Religion Viewed as a Means of Promoting the Temporal Interest of Its Possessor

Did you ever consider that beautiful allegory which is drawn by the pen of inspiration in the third chapter of Proverbs? “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain there of than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things that thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand: and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness. and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.” This is one of those sparkling gems of composition which decorate and enliven the pages of Scripture; it is as poetically elegant, as it is morally useful. I scarcely need to observe that by wisdom here, we are to understand religion; for the sacred writer has defined the meaning of the term where he says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments.” The general idea presented is, that religion is happiness: “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom;” and the qualities of that happiness are described: it is transcendent; for it is better and more to be coveted than silver, gold, or rubies, and all the gains of the most profitable merchandise: it is comprehensive; for, is length of days a blessing 1 it is in her right hand; or riches and honour? they are in her left; or pleasure? her ways are ways of pleasantness, and her paths peace: it is paradisaic bliss; for it is the fruit of that tree of life which grows in hea ven, and drops its produce upon earth: it is Divine, being a participation of the happiness of God himself, whose wisdom is his glory and blessedness. Go, young man, to this beautiful personification, this angel form; she has length of days in her right hand. Religion will not necessarily ensure health and avert disease; but it will prevent the constitution from being destroyed or impaired by vice. Read the description which is given of the consequences of sin in the book of Job, (ch. xi. 11,) as exhibited in an aged worn out sinner, “His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust,” and then add the language of Solomon, where he says, “and thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy bones are consumed, and say How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof: and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly,’” Prov. v. 12 — 14. Martyrs of concupiscence, victims of drunkenness, ye loathsome spectacles, ye living corpses, full of every thing that is tormenting to yourselves and disgusting to others, rise like spectres before the imagination of young men, to deter them from the crimes which have reduced you to corruption, even on this side of the grave. Religion would have guarded you from all this! Such men live out not half their days. But see, what is in the left hand of wisdom; “riches and honour.” Not that religion shields from poverty, and guides all her subjects to wealth: hut still it prevents the crimes which lead to the one, and implants the virtues which tend to the other. Sin is an expensive thing, as we have already considered; it is a constant drain upon the pocket, and keeps a man poor, or makes him dishonest: while piety is frugal, industrious, sober, and prudent; it makes a man trust-worthy, confidential, and procures for him esteem, preference, and station. Do you wish to prosper, and get on in the world? (and it is quite lawful for you to wish it, you ought indeed to wish it,) go to wisdom, and take the

blessing, even riches and honour, which she has. in her left hand, and which she holds out to you. Go and pluck the fruit of this tree of life, or catch the precious produce as the boughs are shaken by the favouring gales of Providence.

How many young men have left their native village, and their father’s house, with all the property they had on earth tied up in the bundle they carried in their hand, and have gone to London poor and almost friendless lads, who yet, because they became the disciples and admirers of this wisdom, have risen to opulence and respectability! What names could I record, dear to the church of God, and known to the friends of man throughout the country and world, who by the aid of religion rose from obscurity to renown, and from poverty to wealth! Their history is a striking proof that “godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” I could mention, were it proper, the name of one, who went into an extensive concern in London as a boy to sweep the shop and carry out goods, who became at length possessor of the whole concern, died rich, and his property, in part, became the foundation of a new charitable institution: of another, who, from a poor lad, became a leading man in one of our religious denominations, and the treasurer of one of our most useful societies: of a third, who, from being a shop-boy in the city, became the possessor of a large fortune, which at his decease enriched many of the noblest institutions of the present time. In each case, religion, by rendering them steady, industrious, and confidential, was the means of their opulence and elevation. They shunned evil companions, evil places, evil habits, evil amusements, and, under the influence of piety, entered those paths which lead many from poverty to wealth and from obscurity to renown. They sat down as young men at the feet of wisdom, learned her lessons, and received her rewards.

I do not mean to say that religion without application to business, or talents for it, will succeed; but religion, by giving diligence and sharpening the faculties, will promote success. Piety exerts a favourable influence, not only on the morals but on the secular habits of life: and one piece of advice which wisdom delivers, as she holds out hei left hand blessings, is, Be diligent in business, as well as fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, Rom. xii. 1 1. It is a lawful and proper ambition to try to excel in the profession or business to which you have devoted your life. You ought not to be satisfied with dull mediocrity, much less with creeping, grovelling inferiority. You happily live in a country where the summits of society are accessible to those who seem, by the circumstances of their birth, to be placed at the base. The father of the late Sir Robert Peel was at one time a journeyman cotton-spinner; nor is there any legal bar across the path of any other aspirant after distinction; but it is only talent, united with good conduct, that can expect to rise: while incompetence, which is more frequently the result of a want of application than of ability, and indolence, will sink. Piety and a desire to excel in business are helpful to each other: the former will give the virtues necessary to the latter, while the latter will guard the former from being destroyed by many of those evils to which youth are exposed, and by which they are hindered from getting on in life.

The cultivation of the mind in all useful know ledge, is also auxiliary to elevation in life. A religious dolt may rise, but it is not usual. Besides, admitting that religion does sometimes help ignorance up the steep ascent to wealth, it is know ledge alone that can fit a man for eminent usefulness. Employ your spare time in reading, and acquiring knowledge. Ignorance was never so inexcusable as it is now, when the fountains of science are opened all around us, and the streams of learning are flowing even into the cottages of the poor. Religion and knowledge are harmonious, and reciprocally helpful. Let your reading be select and useful. Squander not the little time you have to spare upon trash. Head history, natural philosophy, the evidences of revealed religion, and some of our best conducted periodical publications.

How well is that young man defended from the dangers that surround him, and how likely to rise in life, who has religion to sanctify his heart, application to business to occupy his time, and a taste for reading to employ his leisure. It is he that receives from wisdom the blessings she holds forth in both of her hands: length of days in the right, and riches and honour in the left: and at the same time it is his to gather from the tree of life the fruit of glory and immortality.