no room for extravagance here. (2) That we have need to put forth onr whole strencrth to "ain so great a victory. (3) '!'hat when we have done all we can do we must rimemb:r that nothing is accomplished without the influence which is from above.-C.