Proverbs 3:9-10
“Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine!”
To instruct men how to ensure success in their agricultural pursuits or commercial speculations, is no part of a minister’s office. Were we able substantially to benefit mankind in those particulars, there would be no lack of hearers, nor any complaint that we labored too zealously in our vocation. On the contrary, the more successful we were in effecting our wishes, the more gratefully would we be acknowledged as public benefactors.
Shall I then, for once, exceed, as it were, the commission given me, and attempt to teach you how to thrive in this world? Yes; allow me for once to usurp this office; and to assure the most unlearned person among you, that by acting on the principles which I will set before him this day, he shall be as sure to prosper in his business, as if he were ever so conversant with the arts of trade. I mean not indeed to say, that a person going out of his own proper line shall be enabled to prosecute that line to advantage; but that, while proceeding prudently in his proper vocation, he shall succeed more certainly, and to a greater extent, than on other principles he can expect to do.
I say this the more confidently, because the directions which I shall give are not the results of fallible reasonings or of uncertain conjectures, but the plain unequivocal declarations of God, “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine!”
In these words we see,
I. Our duty.
We must “honor the Lord with our wealth”.
All that we have is the Lord’s! “Our very bodies and souls are his;” as well as the property which he has committed to our care. With the whole of that he is to be honored; and in the disposal of it, respect must be had to his will, his interests, his glory. We are to consider everything that we possess, not as given to us, but merely as confided to us, to be improved for him; and we must so employ the whole, as to meet his approbation in the day that we shall give up our account, and to be acknowledged by him as good and faithful stewards.
We must honor him, also, “with the first-fruits of all our increase.”
The first-fruits under the Law were claimed by God as his, and they were to be presented to him as his peculiar property, “You shall take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which you shall bring, of the land which the Lord your God gives you, and shall put it in a basket, and shall go unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose to place his name there, Deuteronomy 26:2.”
Besides these, was the tithe of all their increase to be offered to him every third year, “At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands, Deuteronomy 14:28-29.”
Under the Gospel, the letter of this law is abolished; but the spirit of it yet remains in force; for the express command of God to us is, “On the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God has prospered him, 1 Corinthians 16:2.” We are not to wait for the gathering in of our harvest; and then give a portion to the Lord after our own interests are secured; but rather to honor the Lord first, as the real proprietor of all; and then, trusting him for a supply of our own needs, to employ for ourselves what he shall graciously bestow upon us.
This duty will not appear hard, if we consider what God has spoken for,
II. Our encouragement.
It should seem as if the giving of our substance were the way to diminish it; and the devoting of our first-fruits to him, the way to endanger our own provision through the year. But God has declared the very reverse, and has pledged himself that he will amply make up to us all that we part with for his sake.
This, under the Law, he did, visibly, according to the letter.
Under that dispensation, a present and visible retribution marked, for the most part, the approbation or displeasure of God. When the people delayed to build his temple, he chastised them with famine, and referred to that visitation as a judgment inflicted on them for their sin, “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the LORD Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops, Haggai 1:9-10.”
And when they were stirred up to begin the work, God not only assured them of his blessing on their temporal concerns, but bade them note down the day that the foundation of his temple was laid, and see whether their blessings were not augmented from that very hour, “From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit. “‘From this day on I will bless you.'” Haggai 2:18-19.”
He bids them even to prove him in relation to this matter, and to see whether his bounty would not keep pace with their piety, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it! Malachi 3:10.”
Under the Gospel, also, he will do it, but invisibly, and according to the spirit of our motto verse.
We are not taught to look so much to temporal rewards, as to those which are spiritual and eternal; though still we are told that “godliness has the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come 1 Timothy 4:8;” and that, if we “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all needful things shall be added unto us! Matthew 6:33.”
We may not obtain a temporal recompense for our liberality; but a spiritual reward is sure. For thus said the Lord, “Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter–when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail, Isaiah 58:7-11.”
An eternal recompense will also most assuredly await us; for our blessed Lord has expressly told us, that if instead of lavishing our money in self-indulgence and feasting ourselves, we delight to expend it on the poor, “we shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just, Luke 14:12-14.” He has commanded us on this account to “make friends to ourselves of the mammon of un-
righteousness,” in the full expectation that at our death “we
shall be received into everlasting habitations Luke 16:9.”
And Paul speaks to the same effect when he says, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life! 1 Timothy 6:17-19.”
But, after all, we must not altogether put out of our consideration even a present reward in the precise sense spoken of in our text; for it is beyond a doubt, that God does engage to supply the necessities of those who honor him with their substance, “I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever! Philippians 4:18-20.” We can appeal to many, and ask whether they have not seen, in relation to their temporal concerns, many gracious interpositions of God in their behalf?
But, independent of these, who does not know that liberality is the parent of economy, and economy of wealth? A man desirous of honoring God with his substance, is delivered at once from all those vices and follies which ruin the estates of thousands. Besides, who that delights in doing good has not found incomparably greater delight in self-denial for the benefit of others, than the utmost latitude of self-indulgence could ever have afforded him? Granting, then, that no addition is actually made to our wealth; yet, if our desires are moderated, and our selfish expenditures restrained—then the same effect is ultimately produced; for we are not more truly enriched by the increase of our substance, than we are by the diminution of our needs and our consumption.
Let me now point out the bearings of this subject,
1. On those who are engaged in visiting the sick.
People engaged in imparting instruction to the ignorant, and consolation to the afflicted, have yet in a more eminent degree, the promise in our text fulfilled to them. Their light perhaps, at first, is but very imperfect; but by imparting it to others. their own views become enlarged, and their own experience of divine truth becomes deeper, from the very circumstance of their improving it for the benefit of others. Indeed, I can hardly suggest any better method for enlarging our own knowledge, than the making use of it for the instruction of our less enlightened brethren; for besides the natural effect which may be expected from the communication of knowledge, we may expect a peculiar blessing from God while we are so employed.
A remarkable instance of this may be found in Apollos, “He, when he knew only the baptism of John, spoke and taught diligently the Word of the Lord.” “Aquila and Priscilla hearing him in the synagogue, took him, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.” And then, going forth with his augmented light, he prospered far more in his labors of love, not only “convincing the Jews that Jesus was the Christ, but much helping those who had believed through grace, Acts 18:24-28.” This example is most encouraging to all, to improve for God the light which they possess; for, whatever we do for God, is regarded by him as a loan which he will repay! Proverbs 19:17; and in every instance shall it be found, that “he who waters others, shall be watered also himself! Proverbs 11:25.”
2. On those who contribute for the support of charity.
On these, the subject bears to its full extent; and we are warranted to affirm, that men shall “reap either sparingly or bountifully, according as they sow, 2 Corinthians 9:6.” But there is one point of view in which they pre-eminently “honor God.” and with peculiar advantage secure their reward. They honor God particularly, not merely by the distribution of their alms, but by employing and calling forth into activity the piety of others, for the benefit of their fellow-creatures.
It is obvious that individuals of small property could not, without assistance from others, relieve the necessities of the poor to any great extent; and if they could not administer some temporal relief, they could not find easy access to the chambers of the sick. But being furnished with the means of easy access, they can pour the light of instruction and the balm of consolation into the souls of the afflicted to great advantage; and the people so instructed and comforted, not only abound in thanksgivings to God for the benefits received, but in prayers to God in behalf of their benefactors.
This Paul speaks of, as ennobling charity far beyond the mere conveyance of temporal relief, “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else! 2 Corinthians 9:12-13.”
Now then, let me ask: How can you honor God more, than in causing thanksgivings to arise to him from the altars of many hearts? What compensation under Heaven can equal the prayers and intercessions of saints in your behalf? Put your alms in one scale, and the prayers offered to a prayer-hearing God in the other, and say whether your recompense is not very abundant, or whether it is possible to lay out money in any other way to such advantage? Let all of you, then, according to your power, “abound in this heavenly grace” of charity, after the example of your blessed Lord, “who, though he was rich—yet for your sakes became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich! 2 Corinthians 8:9.” Only get a sense of his love upon your souls, and a “sincere love to him” in return, and we shall have no occasion to entreat liberality from you. “For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will. But just as you excel in everything–in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us–see that you also excel in this grace of giving! 2 Corinthians 8:3-8.”
Charles Simeon