nnd 11s mntori11l as silver. If we nre not proprietors but stewards, our one duty in regard to every to.lent we 11re entrusted with should be," How will the Divine Propriet,,r wish me to uso it?" If through selfishness or criminal carelessness we use it in a way which does not bring to God the honour that he has a rhht to expect, we are guilty of robbing God. "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his Name." II. IT IS A BIN WHIOH MEN ARE HARD TO BE CONVICTED OF. 1. In ver. 7 we find a reproof 11nd o.n appeal which should awaken great searchings of heart: "Lord, is it I?" (Lam. iii. 40, 41). But we may be so self-righteous or ignorant a.s to ova.de such general appeals as quite irrelevant. So the net must be drawn tighter; the indictment must bo made more definite. 2. So the charge of robbiog God is suggested. "Will a man rob God?" The very aversion we feel at the thought of being robbed (for we would rather give a.way or throw away our property than be cheated of it) should prompt the inquiry, "Is it possible that I may be robbing God?" e.g. of the reverence and godly fear due to the Almighty, as though we could disregard him and dare him to do his worst. Or of the gratitude and dependence he deserves as our Father., our Redeemer, as though we could to a considerable extent dispense with him during life, and then" make it up" at the last. Whose conscience could not convince him that in these or other ways he had been often guilty of robbiog God? Yet so hard are men to be convinced of the sin, that to God's question and his direct charge there comes the glib reply, " Wherein have we robbed thee?" 3. Thus God is compelled to Jay his finger on one most glaring act of robbery: "In tithes and offerings." Some of the offerings were less rigidly regulated by law than tithes, as is the case with the offering3 of Christians for the kingdom of Christ and the claims of benevolence. But we may be guilty of robbing God" in offerings." (1) By grudging giving. If we do not" freely give," we withhold from God the right spirit, without which gifts cannot be acceptable. We act as if, thot1gh God had a right to demand our money, he had no right to expect tbe cheerful a.cknowledgment, "Of thine own have we given thee" (1 Chron. x.xix. 14; Matt. x. 8; 2 Cor. ix. 7). (2) By scanty giving. For there is an amount, some proportion of all we are en trusted with, which it is " meet" to give. To " withhold more than is meet" is to rob God. If a man gives not "according to that he hath," but as though God ha.d entrusted him with much less, his offerings a.re not accepted by God. A steward of God (as every one is) is bound conscientiously to consider what proportion of all he receives he should set apart for giving to religious and benevolent objects, so that he may honour the Lord "with the firstfruits of all bis increase." The Jewish laws of tithes and offerings may aid him iu the estimate. No rule can be la.id down for one another, but the Christian steward may fairly start with the presump- tion that tho scale of liberality ha.s not been lowered in the kingdom of Christ, with all its privileges and motives so far in advance of the Jewish theocracy. Lest we shouiJ be guilty of robbing God, we should purpose in our heart to devote so much and no les.s, as God may prosper us. The cheerful, systematic dedication of a liberal proportion of our property to the service of God will preserve us from robbing God. We shall give not a.s small a. proportion a.s we dare to offer, but. as large a. proportion as love and conscience in council will justify. Special circumstances may call for special sacrifices; but we shall form, as a first charge on our income, a sacred fund set a.part for offerings to God. The ex:perience of those who act on these Divine principles of giving may assure all that they will thus realize, as probably they may never have done before, the truth of our Lord's words, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." III. IT IS A SIN WHICH SHUTS THE WINDOWS OF REA.VEN. The excuse which i3 generally urged for that parsimonious giving which is a robbery of God is, "I can't afford it." This may arise from a criminal ignorance of the claims of God and our relations to him, or from a feoble faith on the part of those who yet acknowledge themselves to be his stewards. The guilt of the former has been exposed; the fear of the latter is here met by God's own challenge, "Prove me now herewith;" "Have faith in God;" "Honour the Lord with thy substance;" "Seek first the kingdom of God ; " and then see if God is not faithful to all his promises in regard to both tern poral and spiritual blessings. Men may complain of hard times, and may want prosperity to precede liberality. "No," says God to these suffering Jews and to scanty Christian givers who may be in adversity, "honot1r me first by obedience and cheerful trust, and see if prosperous times will not come then." lllust.: widow (1 Kings xvii. 13); 48 THE BOOK OF MALAam. [oH. rn. 1-18.
rr1"r M&eedonians (2 Cor. viii. 1-4). Bad timee may be the result of past unfaithfulneee on the )l!trt of God's servants. You may be reaping sparingly because you have sown sparingly. Try the opposite plan. Now the windows of hea"ien are closed against ourselves by our own sins. God will open those windows a.s soon as we honour, obey, and trust. He can surpRSS our hopes and thoughts (Eph. iii. 20). His ~piritual ble~sing'!' will only be limited by our capacity for receiving them. Illust.: 2 Kings iv. 6: xiii. 18, 19. And with these best of blessings all temporal blessings that will be !!'ood for us will be added (ver. 11; Matt. vi. 33), and showers of blessin"' on our hearts and homes will descend through the windows of heaven once closed on God's dishonest servants, now opened to his faithful stewards.