Now, in accordance with that law, our next Counsel is, that the Christian in the Market-place, should never forget that he is not forbidden to seek earthly things at all; he is only forbidden to seek them first. The Saviour just wished man to prefer what should be preferred—to put eternity before time, and God before man, and the soul before the body; and wherever men have escaped from the control of blind passion, REASON
AND
RELIGION
AT ONE. such a maxim must be approved for its wisdom. To believe that there is both a God and a soul, and yet seek some ephemeral thing before either or both, is surely to outrage reason, as well as to turn aside from the plainest maxims of religion. On the other hand, he who sets the Lord before him has adopted a course which will more than realize the fable of Midas, who turned all that he touched into gold.
And who can doubt that confidence placed or preference given anywhere but to God, will blight and wither all at last? Who can doubt that the accumulated thousands of many who name Christ’s name are their god? They seek happiness there. They find all their enjoyment there. These thousands are their rock, their confidence, and their high tower. They not merely seek them first, they seek them exclusively. The portion of their heart is there as completely as the confidence of the Hindoo upon Shiva, or of the Romanist upon Mary. It is thus that God is dethroned, and thus that man’s blossom often goes up like the dust from the midst of his idolatrous confidence.
EQUIVOCATIONS.
But another maxim which should guide us in business, may be thus expressed.—In the Market-place, EQUIVOCATIONS. never forget what is due to your Christian profession. We may forget it, but the world will not; nay, we have seen how prompt men are to condemn us for our oblivion. We may plunge into the world as other men do. Deceived by our own hearts or by the hollow maxims which prevail around us, we may lose sight of the distinction between the frauds of men and the truths of God. But though we may forget to seek first the kingdom of God, the world does not forget that we profess to seek it first. Nay, it is lynx-eyed to detect our pretences, and eager to point the finger of scorn at our unmasked inconsistency if we be inconsistent. The world feels that it needs some countenance in its oblivion of God; and it is cheered, encouraged, or a little more at ease, when Christians are oblivious like itself. As we have already seen, there are words spoken, there are deeds done, in many departments of business, which are unequivocally false—describe them to an unsophisticated little child, and he will tell you at once “it is a lie.” Yet it is well known that gentle names are current for such forms of deception, as well as for some of our household arrangements. Glozing pretexts are employed to cover and conceal them, and the uneasy conscience, in spite of common habit, is betrayed by the fetches which are thus made. Even a worldly man’s conscience would start, at least at first, were such things distinctly called fraud, or over-reaching, or a lie. Palliating epithets are therefore thrown over them, like gaudy trappings upon a coffin; and, then, as if a gentle name could conceal an unprincipled thing, men barter for gain the concerns of the kingdom of God. They often value that kingdom at less than Judas did, when he sold its King for thirty pieces of silver.
CONSISTENCY.
Now, all who would be Christians in the Market-place should dismiss and frown down such practices. Remembering what is due to our Christian profession, they should beware lest a stumbling-block be laid in the way of those who watch for a believer’s halting, and are happy when he falls. The progress of missionaries in foreign lands is often impeded by the ungodliness of men called Christians; and care should be taken lest similar impediments exist at home. Let no man say that his conversation is in heaven, while he is manifestly grovelling in the dust. Far rather disown the holy name, than drag it down into the fearful pit and the miry clay. Be it remembered again, we do not plead for inactivity; we would limit no enterprise which pure religion sanctions. But neither would we forget for a breath, that the man who names Christ’s name must adopt Christ’s holy maxims, or that man is at once deceiving the world and betraying the truth of God. Unjustly to benefit ourselves at the expense of another, is to prove that we have not yet learned God’s holy law, and still less the Saviour’s pure and perfect gospel. CONSISTENCY. The world-side of our religion should therefore be watched with the utmost care; and, amid our daily doings in the market-place, it should often be our thought, I am a Christian, and cannot act upon the world’s unholy maxims. I am a Christian, and must love my neighbour as myself; I must do to others as I wish others to do to me. I am a Christian, and can smile no connivance upon that which nailed my Redeemer to a tree. No matter though the transgression be small; a small sin ruined the world. No matter though it be common; so is eternal ruin. No matter though men reckoned upright do it; their uprightness is a pretence before Him who looks on the heart; and it is because few act upon these plain, decided maxims, that Christ’s people are still but a little flock compared with the teeming myriads of world-adoring men.
THE CHRISTIAN.
THE
CHRISTIAN. And the same maxim should guide us in all respects as well as in regard to gain. Am I one of the merchant princes whose ample stores are crowded with youth dependent on me for bread, and helping to enrich me by their industry or skill? Then I am to remember my duty to ward off, as far as is in my power, all that would corrupt or debase them. Not merely a regard to my own interests, but a regard to the souls of those to whom I stand related, should constrain me to this; and if one among these crowds be dishonest or disreputable, I am to take care that his contagion do not spread; that neither my property on the one hand, nor the souls of my dependants on the other, suffer at his hands. I may be deceived, but I dare not connive at deception. To raise the moral tone, I must give time for personal culture and for the training of principle. I must myself set the example. I must countenance and encourage it. Instead of grinding the faces of the dependent, I am to do them good in the highest sense of all. Instead of amassing wealth by the sacrifice of consciences and souls, I am to honour all men.—The man who acts thus is a benefactor to society: he is elevating his fellow-mortals: he is blessed, and made a blessing.