which ooaches him to aspire heavenward and GM.ward; or of a law not less prhnaty- the law of self-preservation. It is the ruling passion of nearly all men, of all tnstes e.nd times. ' Take heed, and beware of covetousness,' sa.id the All-\vise; and though liis ·word teems with such warnings against the sin, men have not been warned', At one time men call it ' the great queen-regent of the world;' at another, • the a\l-cori- suming cancer' of the Church; at another, her 'deadly upas;' at a fourth, • a fatt\l opiate;' while others assure us that, at the bes!, man is only the h!!ir of a va1:1lt or the lord of a grave. Yet vain are all such exposures. Though it creeps stealthily upon man like grey hairs or dropsy, the conquests of covetousness continue far wider than those of Alexander. The ruonarch and the menial are alike its slaves. 'rb'.e phlegmatic are covetous because this freezing sin specially suits their 'nature; the earnest, because it stimulates; the licentious, because it· can pamper; the 'a.Ytibitious, beca,use it can exalt; the stupid, because it compensates for dulness. Prosperity fans it, and adversity cannot quench it; men willin;ly bow,.down before it,· as t~e,,tyra~~ summoned them of old to bow before another idol" (W. ·K. Tweedie, ~.D.). ' ,: .': '· II. ITS RELATION TO THE CHRISTIAN CRAlUCTER. It is always and n:ece~~arily injurious, and, wherever willingly cherished, not only imperilling the finer an-d 'ln6.re delicate features of charact.er, but even destructive of it root and branch. ··p_qr 't'bo very essence of Christian character is the love of Christ, which takes us out 6f llilr- sclves, and absorbs us with concern for him; and the love of others, fer Christ's sake, which sets us upon making their interests superior to our own. Covetousnes_s m~y linger in the holes and caves of Mansoul wbile _Immanuel is its. King, l;>ut' wb'ere covetousness reigns Christ cannot; or, to put it in other words, it is a.bsohitoly! inipos~ sible to raise a Christian character upon a foundation of bovetousness, and this ·spirit will but exert itself to daub and spoil the whole picture of the Cl11istian graces. ·, • • III. ITs HTh"DRAXCE TO CrmrsTIAN GIVING. 1. By preventing the reception of ·a. due impression of cases of need. Covetousness hardens, de~fens, and blinds·.. • 2. _By· com- pelling its victim to form a false estimate of his ability. 3. By, deceiving a rpar,i. through the presentation of unworthy excw;es.-R. T. Ver. 7.-CJheerful givers. Those to whom giving is no forced service, no painful duty, no grudgingly yielding to command, but the joy 'of their lire, the thing which brings them their keenest and purest pleasure. We need only suggest ·the sources whence such cheerfulness will come. Dean Plumptre points out that 'in"this sentence we have a distinct echo of Prov. xxii. 8, as it stands in the Gree)t Version; «.H~ that soweth wicked things shall reap evils, and shall complete the penalty of his deed. God blesseth a cheerful man and a giver, and shall complete,[in a good sense]_the incom- pleteness of his works." "Cheerfulness in visits of sympathy, in the daily oflic_es of kindness, in the life of home, in giving instruction or advice,-all com_e un~er the head of that which God approves and loves. So the greatest of Gree~ ethical teach~_rs (Aristotle) had refused the title of 'liberal' to the man who gave without p}e11,sure lil the act of giving. 'l'he pain he feels proves that, ifhe could, he would rather have the money than do the noble action." - . L CHEEI1t'UL1''ESS THROUGH THE MOTIVE OF GIVING, Which is .that thankfnlness and love to him who was God's great saving Gift to us, which kindles in our hoa~ts t.h~ joy unspeakable. • 1 '. II. CHEERFO'L1''ES8 THROUGII THE PLEASURE OF GIVING. Fo_r our Loril read human hearts aright when he said," It is more blessed to give than.to receive." .. ' ' lII. CHEERFULNESS THROUGH TIIE HOPE OF BLESSING B)I' GIVING. ·our g1vrng .meets and supplies needs; it tends to lift off burdens and to soothe sorrows. It' is gla1 work to find ourselves, in a sinfnl and a sorrow-stricken world, healerd, COD),fortcrs1, ailil e.avionrs. No joy is like the joy of wakening joy in others.·-, • - • , r , IV CHEERFULKESS TlillOUGH T.HE SENSE OF DIVINE APPAOVAL ON GIVING. "God lovetl; the cheerful giver," and w1eD he loves, thtlr,e is for WI hi$ uplifted eountebaii:~~. his e.cceptance, and his smile.-R. T. ,
Ver. 8.-God's ability and man's. Even in the early Church, the first' Church ·of the apostles, there was need of money. In the first Cou1,1eil it was resolvecl to send, p, general direction to the Churches that they should "remember the poor." 'fhe Apostle ell, IX, 1-16.J THE ::lECOND EPISTLE TO THE COIUNTHIANS. '.235