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"truly the Son of God," with a conviction, a solemnity, and an ardour, which we may well believe would have expected hardly less than the lightnings of Heaven to fall on any one who should have dared to deny it. He accepted, as in every such instance he did, this worship, by this solemn title. He went on land, was recognized by the people, ("straightway they knew him," that is, he was known,) and, in prosecution of his grand commission and career, proceeded to new labours, new instructions to illuminate the people, and new miracies to convince them.

LECTURE LIX.

ROBBERY OF GOD.

MALACHI iii. 8.

"Will a man rob God?"

THE ordinance of God has been that men should have certain things on certain conditions, belonging to them severally, as their own. But there has always been a mighty propensity to break through this great law. This has been the grand grievance and mischief, through all time and everywhere,-among all orders of men, each in their own way,―monarchs among the rest. To restrain it, by fear of punishment, has been a chief object of human lawmaking; and with very imperfect success, as we know too well. What would the condition of society be, if there were no such laws, and if, in no other way, punishment were to be apprehended? We do not at all wonder at this disposition and practice, with respect to property as among men. But here, in the text, is another kind of robbery, which does sound strangely; of which many may be guilty and little think of it.

"Rob God!"-it might be said,-" who could ever think of a thing so monstrous ?-the very idea, the very words, are horrid. If that crime could be committed, what would it deserve? But how can it be? Yet it seems it can be, -for the next words are, "But ye have robbed me.” True enough, there is no ascending to heaven on such an enterprise. Not Satan himself, with all his dreadful army, (the black legions who once were there,) can do that. How

much less, if this were worth saying, any daring, miserable rebels of the mortal tribe! But, indeed, what is there in heaven that wicked men could wish to take? Why, they will not take the trouble to ask from heaven the very best things that are there! Nay, they will not even have them given, they are offered, and offered in vain.

But, we are to be reminded that heaven is not the only domain of God's vast property. All here on earth belongs to him as well. And so, it is in the midst of things belonging to him that we are conversant, living and acting. Look and see what there is that does not belong to him; with no mark on it to tell, so that, "We may do what we will with this, without any regard to him." But, now, if all belongs to God, there comes in the liability to commit robbery against him. For, it may be, that there shall be no general habitual sense and acknowledgment of his sovereign claims; no feeling that all does so belong. This is the comprehensive spirit and principle of the wrong toward him, and will go into many special forms; this state of mind is a general refusal to acknowledge his law; it says to him, "Do not thou interfere with us here. Do not be telling us that this and that, anything, everything, belongs to thee. Be content to insist on thy rights,-thy dues,somewhere else,-in heaven,-anywhere but here. Here we are, in a place that is our own;-and we will have it our own way;—let not a foreign hand be laid on the things." This is taking, as it were, the whole ground at once from God, and assuming a licence for every particular act and kind of robbery. Under the predominance of this spirit, it does not signify what one kind, specifically, he may tell us he has a right to; there is one answer for all cases. As if a man had obtained wrongful possession of a tract of land, and the person whose right it was should assert his right at one time to a particular building on it, at another to a fruit

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tree, a well, &c.—the usurper would say, "I shall not contest about this particular and that--I refuse the whole claim."

Coming to a more particular account of what may justly be called "robbing God," we may say, that it is so, for anything to be suffered to have a stronger power over us than his will, so that, that shall have from us what his will obtains not; whether it be our own inclinations,—or the opinions of men, or the spirit, customs, example, of the world. These are strong powers, and are sure to array themselves, in many instances, against the will of God. In a particular case, his will is declared ;-requires so and so. No;" says one of these evil powers, "not so, it shall be thus." Which do we obey? "Not so;" again in another case, says another of them. These are plainly in a conspiracy that we shall "rob" him. The question is, do we agree with them,-yield to them? if we do, we take on ourselves the guilt of robbery;-the guilt of all the wrongs to God which these incite us to.

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There should be conscientious care to form a right, honest, iudgment, of what is due, of what belongs, to God. This estimate cannot be made out in the same exact manner as the appointments under the Jewish economy, the thing referred to in the text; nothing, in them, was left to deliberation. But in our case, there requires a serious, sincere exercise of thought;-such thinking (in point of grave and patient attention) as an intelligent upright worldly man would employ on some important affair to be adjusted between himself and another party. We are to consider, that we are nothing, and have nothing, but from him; whether so much, or so much, of any kind of service would really be too much to give to him,-(why too much ?)— whether that measure, where perhaps our inclination would stop, would not be too little;-would it not, let conscience

honestly say. What says the Divine Word? what say the best examples? Thus the sincere mind may come to a judgment as to what it is that it would be robbing God to withhold from him.

It hardly needs be added, that this guilt is incurred by misapplying to other uses what is due to him. As if a Jew, of whom, on any occasion, a slain beast was required, as a burnt offering, had said (and done so), "Why not, instead, use it in the sustenance of my family;—or in hospitality to my friends,—or, give it to the poor and needy ?”

But, a few plain particulars should be specified, of what we cannot withhold from God without this guilt. One, plainly at first sight, is, a very considerable proportion or thought concerning Him. What an amazing multitude or thoughts passing in and out of the mind! Thousands, perhaps, in a single day! It is a duty to see to them, what they are about; many of them come independently of will; yet the will has a large power and responsibility, for, we can think of what we choose. To a great extent, the thinking is necessitated by things to be done; but, after all, there remains a great deal just for voluntary choice. And here, how much is due to God? to him who has given the very power of thinking? Is a little thinking, a slight occasional thought-enough? how should it, in all reason, be enough. Such thinking implies that the subject (in any case) is indifferent or insignificant; at least to us. Look at the small proportion of thought about God, and then ask, what is the greatest, strongest reason for thinking of anything? Look at it, and consider, is this in any proportion to what God is? to the fact of his intimate constant presence? Is it in any due proportion to what he has said to us? in any proportion to what we depend on him for? to what we deserve from him? to what we shall receive from him? if quite the contrary, then we "rob God,"

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