the utmost of
our ability now, and trust him for the future: "for he hath said, 'I
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee'; so that we may boldly say,
'The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear, what man shall do unto
me'" (Heb. 13. 6). "Trust therefore in the Lord, and do good; and
verily thou shalt be fed" (Ps. 37. 3). Oh! if every one, who believed
himself ransomed by the precious blood of Christ, felt himself so
entirely the purchased possession of Him, who thus so dearly bought
him, as to determine henceforth to know nothing save Jesus Christ and
him crucified; nor to labour for anything, but that the unspeakably
glad tidings of salvation through Him might be spread throughout the
world, till every heart of the ransomed family drank of the same
overflowing cup of consolation; how soon would the wants of the whole
habitable earth be answered by thousands crying out,--"Here am I,
send me"; while those sheep to whom the glad tidings would be borne,
would discern the shepherd's voice, receive with thankfulness such
messengers of peace, seeing by their fruits "that God was in them of
a truth".

Think not that this is carrying things too far. Our blessed Lord
says,--"This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have
loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I
command you" (John 15. 12). Here our Blessed Lord tells us to love
one another, as He has loved us; and then points to the laying down
his life, as the most exalted proof of that love which could be
given. If then, as the example of our Saviour and the exhortation of
the Apostle testify, "we ought to lay down our lives for the
brethren"[10] how much more ought we to impart to them our substance.

We all know what a persuasive power the deaths of the Martyrs exerted
on the minds of those who witnessed them; and, in its just measure
and proportion, would the dedication of property, time and talents,
have a similar effect at the present day. It would convince those,
whom we are anxious to convince, of the reality of our faith in that
Redeemer and that inheritance, which they now think only a name, in
consequence of the secular spirit that disfigures the Christianity of
too many of its professors. How differently would the Heathen look on
our endeavours to publish the mercy of our glorified Lord, if the
hardy and suffering spirit of primitive times were to descend aga