FAITHFULNESS. 95 A man may serve many masters, if they all command the same thing, or things subordinate to each other. A dog follows two men while they both walk one way, and you know not which of the two is his master; stay but a little, till their path separates, and then you will quickly see who is the master.-Anon. Avoid all thou canst being entrusted; but do thy utmost to discharge the trust thou hast undertaken, for carelessness is injurious, if not unjust.-Penn. Can any man be faithful in much that is faithless in little?-Jeremy Taylor. Rarely promise; but, if lawful, constantly perform.— Penn. Reasons are the pillars of the fabric of a sermon, but similitudes are the windows which give the best light. The faithful minister avoids such stories whose mention may suggest bad thoughts to the auditors, and will not use a light comparison, to make thereof a grave application, for fear lest his poison go further than his antidote. -Fuller. It is no small commendation to manage a little well. He is a good waggoner that can turn in a little room. То live well in abundance is the praise of the estate, not of the person. I will study well how to give a good account of my little, than how to make it more.-Bishop Hall. 96 FALSE PROFESSION. FALSE PROFESSION. "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness."-St. Matthew. R ELIGION is the best armour that a man can have, but it is the worst cloak.-Bunyan. It was said of one who preached very well and lived very ill, "that when he was out of the pulpit, it was a pity he should ever go into it, and when he was in the pulpit it was a pity he should ever come out of it." But the faithful minister lives sermons. And yet I deny not but dissolute men, like unskilful horsemen which open a gate on the wrong side, may, by the virtue of their office, open heaven for others and shut themselves out.-Fuller. To have an orthodox belief and a true creed united to a bad life is only to deny Christ with a greater solemnity.-Anon. Counterfeit piety can never bring in true pleasure. The pleasures of God's house lie not in the outer courts, but within the vail. They that aim at no more but the credit of their religion before men, justly fall short of the comfort of it in themselves.—Henry. The nominal professions of religion with which many persons content themselves, seem to fit them for little else than to disgrace Christianity by their practice.-Milner. FAME. Words are like leaves, and where they most abound, 97 A profession of religion, unaccompanied by real sanctification, to use the language of a pious old writer, "will slide thee down insensibly to hell, and leave thee only this consolation, that no one shall know that thou art there." FAME. "Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another."-St. Paul. ET us satisfy our own consciences, and trouble not ourselves by looking for fame. If we deserve it, we shall attain to it; if we deserve it not, we cannot force it. The praise bad actions obtain dies soon away; if good deeds are at first unworthily received, they are afterwards more properly appreciated.-Seneca. Fame is a flower upon a dead man's heart.-Motherwell. A man will always undergo great toil and hardship for ends that must be many years distant, as wealth or fame; but none for an end that may be close at hand, as the joys of heaven.-Hawthorne. FEAR OF GOD. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do his commandments; his praise endureth for ever."-Psalms. HOSE that truly fear God need not fear man; and those that are afraid of the least sin, need not be afraid of the greatest trouble.-Henry. He that lives without fear shall die without hope.Dyer. Those that will not yield to the fear of God shall be made to yield to the fear of everything else.-Henry. It is a vain thing to think we can take any delight in being with Christ hereafter, if we care not how little we are in His company here.-Adam. Our eye upon God, observing His eye upon us, will keep us to our duty, and encourage us in it when difficulties are never so discouraging.—Henry. We must be always so in God's fear as never to be out of it.—Henry. FORGIVENESS. 99 Those are likely to proceed in the favour of God that begin in the fear of God.-Henry. If thou fear God and walk in His ways, whatever befalls thee good shall be wrought out of it; it shall be well with thee while thou livest, better when thou diest, and best of all to eternity.-Henry. Those that would be steady in their adhesion to God must possess themselves with an awe and reverence of God, and always speak of Him with solemnity and seriousness; for those that can make a jest of the true God, will make a god of anything.-Henry. FEAR OF MAN. "The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe."-Solomon. THE reigning fear of God is the best antidote against the ensnaring fear of man.-Henry. FORGIVENESS. "If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn to thee, saying, I repent: thou shalt forgive him."-St. Luke. HOWEVER frequently you are injured, if real peni tence and contrition follow the offence, a Christian is always bound to forgive.-Bishop Porteous. |