There is one principle of God's ways with man I which impresses itself more and more deeply the more we think of it. It is that equality of His dealings, that absolute righteousness expressed in the words, "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7.) The gospel, which is the glory of God, and according to which He freely forgives the repenting sinner who believes in Jesus, so far from setting aside this principle but emphasizes it. The apostle, in Romans, is most careful to establish the harmony between God's grace and His justice, both as regards the law and in connection with the history of His past dealings and future purposes with respect to Israel. As to the law, and its inflexible claims upon man, he shows how it is established by the gospel; for did not the spotless Lamb of God take the consequences of a broken law and endure the wrath and judgment? Thus and thus only did the love of God flow out unhindered to poor guilty man. "He is just and the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus. " Then too how beautifully is brought out the responsibility of Israel, their disobedience and folly and the just results of that folly, and yet the grace and mercy which, through Christ, they will receive.

No doubt with many the side of responsibility and recompense is overlooked for a time at least. The great joy of salvation so eclipses all other thought that the new born soul thinks but little if at all of the ways of God. And without doubt this is well; it is like the gracious ways of the Spirit of God so to establish the soul in the love of God first, that all after lessons will be learned in the atmosphere of that love.

Later on, however, as the days and years go by, one finds that he is still in the body and still under the government of God. Sins long ago committed and long ago forgotten come back in one form and another. A dishonest act which caused the loss of reputation, though long ago repented of and all amends made, still lodges in the minds of some who, in enmity even, keep it fresh before the minds of others. Or the strength has been wasted in sinful pleasures; dissipations of youth, and excesses of riotous living, long ago repented of and forgiven through infinite grace, come back now in the form of bodily weakness, lassitude, and feebleness, to remind one of the solemn truth we have been considering.

And is it not well that this is so? Does it not deepen in the soul the sense of the exceeding sinful-ness of sin, and make us realize the ruin which has come into the whole world, upon every child of Adam, because of sin? Every form of sickness, every death, is a solemn reminder of the sway of sin in this world. Grace has not set this aside, and the mortal bodies in which we live must one day crumble into dust because of the presence of sin- unless, blessed be God, our soon-coming Lord call us hence before that time:for "we shall not all sleep."

Under the solemnizing effect of this thought let us follow further its leadings. We have been speaking of positive sin and its results. But apart from any trespass, we have all been entrusted with opportunities, abilities and much else of which we were to make proper use. We belong to God by the threefold right of creation, preservation and redemption. As His, all that we are and have is to be used for Him. So we find, in Luke 16:, the parable of stewardship and responsibility following the lovely unfoldings of grace in the fifteenth chapter. We are stewards only; our own things are not here; our portion and inheritance are where Christ has gone. The present time, with all that goes with it, is God's. So our Lord reminds us, and presses it home upon conscience and heart; " If ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?" "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much:and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much."

Bearing in mind that this responsibility begins with life and only closes when we pass out of this scene, what a catalogue of failure confronts us! Let us dwell upon it a little, particularly in the light of another passage:" Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more" (Luke 11:48). We will be very simple, enumerating a few things which have been committed to us, and giving, in some sense, an account of our stewardship.

First of all, we have had entrusted to us the privilege of having been born where the light of God's truth shines and all the abundant blessings connected with that. With many of us it was also true that we were from childhood under the influence of that truth. This was committed to us:what use did we make of it? In immediate connection with the verse already quoted, we are told "he that knew his Lord's will and did it not shall be beaten with many stripes." The heathen, without all these privileges is responsible, surely, to God; but what shall we say of those equally disobedient with the heathen, but with God's light shining about them? Every saved man feels the loss of every day he lived without God, when he might have known Him.

Look a little at the bodily and mental faculties entrusted to us. Even after these centuries of moral separation from God, it can be said of us both bodily and mentally that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. What endowments, what capacity for acquiring knowledge, for training the mind, and making it the master of the body. It is no trifle to think how much has thus been committed to us. How did we use it?

The same can be said of our time and opportunities. How many golden hours-of youth and later years-have slipped through our fingers unused, or worse? Every day and hour should have been happily filled, with diligence turning over every occasion and making it an opportunity for doing the will of God and gaining the strength that comes from faithful labor. Wasted days! who can contemplate them without a solemnizing sense of how much has been committed to us in that way?

Passing now into the sphere of the Christian life, we find a fresh commitment of trusts with a knowledge of the love and grace of God, the gift of the Spirit, a new nature, and the precious word of God now luminous and vital; what a world of new responsibilities is opened up. Every original responsibility is now as it were intensified; time and strength, wealth and position; talents and opportunities now have a new meaning. It is not exactly that a new responsibility has displaced the old, as we shall presently see, but everything has a new sanction, and a new standard of valuation.

Where shall we begin to speak of Christian responsibilities? They are personal, mutual, and universal. Whatever there is in our lives, and wherever those lives come in contact with others, there is a commitment. Surely much has been committed to us. Look briefly at a few examples.

The believer is sealed and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, has the word of God in his hand, and mind and heart capable of enjoying it. Words fail to express the inestimable value of this trust. Will not much be required of those who are so endowed? If Enoch, Abraham, and Daniel were holy men, with the privileges they enjoyed, what manner of men, personally, ought we to be? What communion, what spiritual growth, what love and fervor should mark the increased light and knowledge that are ours. We need not specify; to do so would be to enumerate all the blessings of Christianity and all the fruits of the Christian graces. But here is food for meditation. The heritage is all ours, how much of the land have we taken possession of?

Here are our Bibles. They have not been committed to any one class of saints. The entire word of God is ours, to read, to live, to live by. What a responsibility goes with this. Beloved Christian reader, what are you doing with your Bible? Rest assured that much will be required from such a trust.

Then there are all the varied openings for service -seeking to build one another up, to help and encourage one another, to admonish and care for one another. There is but one answer to the question " Am I my brother's keeper?" There is not a member of the body of Christ so weak and obscure who can escape this responsibility, while the greater the endowments the greater the weight.

If they are anything, God's saints are an evangelizing people. So Scripture declares them-"lights in the world, holding forth the word of life." Winning souls, telling out the glad tidings-these things are to characterize Christians. A spiritually dumb saint is, in the sight of angels, a greater wonder than a physically dumb man. Oh, to awaken to these things.

Ere closing this side of our subject, let us mark the connection between responsibility and the judgment seat of Christ. We have been forever delivered from personal judgment, by Him who bore it for us. But now He is to be the judge of our life-work. If responsibility begins with early life and continues on to the end, then every portion of that life, both before and after conversion must come under the eye of the Saviour-judge. How solemnizing the thought -the record of the entire life is to be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ. But knowing grace as we do, could we wish it otherwise?

Pausing now, as we review the subject of responsibility-much given, much required-what can we say? Must we not own that we are unfaithful stewards? Much is required, but we have it not;-and as we stand with well nigh empty hands what can we say?

But God does not leave us with the mere sense of responsibility as a motive. True, much is required of us, and this should spur us on to gather up the fragments of time still remaining. But this is not the motive.

"Her sins which are many are forgiven, for she loved much " (Luke 7:47). Here is a wrecked life:
family lost, good name, doubtless health – had been wasted in riotous living. There could be no comfort for her in the thought of responsibility, only shame and sorrow. Nor can the future, in this life, look very bright to one who must reap what she has sowed. And yet grace has freely forgiven her – and she realizes how great the debt was. Now she has a motive to control her whole being – "she loved ranch." The ointment in its alabaster box is a feeble expression of the mighty love that now controls her. What will her future be; what can it be with a love like that? Ah, brethren, here is a motive.

So Paul, chief of sinners and much forgiven, expresses it, "The love of Christ constraineth us." He realized the depth of his guilt, and the wonder of that grace which had saved him. He understood what it cost for the Lord to redeem him, and he says, " I must live for Him who died and rose again for me." How blessed it is that we have here a motive stronger ever then the sense of our failure.

Love does where even duty would fail, and how lovely it is to see a wrecked life, a shattered body, taken possession of by this new principle and transfigured.

" Oh for grace our hearts to soften ;
Teach us Lord at length to love."