The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-01-17 00:00:00

MORE AND MORE. OBEDIENCE.

Also, "more and more" obedience : " to obey is better
than sacrifice, and to hearken, than the fat of rams."
1 Samuel, xv., 22. Why so ? Because it is more pleasing
to God, and more profitable to others and to ourselves ;
it is a sorer trial to the flesh, and a surer test of principle.
A man may offer a costly gift, without much sterling
principle ; but no man can or will persevere in a course
of quiet, unnoticed, self-denying obedience, without being
inwardly sustained by the grace of God : a man may give
large sums of money in the sight, and amidst the applause
of his fellows, who may be grossly disobedient in the
sight of his Judge, every day, in small matters, both at
home and at his business : his sacrifice will not cover his
sin ! Better for him far to seek to master and control his
temper; to be patient and kind to those around him; to
consider and consult for the feelings of others; to be just
and true in all his dealings ; to hate " the false balances,"
and to love " the just weight," and so "to please God,"
rather than, omitting these " weightier matters," to please
himself, and to please his fellows by his handsome dona-
tion to some society or charity; perhaps, I might better
say, this ought he to have done, but not to leave the
other undone : worth is better than words ; serving is
better than sighing ; working is better than weeping ; it
is far more easy to shed tears on hearing or reading some
tale of woe, than quietly and cheerfully to go to the cellar
and relieve the case of wretchedness; to sit in the
cushioned stall of a concert-room, and fancy ourselves
religious whilst enjoying the thrilling sensations produced
by an oratorio, is one thing ; to leave the comforts of our
homes, and to seek out " the fatherless and widows in
their affliction," amidst narrow streets and uninviting
courts and lanes, is quite another thing : the one satisfies
the fiesh ; the other pleases God. All this demands
effort, and the effort must be made, if we are to walk
so as to please God ; the spirit of self-indulgence, of ease,
and of slumber, must be broken in upon ; Christian prin-
ciple requires it ; the exigencies of the age demand it ;
the awful condition of perishing thousands in our own
town clamour for it ; swarming hourly, as they are, on
the brink of the " bottomless pit," and constantly falling
over and dropping in, before our very eyes," as it were,
and no hand of love stretched eagerly forth to save them!
Where is our obedience to God ? if the souls of professing
Christians were really in tone, if their hearts lived under
the mighty impulse of those words, "if ye love Me, keep
my commandments ;" and again, " if ye know these things,
happy are ye if ye do them ;" and again, "occupy till I
come ;" and again, " go, and do thou likewise ;" do you
think that our jaols and penitentaries would be so crowded?
do you think that our ragged schools would be drooping
for want of teachers ? or our institutions languishing for
want of funds ? do you think our poor would be left unas-
sisted ? do you think we would be compelled constantly
to press and squeeze for paltry money, in order to main-
tain Christian objects, or to resort to the unfortunate
bye-path of "bazaars," and thereby deaden and destroy
the principle of Christian benevolence by getting some-
thing for what we give 1(1)—Oh ! my dear brethren,
awake, awake ! let practical obedience be your enjoyment
and privilege ; this is the only world in which you can
work for God ; be busy, for " time is short ;" let us do
our part as a congregation ; and in all these things,
" abound more and more."

Having exhorted to more love, and more study
of God's word, he concludes by a pointed recom-
mendation of more prayer, which he does as
follows :