16.  The worth of money hoarded or spent unnecessarily, contrasted with the worth of souls as gems in the Saviour’s crown.  The true value of wealth as a worldly good we fully appreciate.  It contains no hidden excellence which the circumstances of life conceal.  But the true glory of a soul redeemed the mists of time obscure.  Our attachment to the world and the hallucinations growing out of it, prevent its full appreciation.  But soon all this illusion will vanish.  Both will stand before us in their true light.  One will be seen to be vanity as it is; the other to possess a worth which no language can express:—­a worth consisting not merely of the endless blessedness and glory it is itself capable of enjoying, but also of the glory that will redound to the adorable Trinity through its redemption.  Take a position most favorable for its true estimation.  Transplant yourself into the heavenly state; contemplate a blood-washed soul in all its peace, its joy, it ravishment, as it circulates about the throne of love, approaching nearer and nearer to its blissful centre, constantly increasing in capacities, and more and more joyful in its high hallelujahs, till it shall enjoy more blessedness in a single hour, than Gabriel has enjoyed since the moment of his creation.  Behold it, as it shines, a star, in the Saviour’s diadem; gaze upon it purifying and brightening there as revolutions of eternity’s time move on, till it shall attract the admiration of the heavenly throngs, and call forth from their wondering harps symphonies louder and more rapturous than have yet been heard in that world of sweetest hosannahs.  The comparative worth of money hoarded or wasted, and the of the ransomed soul to itself, to the Saviour who redeemed it, to the adoring hosts whose fruitions are enhanced by the displays of grace evinced in its redemption, will be then clearly seen.  Oh, how trifling will that money which has been squandered or grudgingly withheld from charity then appear, contrasted with the results in glorified souls of what was cheerfully and prayerfully bestowed.  The condition of the churl and the liberal, how different then!  He who hoarded most will then be found the poorest; and he who gave most with the greatest sacrifices, the richest.

17.  The brevity of the period allotted us to labor and to make sacrifices for the salvation of men.  “A point of time, a moment’s space,” is all we have.  What we do in charity, the labors we perform, the privations we suffer, must all be accomplished or endured soon.  The distress we relieve, the souls we save, the joys we inspire, must feel the quickening hand of mercy without delay.  Time is on his rapid wing.  Thousands who need our help are perishing daily; the entire generation now occupying this stage of toil and probation, the great Destroyer will speedily sweep from the scene.  Almost “in the twinkling of an eye” we shall stand together before the judgment throne.  He who died to save the poor as well as the rich, the heathen as well as the evangelized, is now speaking from heaven; “whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”