ast the twenty thousand pounds were
almost entirely spent, when at that very time the father of this
brother died, whereby he came into the possession of an income of
several thousand pounds a year. It gives joy to my heart to be able
to add, that this brother still pursues his godly course, living in
the most simple way, and giving away perhaps ten times as much as he
spends on himself or family. Here you see, dear reader, that this
brother, using faithfully for the Lord what he had been intrusted
with at first, was made steward over more; for he has now more than
one-third as much in a year coming in, as he at first possessed
altogether.--I mention another instance: I know a brother to whom the
Lord has given a liberal heart, and who bountifully gave of that over
which the Lord had set him as steward. The Lord seeing this,
intrusted him with still more, for through family circumstances he
came into the possession of many thousand pounds, in addition to the
considerable property he possessed before. I have the joy of being
able to add also concerning this brother, that the Lord continues to
give him grace to use his property as a steward for God, and that he
has not been permitted to set his heart upon his riches, through the
very considerable increase of his property, but that he continues to
live as the steward of the Lord, and not as the owner of all this
wealth.--And now, dear reader, when the brethren to whom I have been
referring are brought to the close of their earthly pilgrimage, will
they have one moment's regret that they have used their property for
the Lord? Will it be the least particle of uneasiness to their minds,
or will their children be the worse for it? Oh no! The only regret
they will have concerning this matter will be, that they did not
serve the Lord still more abundantly with their property. Dear
reader, let us each in our measure act in the same spirit. Money is
really worth no more than as it is used according to the mind of the
Lord; and life is worth no more than as it is spent in the service of
the Lord.

Whilst the three mentioned points--1, That our calling must be of that
nature that we can abide in it with God; 2, That unto the Lord we
should labour in our calling, as His servants, because He has bought
us with His blood, and because He will have us to labour; 3, That as
stewards we should labour in our calling, because the earnings of our
calling are the Lord's and not our own, as He