dency that will produce its own effect (unless the grace of God prevent it) by drawing his affections from the best, and fixing them on the most unworthy objects. Had we the spirit of Christ, we should desire no more than com

petency. Hear Agur's prayer, "Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me; lest I be full, and deny thee, and Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, say,

1

and steal, and take the name of my God in vain." The more I consider it, the more I am induced to believe that the honest, sober, pious, industrious peasant enjoys the greatest happiness on earth; and the presumption that I am right, is inferred from the Lord's people being generally poor, and that because it is better for them. Those who know what a polite education is, think the highest intellectual pleasures arise from it. There are those who have known these pleasures, and also the pleasures of true religion; I appeal to them, if the peasant is not free from the many snares to which the rich and learned are exposed. "But they that will be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and

1 Prov. xxx. 8, 9.

perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."1 The only true pleasure to the pious peasant descends perpetually into his bosom. My present object is to shew that nothing which man possesses, can constitute his happiness, without God. God alone can. "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." 2 St. Paul says to Timothy, in his second epistle, first chapter, and twelfth verse, "For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." These are the true riches. When it pleases God to remove from us our choicest gifts, nature will suffer; but it still is the privilege and duty of the eye of faith to penetrate the thickest cloud, and the believer arrives at this conclusion,-in depriving me of these things, God is only enriching me: when possessed of this spirit, we may set the storms, adversities, and horrors of time or

1 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10.

2 Rev. iii. 18.

eternity at defiance. I would recall to your minds the experience of a saint of old; the Creator deprived him of his child--of the creature, only to enrich him. To enjoy God in the creature is a high privilege; but it is one far higher to enjoy the Creator without the creature. God does not stand in need of any of his creatures to make his people happy. "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of Here is a rich mercy; oh, salvation." 1 may we know the value of this wealth!

my

II. IN LOOKING FORWARD, THOUGH RICH IN THIS WORLD, THE BELIEVER WILL BE RICHER

IN ETERNITY; in one sense, he is in full possession of his wealth now, but he has not the enjoyment of it. A minor may not have the enjoyment of his property, yet the estate is his own; so the believer, and why? Because it has been purchased for him by Christ, he is an heir of God, and joint-heir with Christ. The Bible does not tell us much about heaven,

1 Hab. iii. 17, 18.

but it is not altogether silent; what concerns us at the present moment is principally dwelt upon, and it is not difficult to perceive the wisdom and love which has concealed more from us. When Adam was created, he was not created for the full enjoyment of God, but through the creature; when he was introduced to Eve in beauty and innocence, what think you would be his feelings? he loved her for the sake of his God, and God in her; but, alas ! they fell; and the second Adam took their nature upon him to raise man from the ruins of the fall, to a far higher degree of bliss than they were capable of enjoying, and that without the medium of created being. It will be the immediate vision of God-there will indeed be one medium, that of the humanity of the Son, to place his perfections in the zenith of their glory; he will then be far more intimate than a brother on earth.

It is well to think of these things to make us long to go to him; we shall then enjoy spiritual bodies, calculated in all respects for the enjoyment of God:-we could not bear very high frames and feelings upon earth, they would incapacitate us for our ordinary duties.

III. But to proceed to the third division of my subject; the BELIEVER'S PRESENT WEALTH

IS AN EARNEST OF HIS FUTURE INHERITANCE.

1

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. It is the province of the Spirit of the Lord to lead us to Christ, and through him to the enjoyment of all spiritual blessings. "That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures." It is absolutely necessary we should know God and ourselves. Wait upon God, ye who are smitten with a sense of your own vileness; such should be the experience of the best Christian, therefore be not ye discouraged, if God is shewing you your real character. To know the riches of Christ we must know our own poverty. No one can calculate this poverty, but God himself; we are altogether dependent upon him every moment for every thing, even in time; and we shall owe him this debt, for a disposition to love and serve him for ever. Do not, therefore, murmur against the Lord if he obliges you to peruse accurately your own character, for he is about to raise the edifice of eternity in your hearts; and while such an edifice is to be built, do not quarrel with the great Architect if he is making the foundations deep. It is solid wisdom not to trust in man, but in God. "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool," he who is sensible of

1 Prov. viii. 21.