queftion them concerning the mode of life to which they have been habituated; directs them, for a fpecial reafon fubjoined to the general obligation of veracity, to state the truth in its ampleft extent. When Pharaoh fhall call you, and fhall fay; occupation? Ye shall fay; What is your Thy ferviants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we and also our fathers: that ye may divell in the land of Gafhen. Though Pharaoh, when he invited the brethren of his favoured minifter out of Canaan, had sent to them this exprefs meffage; Regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours: thought, after their arrival, he faid to Jofeph, The land of Egypt is before thee in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell: the idea that they had hitherto dwelt, or were henceforth to dwell, in idleness, enstered, not the mind of the king. "On their introduction heenquired of them, according to the reasonable expectation of Jofeph; What is your occupation & On their reply Thy fervants are faepherds, both we and aljo our fathers: he affigned to them, the land of Goshen, as fuited by its fingular fertility for the pafturage of their flocks which they had conducted from Canaan: 04 and and having thus provided them with the means of continuing their antecedent employment, he added, in his conference with Jofeph; If thou knoweft any men of activity among them, make them rulers over my cattle. 1 From every individual in his dominions, and from each according to his vocation, Pharaoh looked for ftedfaft and diligent exertion. From every individual among us, as throughout His boundless empire, the fupreme Lord of all demands habitual labour in the daily employment of the talents entrusted to our management. In the emblematical language of the parable, the Son of God cries to every one of his profeffed fervants; Occupy till I come. Let us then, in the first place, contemplate the motives under the guidance of which we are, each of us, to labour: fecondly, fome of the general lines of human labour, with their attendant temptations and thirdly, the principal benefits immediately resulting from Occupation, I. Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God (a). Behold the universal motive of a Christian! Health and strength, whether (a) 1 Cor. x. 31. more more or less abundant; mental endow ments, in whatever proportion poffeffed; honours, wealth, influence, leifure, howe ever large or however small be the extent in which they are feverally or collectively enjoyed; whence are these bleffings? Are they our own independent acquifitions? Are they our own indefeafible and inherent rights? They are gifts, all of them gifts, which we have received. From whom have we received them? From God. Life itself flows from the exuberance of his free bounty. Naked came we into the world: naked in body, naked in mind, powerless, deftitute, helpless. Whence is it otherwife with us now? Through the exuberance of the free bounty of God. Whatever we poffefs; health, or ftrength, or mental endowment, or honour, or wealth, or influence, or leifure, or under whatever other defcription the bleffing may require to be comprehended; is the unmerited donation of Him from whofe fulness we have all received, of Him from whom cometh every good and perfect gift. To whom ought the gift to be confecrated? To Him who bestowed it. For whofe glory ought it to be employed? For the glory of the Giver. When in the parable to which recent allu fion has been made, and in the fimilar marrative recorded by St. Matthew (b), the Lord according to his difcretion delivers to those of his household certain talents: whose are those talents? His own. Who are the perfons to whom he commits them? His own fervants. For what purpose does he entrust the talents? That they may be employed. On whose behalf are the occupiers to employ them? On behalf of their Lord. To whom are they to render an account? To their Lord when he fhall return to inveftigate the transactions of their stewardfhip. In proportion as every man bath received the gift, and whatever the gift may be, even fo let him minifter the fame, even fo let him feduloufly labour in the employment of the talent, as a good steward of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, Let him fpeak as the oracles of God; let him glorify God by speech conformed to the dictates of His word. If any man minifter, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: whether he labours in a public or in a private capacity, whether he difpenfes fpiritual or temporal benefits, whatever be the nature or the specific object of his oc (b) Luke, xix. Matth. xxv... cupation; cupation; let him glorify God by a grateful acknowledgment of the fource whence every talent which he employs, every faculty with which he labours, is derived; and by fuch an application of both as befits one who remembers, that it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. If he lets his light fhine before men; be it allowed to fhine, that men, by feeing his good works, may be excited to glorify his Father, who is in heaven. Thus, at all times and under every circumftance, let him labour that God, in all things, may be glorified through Jefus Chrift (c). Whatfoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jefus. Ye are bought with a price; not with corruptible things as filver and gold, but with the precious blood of Chrift; therefore glorify God in your body and in your fpirit, which are God's (d). But are we not in all things to labour for our individual falvation? Unqueftionably. Are we then to labour, it is afked, primarily for our individual falvation, or for the glory of God? Away with the distinction! Produce me a fingle paffage (c) i Cor. iv. 2. Matth. v. 16. 1 Pet. iv. 11.. . from |