12. I will fix upon a system of giving which shall be made solemnly and prayerfully in view of my circumstances and calls; in the clear light of God's Word and of the awful retributions of the last tribunal. As to amount and frequency of donations, I will endeavor to make them such as I shall wish they had been, when, bowing before the great white throne, I shall gaze into the face of my crucified and exalted Saviour; actually participating in the fruits of his unutterable sacrifices for me.
13. Cherishing, amid the toils of gain, an abiding sense of the strength of the selfishness of the human heart, and the consequent dangers of acquisition, I will daily pray and strive for disinterested benevolence as the greatest good; also for direction as to the amount of sacrifices I ought to make; and then agreeably to my prayers, act according to the dictates of conscience uttered in the presence of God.
14. I will frequently and at stated periods solemnly renew these or similar resolutions.
Now, if you refuse to make these solemn resolutions your own, can you assign any reason for such refusal, which you will be willing to utter in self-justification when facing your Final Judge?
Whatever theories we may adopt concerning volition, or the governing determinations of the mind, all will agree in the fact, that the energies of the human soul, when aroused, may be strung like fibres of steel, giving and adamantine firmness and indomitable force to the will. We have seen this exemplified in the fortitude with which one sometimes endures surgical operation; in the heated courage of the soldier, rushing with the loud huzza into the very face of the engulphing battery; in the cool, calculating resolution which carries the unflinching column with steady tread into the very centre of bristling squares. All this is but the strength of will when the energies of the soul are stirred. Now one's resolution may and should become thus iron-like in the war with his own covetousness. He should determine in the strength of grace to break it down, however much it may cost. God has given us this power of will, and to him we are responsible for its proper exercise; ever remembering that it is strengthened by cultivation of reiterated effort. The raw recruit cannot be trusted at the post of danger like the veteran, who has repeatedly nerved up his spirit, till by habit it has become as unyielding as a rock. The latter has learnt to be brave. So we should learn to be soldiers in the war with selfishness, by perseveringly girding our minds to the deadly conflict.—Has depraved man such energy of will in spreading devastation and death; and shall not Christians exhibit as great force of resolution in diffusing the blessings of salvation? Who dare say, I cannot, or will not, exercise it? Let us be mindful of our obligations. If our minds may be wrought up to such invincible firmness and energy of resolution to do evil; surely, God assisting, they may not only be inspired with a lofty enthusiasm to resist the solicitations of selfishness, but also roused to a sublimity of generous emotions, to engage, like a Mills or a Howard, in disinterested and self-denying efforts for the good of others.
III. We are now ready to take the last step in erecting a general system of beneficence, viz.: the carrying into effect right principles and well-directed resolutions. While, on the one hand, the intellectual and emotional qualities of the mind give character and vitality to action; on the other hand our conduct exerts a powerful reflex influence on the affections and purposes. Nothing tends more to give strength and spirit to a mental principle than accordant action; and nothing tends more to obliterate an emotion from the breast, or to paralyze a resolution, than the neglect of its appropriate manifestations. However deeply the one may be engraven on the soul, or however solid the texture or vigorous the life of the other, a few instances of neglect or violation will strike them with the chills of death.
Principles and resolutions, then, are of little avail without corresponding efforts. The "well of water" must not only spring up in the soul, it must flow out in the life. We must act as well as think and resolve; and act, as if we felt that ourselves and all that we have belong to God by the twofold right of creation and redemption; act, as if selfishness were our deadliest foe, and as if it were our great business to attain its mortification and overthrow; act, as if disinterested love, a soul like angels, like God, were the greatest good to be possessed by an intelligent being; act, as if we were prayerfully watching the calls of Christ on our generosity, and were ready and determined manfully to meet them; act, in laying our pecuniary plans, as if the highest object of acquisition were the means of diffusing good; act, as if self-denial were the main condition of our being on earth, and as if the circumstances of the age were requiring of us peculiar sacrifices in order to rescue millions, perishing in mental thraldom, whose souls are as precious as our own; act, as if we were in earnest, as if the whole soul were kindled to a blaze of zeal, and bent on the most determined efforts for the exaltation of Christ in the salvation of men; knowing that the time allotted for the accomplishment of a task eternal in its consequences, is but a hand-breadth.
Act with forecast. This is a point of unspeakable importance. I would reiterate and enforce the thought, till it shall be wrought into the very web of all our benevolent purposes. There must be contrivance to give. Worldly men make previous arrangements to increase their stores. Lovers of pleasure contrive to support their follies. Why should not lovers of Christ be equally wise to fill the world with light, and heaven with anthems?
Act systematically. With a mind illumined with knowledge, a conscience impressed with obligation, and a heart glowing with love of God and man, form an individual system of beneficence; and let it be one you will not blush to review in heaven. Be particularly careful, therefore, that it be such as will come most strongly in collision with the selfishness of the heart, and yield the richest revenue to the Lord; requiring as generous and frequent contributions as circumstances will allow, agreeably to the Divine injunction: "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he hath given thee;" in a word, let it be such as system as you will be willing to hand in at the judgment-seat, as decisive testimony that you have loved your neighbor as yourself. And when it is formed, never violate its rules by giving less, except impelled by imperative necessity; though ever stand ready to deviate from it, when Providence commands, by giving more.
Let benevolence be ever operative, like the sun ever shining. Wait not for the modest poor, or heedlessly perishing, to ask for aid; but go forth in search of objects appropriate for philanthropy to relieve, to enlighten, to cheer. Obey the voice from heaven: "Open thy hand wide unto thy brother;" "Sow beside all waters;" scattering a little here and a little there, and thus, to the extent of ability, aid in bringing back "the state of Eden's bloom," and planting trees of righteousness all over the world.