Sebastopol, could, like a wall of brass, withstand every attack of numerous foes, yet how many of them would strong drink lay in the dust! In carrying out the abstinence principle, we "do good" to others. God has given us a grant of the fruits of the earth for food, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed: to you it shall be for meat." Mark! it is not said to you, it shall be for drink, but for meat. Now, if we are abstainers, we do what we can to make food plentiful, and prevent its waste. We also, by our efforts and example, reform many drunkards, and bring peace, and health, and comfort into many families. We also bring our influence to bear in the prevention of the young and others, from becoming victims of the great tyrant, and help to discountenance drinking customs, so baneful in their influence. How little poverty, how little disease, and how little crime, would there be in our country, if there were no strong drink!

The measure of responsibility-" To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not." The principle embodied here is very important. If I know what is right and yet do it not, I am guilty of sin. If I know how to do good to myself and others, by abstaining from intoxicating drink, I am bound to do it. The knowledge of doing

THE PRINCIPLE OF ABSTINENCE.

159

good, imposes on me an obligation to do it. The source of right knowledge is the word of God, and that word requires me not to kill; and carrying out the principle, I am bound to avoid and discountenance whatever leads to the loss of life. I am bound "to use all lawful endeavours to preserve my own life, and the life of others," and I am bound to avoid whatsoever tendeth to the destruction of life. I must love my neighbour as myself, and act the part of a good Samaritan to him, if it is in my power. Total abstinence enables me to do this. It gives me a strong position when I say to the drunkard, "Do thyself no harm." Surely, when Paul says, "It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or made weak," he announces a principle of action, which ought to constrain me in the present circumstances of my country, to be a total abstainer, and bring my name, and my influence, and my efforts to bear on this good

cause.

The guilt of neglect "To him it is sin."-It will be a sin against our own souls. He who knows his Lord's will, and does it not, shall be beaten with many stripes. It will be a sin against our neighbour, for no Christian can plead, "Am I my brother's keeper?" And it will be a sin against God, "because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty."

INSTRUCTION REFUSED.

"He that refuseth instruction, despiseth his own soul."-Prov. xv. 82.

THE sayings of the wise man are short, weighty, and comprehensive, and embody principles that should influence our hearts and lives. Here we have instruction brought within our reach,-instruction that may be refused,—and the evil of refusing it.

Instruction we

Instruction is within our reach. greatly need, because sin has darkened our souls, and exposed them to danger. Ignorance is not the mother of devotion, but the mother of all our misery; and unbelief and impenitence are her twin daughters. So numerous are our sins, and so great are our guilt and danger, that if we remain longer in the dark, and unreconciled to God, we may speedily perish. Wrath, curse, and nell, lie across our path, and like a dark lurid cloud, hang over our heads, and how shall we escape? Instruction is provided. We have the word of God. It makes known to us our disease, our remedy, and our cure. It tells us all we need to know about God and the soul, about sin and salvation, about Christ and faith, and about heaven and hell. That word we should read, and study, and improve, for salvation. That word is also pressed on our attention, by

INSTRUCTION REFUSED.

161

the preaching of the everlasting gospel, and by the living example of all good Christians. "It pleases God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe." Who, then, need perish for lack of knowledge? Who need inflict starvation on their souls amid such plenty? "Thy word was found of me, and I did eat it." "The law of Thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver." Thus, by reading and hearing, by studying and considering, the word of God, we become wise unto salvation, while, if we prize not such privileges, it had been better for us never to have been born.

Think of instruction refused-" He that refuseth instruction." We refuse instruction if we neglect the means. Those who have Bibles, and read them not; those who might have them, and yet are without them; those who have the instructions, and warnings of parents and friends, and yet disregard them; those who have the ordinances of religion within their reach, and attend them not, and those who have living epistles in the character and conduct of Christ's followers, and see them not,-despise instruction, and wrong their own souls. If our minds were as much set on imperishable knowledge, as on things that perish with the using, all our difficulties would soon be overcome. We refuse instruction when the truths of God's word are not carefully considered, and believed. Many read and do not

L

understand, many hear and do not believe, and many see, and yet turn away their eyes. They have, it may be, as much religion as to prevent others from thinking that they are reprobates, but they have never drawn from the fountain of divine love, and never washed in the blood of Jesus. We refuse instruction when there is no obedience to Christ's sayings. If any profess to believe the doctrines of the gospel, and obey not the commandments of Christ, their religion is vain. To be half a Christian, and half a worldling, is dishonouring to Christ. To belong to the Church, and yet do nothing to maintain, or extend it, is to act the part of the unprofitable servant.

The evil of refusing it-"Despiseth his own soul." The soul is the noblest part of our nature. Its heavenly origin, the price paid for its redemption, its immortality and destiny, prove its value. Without knowledge, the soul is degraded and brutalised. Shall immortal man seek no higher destiny than the beasts that perish? Shall the young pamper their bodies, and starve their souls? Without knowledge, the soul is miserable. It has no faith, no hope, no love, no aspirations after the enjoyments of heaven. Without knowledge, the soul is lost. He that withholds food from the body, starves and dies, and he that withholds food from the soul exposes it to the wrath of God, and overwhelms it at death in endless perdition.