one of the family, nor neglect any portion of the estate. I wonder
men: one such as ours is enough for any minister, however many his
talents, however versatile his mind.
Do not misapply your Master's goods, lest you be found guilty of
embezzlement. If your consecration is true, all your gifts are your
Lord's, and it will be a sort of felony to use them for any other than
your Lord. You are not to make a fortune for yourself; I do not think
you will be likely to do that in the Baptist ministry. In no other way
are you to have a second aim or object. "Jesus only" must be the
motive and motto of your life-course. It is the duty of a steward to be
devoted to the interests of his master; and if he forgets this for any
other object, however laudable that object may be, he is not faithful.
We cannot afford to let our lives run in two channels; we have not
enough life-force for two objects. We need to be whole-hearted. We
must learn to say, "One thing; I do." In every item and particular of
life, the mark of consecration must be seen, and we must never allow
it to be illegible. There will come a day in which all details will be
gone into at the final audit; and it behooves us, as stewards, to have
an eye to our Lord's scrutiny in every item of our lives.
5. If we would be faithful as stewards, we must not neglect any
one of the family, nor neglect any portion of the estate. I wonder
whether we practice a personal observation of our hearers. Our
beloved friend, Mr. Archibald Brown, is right when he says that
London needs not only house-to-house visitation, but room-to-room
visitation. We must in the case of our people go further, and practice
man-to-man visitation. By personal fellowship alone, can certain
persons be reached. If I had a number of bottles before me, and were
to play upon them with a fire-engine, how much of the water would
be lost; if I want to make sure of filling them, I must take them up
one by one, and carefully pour the liquid into them. We must watch
over our sheep one by one. This is to be done not only by personal
talk, but by personal prayer.
Dr. Guthrie relates that he called upon a sick man who greatly
refreshed his soul, for he told him that he was accustomed to
accompany his minister in his visits. "While I lie here, I shall follow
you in your visitation. I keep on remembering house after house in
my prayer, and I pray for the man, and his wife, and his children, and
all who dwell with him." Thus, without moving a step, the sick saint
visited Macfarlane, and Douglas, and Duncan, and all the others
whom his pastor called to see. We ought thus to beat the bounds of
our parish, and go round and round our congregations, forgetting
none, despairing of none, bearing all upon our hearts before the
Lord. Especially let us think of the poor, the crotchety, the
desponding. Let our care, like the hurdles of a sheepfold, enclose all
the flock.
Brethren, let us hunt up destitute localities, and see that no
district is left without the means of grace. This applies not only to
London, but also to villages, hamlets, and little groups of cottages.
Heathenism hides away among the lone places, as well as in the