To Young Disciples.
AT the time when Samuel Budgett, afterward called “The Successful Merchant,” first went into business in Bristol, pepper was laid under a heavy tax. In consequence, it was commonly adulterated; and in almost every grocer’s shop might be seen a cask marked” P.D.,” pepper-dust, a dust, looking like pepper, with which the pepper was mixed before it was sold. It had grown into a custom of the trade; and men who called themselves honest men did it without stopping to think, or to ask, whether it was right or wrong.
A cask with “P.D.” on it was also found in Mr. Henry Budgett’s shop. As soon as Samuel Budgett went into the firm his conscience began to grumble. That “everybody did so” was an argument which had no weight with him. If everybody did wrong, it became him to do right. “It was only a trick of the trade.”
The more he thought of it, the more he hated the sight of that ugly cask. It looked like a hypocrite, and he liked genuine things, men or goods. He felt sure he could not ask the blessing of God upon the use of this “P.D.” This decided him, and he determined instantly to obey his conscience. It was night. He went into his shop, rolled the cask down into an old quarry behind the building, where he stove it in, and scattered the “P.D.” to the four winds; and then his conscience was at rest.
Whether the tricks of the commercial world have decreased or otherwise since the days of Samuel Budgett, we do not stop to inquire; but the above contains a fine moral for those who have just commenced their Christian course, and whose desire is so to walk that they may have the testimony that they please God.
If you look around and examine the condition of what is generally, though unscripturally, called “the Christian world,” you will find that it abounds, so to say, with” P.D’s.”; that the doctrines and traditions of men are almost universally mingled with the word of God; and that the majority of those who call themselves “Christians” patronize the most worldly associations of Christ with Belial, without ever inquiring whether it is scriptural or not. Now as you wish to follow the Lord “with purpose of heart,” you must abide in the fellowship unto which “ye were called;” “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom, and exercise yourselves to have always a conscience void of offense towards God and man;” and the more you do so, the better will you be prepared for judging “righteous judgment;” for discerning pure and simple truth from human adulterations; for rejecting all mixed principles; and for refusing to sanction anything and everything which the word of the Lord condemns. True it is that such a course will lay you open to the charge of bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and expose you to contempt and ridicule; but who ever lived godly in Christ Jesus “without suffering persecution “? No doubt in the estimation of those who sought their own ends and interests by carrying on “the trick of the trade,” the conscientious grocer was over scrupulous; too particular; and more nice than wise; but what effect would all that might have been urged have upon the man who, rather than sell that upon which “he could not ask the blessing of God,” was content to be a pecuniary loser, and did not hesitate to scatter the “P.D.” to the four winds? He could not be happy so long as he had anything in his shop that was not “genuine;” but after he had stove in “that ugly cask,” he possessed what money can never purchase, viz., a peaceful conscience and an uncondemning heart. And if you, beloved readers, will but walk in absolute subjection to the authority of the Lord Jesus, and at all cost and hazards, not allow yourselves to be drawn aside by the flimsy arguments of those who, for the sake of expediency and worldly reputation remain in connection with what is thoroughly opposed to the mind and will of God, the testimony of your conscience and the smile and approval of “your heavenly Father” will richly compensate for all the shame and reproach which may be heaped upon you, or for any temporary loss you may sustain; you will have more gladness in your hearts than those whose corn and wine increase, you will “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ;” you will realize that communion with the Father and his Son, which only those who possess “a good conscience” can understand and enjoy; and your path will resemble that of “the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”
And has not the straightforward act of “the conscientious grocer” a voice for those who, in their respective spheres and occupations, have to do or say or teach things which vex their righteous souls from day to day, or who are obliged to attend services on the Lord’s-day which are at utter variance with the truth, and which, were they free from the control of man, they would never attend again? Yes; and we would affectionately and faithfully ask such, whether, for the sake of the bread which perisheth, they will remain where they cannot “abide with God,” or whether, while confessing their past unfaithfulness, and waiting on the Lord for deliverance, they will rid themselves as quickly as possible of the” P.D’s.” which wound their consciences, rob them of the enjoyment of their peace and portion in Christ, and, above all, hinder their testimony for the Lord Jesus? If you are satisfied with being Christians you will doubtless adopt the former course, and try to quiet the voice of conscience by the example of others, or by the reasonings of those who love “the praise of men more than the praise of God,” and the ease of the flesh better than the self-denying spirit and precepts of Christ; but if you wish to be his friends and disciples, you will “cease to do evil,” and without stopping to think of consequences, or caring to be thought “fools for Christ’s sake,” or shrinking from the charge of being singular, or waiting till you have obtained other situations, resign those which you cannot conscientiously fill, even though humanly speaking you are dependent thereon for daily bread. Then will your hearts cease to smite you, from thenceforth spiritual prosperity will mark your career, and if you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, “all necessary things shall be added unto you.”
N.