being 'saved, yet so as through fire,' and that there is such a thing
as having 'an abundant entrance ministered unto us into the
everlasting kingdom.' He whose life has been very slightly influenced
by Christian principle, and who has neglected plain, imperative
duties, will not stand on the same level of blessedness as the man
who has more completely yielded himself in life to the constraining
power of Christ's love, and has sought to keep all His commandments.

Heaven is not a dead level. Every man there will receive as much
blessedness as he is capable of, but capacities will vary, and the
principal factor in determining the capacity, which capacity
determines the blessedness, will be the thoroughness of obedience to
all the ordinances of Christ in the course of the life upon earth.
So, though we know, and therefore dare say, little about that future,
I do beseech you to take this to heart, that he who there can stand
before God, and say, 'Behold! I and the children whom God hath given
me' will wear a crown brighter than the starless ones of those who
saved themselves, and have brought none with them.

'Some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship, they all came
safe to land.' But the place where they stand depends on their
Christian life, and of that Christian life one main element is
obedience to the commandment which makes them the apostles and
missionaries of their Lord.

III. Lastly, note the glad obedience which transcends the limits of
obligation.

'If I do this thing willingly I have a reward.' Paul desired to bring
a little more than was required, in token of his love to his Master,
and of his thankful acceptance of the obligation. The artist who
loves his work will put more work into his picture than is absolutely
needed, and will linger over it, lavishing diligence and care upon
it, because he is in love with his task. The servant who seeks to do
as little as he can scrape through with without rebuke is actuated by
no high motives. The trader who barely puts as much into the scale as
will balance the weight in the other is grudging in his dealings; but
he who, with liberal hand, gives 'shaken down, pressed together, and
running over' measure, gives because he delights in the giving.

And so it is in the Christian life. There are many of us whose
question seems to be, 'How little can I get off with? how much can I
retain?'--many of us whose effort is to find out how much of the
world is con