favourable than a high degree of intellectual refinement and mental vigour. These are all instruments intended to make us occupy our place with advantage to our fellow-creatures. We are social creatures, and until we are actuated by that principle which renders these things beneficial to our fellow-creatures, they must be considered as totally lost. Riches are possessed to the injury of those who possess them, whenever they fill the heart with arrogance-whenever they lead to attempt injustice and oppression. And how frequently, where there is not the regulating principle of piety and virtue, is this found to be the case! They first corrupt the principles of the possessor, and then, by his conduct and example, diffuse the corruption far and wide. Instead of enlightening the understanding, they, for the most part, obscure it; instead of calming the passions and purifying the heart, they add fuel to the fires of concupiscence and lust, and eventually consume their victim. It is a great presumption to feel confidence in that which is of an equivocal nature-which may shed a noxious influence on all around-which may recoil on the head of the possessor; and which may cause the hand that might have enjoyed it in peace to become the weapon of hostility. 2. In the next place, these things are utterly incapable, either separately or combined, of supplying some of the most pressing wants, and avoiding some of the most obvious evils to which our nature is exposed. Strength, worldly wisdom, or riches, are totally inadequate to furnish any pledge of human happiness; and they provide not the least exemption from the evils to which we are exposed. They never, for a moment, can confer on us the approbation of our own minds; and, unless man approve himself, he never can enjoy the suffrage of his fellow-creatures. Applause can never be felt by any virtuous mind, unless it feels a consciousness that it deserves it; it is only on account of its tendency to do so that it furnishes any source of satisfaction to a virtuous mind; and, unless we have our own approbation, we must feel the applause of our fellow-creatures as an insult, and feel ourselves guilty of fraud and deception. Tranquillity of mind, especially in the prospect of futurity, can never be the portion of these endowments separately or combined; that peace of mind which passeth all understanding can never be the result of these qualities; on the contrary, they have a tendency to destroy it by engaging us in new schemes and enterprises, which continually occupy the mind. Nor did any man on his elevation to riches, or any distinction, ever arrive at such a condition as that he felt himself happy and able to look around him, and to reflect on the future or the past with composure and satisfaction. What protection is there in riches, strength, and wisdom of a worldly kind, against the attacks of enemies against the complaints of discontent-against the perturbations of ungovernable passions against the canker of corrupt principles? If the heart is not the seat of benevolence-if the possession be not accompanied with a sincere desire of doing good, self-contempt must ever accompany such a person. It is a very small portion of what men call happiness that can be culled from these endowments-they afford VOL. IV.-R an inadequate, an extremely inadequate supply of the most essential wants which belong to man as a thinking, reasonable, accountable creature. But observe, in the third place, that they are of a very transient duration and possession. Some of them are extinguished in a moment. The least derangement of the nervous system may throw into desolation the most magnificent fabric of the human frame. And, with respect to riches, do they not make themselves wings, and leave their possessors behind? And it is likely that, if prudence were left to determine, the probability of success would not be equal to the probability of failure. But even suppose they could be carried forward to the end of life, how short is that period when compared to that vast duration which awaits us beyond it! Were we confined to the present world, religion has taught us the vanity of wealth and worldly riches on a thousand occasions. Poets and philosophers have made this the theme of their most frequent discussion and lamentation; but with the prospects of eternity before us, with an insight into another world, what can we think of the inadequacy of these endowments, which leave us at the threshold of mortality, which will afford no consolation in the dying hour, which we must leave when we step into eter. nity, and which have no sort of union or connexion with any of the enjoyments of the next world? You must have a consciousness that you must leave it at your dying hour; that the time is speedily coming when you must give an everlasting adieu to it, and depart into an unseen, an eternal world. III. In the next place, let me briefly observe that this passage here suggests (and by the Divine being is the suggestion made) that THERE IS AN OBJECT WHICH IS OF SUCH A NATURE THAT IT WILL JUSTIFY glory, on what we may feel confidence? It is in this, that we know and understand the Lord, that we are acquainted with his character. To know the Lord, and understand the character of the Lord, is another expression for religion. It appears to be used in the Old Testament as an abridged expression for piety; thus it is said by the prophet, speaking of religion in the latter times, "That the time shall come when no man need say to his neighbour, Know thou the Lord; for all shall know him." In the 22d chapter of the same prophecies, and the 16th verse, it is said, speaking of a former king of Israel, "He judged the cause of the poor and needy, then it was well with him; was not this to know me, saith the Lord?" We are informed of a period when the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters fill the sea. And the Apostle Paul justifies the same application of the expression; for he, speaking of the impiety of some of the professors of Christianity at Corinth, says, " Ye have not the knowl edge of God; I speak this to your shame;" and "after that ye knew God," saith the apostle, which is another expression for their conversion. The expression, to know God, is used to denote, not merely an acquaintance with His character, but a suitable state of mind towards Him; the terms see and know denote their appropriate affections; they indicate the state of the heart. To know God is to feel affected towards him in a manner suited to His character, to be submissive to His government, willing to be dealt with by His administration, to be in subjection to His authority, to yield obedience to His will. It is, in fact, another expression for that religion which unites the heart of the creature to the Creator. Now this, the prophet tells us, is a ground of boasting. The principles of true religion supply the deficiencies that belong to the former acquisitions, and what is denied to those is with the greatest propriety transferred to true religion, In the first place, true religion will teach us the proper regulation and employment of all these endowments. The principle of piety will instruct us how to use our strength; not to make it a vain boast, but to employ it in the service of our day and generation. It will enable us to lend our bodily energies to the service of that Being who created our mortal frame; it will lay an arrest on all the abuses of physical power, and direct it entirely into the channel of useful and beneficent action. With respect to wisdom, the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God; it makes no shelter for the greatest dangers; it shuts its eyes against the most impending scenes; it is blind to eternity. And with respect to the wisdom of this world, it never opens its eyes to take in the wisdom of God. By forgetting God's administration, by seeking to be happy independent of him, by building for perpetuity on the sand with materials of a perishable nature, by shining for a time with a light that death will extinguish-this is foolishness with God. And with respect to riches, all the great ends of prosperity will be laid at the foot of the cross, and will serve to honour him for whose pleasure and service they are created. There is no principle which can direct the energies of the immortal mind like this--no principle can turn them to their proper objects except the principle of true religion; it lays an arrest on all that is calculated to disturb the beneficial operations of our powers of mind or body. This is wanting in all the schemes of human wisdom, in all the enterprises of human skill; in all the strength, riches, and wisdom of this present world, not an ingredient of this principle is to be found-not an ingredient of this safe-conducting principle can be found except in the knowledge of God and true religion. 2. In the next place, there is a perpetuity and pledge of future and eternal felicity in the religion of Jesus Christ; not only that which produces present tranquillity and peace, but that which furnishes the pledge of an enduring and eternal happiness. The Christian knows that whatever he wants, it is better to want than possess; whatever he waits for, it is better to wait for than to have immediately put into his possession. He is assured that he is under the conduct of infinite wisdom; his own righteousness he considers as a feeble light, which is forced to be renewed from above. Loving God's administration, and having their hearts attached to His throne, Christians move forward in perfect harmony with the great Mover, and are carried forward through all the revolutions of time and eternity with the most beneficial operation; for he declares "that all things work together for good to them that love God." The Christian looks around at the power which controls all worlds, from whom no result is hidden, and reflects that no event can take place but in consequence of His holy permission. This one principle of knowing the Lord, understanding the moral principles of his government, approving of his administration, and being willing that he should govern us, arms the mind as with brass. "As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people, from henceforth even forever." No arm of flesh can injure us if God be on our side. And when we come to die, and enter into another state of being, then that gracious God, who has provided for the exigencies and necessities of that condition, will open to us sources of knowledge and enjoyment altogether different from what we ever saw or heard. Revelation has cast a faint light on it, but "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." But that world will be a world of eternal duration, enlightened by the glory of God, filled continually with his presence, and pervaded by his enjoyments; and his worship and service will be engaged in by an innumerable multitude of every nation and every tongue, and the elect of his people out of all the earth. In that world nothing can arise which the religion now revealed does not provide for, no enjoyment for which it has not a direct qualification. It fits and provides for the eternal state, by bringing us under the guidance of the great Author of Divine revelation; it qualifies and makes us meet for the inheritance of the saints in light; it prepares its possessors for living and reigning with Christ as kings and priests. Here is a ground for glory and boasting. The Christian can never stretch his view too far, or go beyond the limits of his inheritance; it loses itself in the recesses of a boundless eternity. But, my dear brethren, since this is consistent with the true sayings of God-since this is the instruction of him that made you, let me sincerely request, especially the younger part of you, to pay to it the most profound attention. Let me remind you that God will judge the world in righteousness according to the maxims and principles found in this passage. None will appear with confidence before him at the last day, none will see the face of God to their joy, who renounce not all their self-confidence; none can approach him who have not first approached the fountain of propitiation and sacrifice; none but those who, through faith in Christ, have made their peace with God. They only who have known him as a reconciled God in Christ Jesus, who have undergone the process of sanctifying and transforming grace, these only are now the children of God, these only will be manifest as such in the presence of the assembled world; they only will be the heirs of God. Young men, place no confidence in your strength; you may be withered in a moment; a fit of disease may blast you for ever; the cheek that now glows with health may be faded in an instant, and the voice of the Divine Being will be heard saying to And you you, "Return, ye children of men," and you must return. who possess riches, place no confidence in your riches; be rich in good works, be ready to communicate, be ready to distribute, treasure up for yourselves a good foundation for the time to come, lay hold on eternal life, and take care that the riches you now possess are not your supreme riches, but lay them as spoils on the altar of Christ and religion. And if there be any in the presence of God who are eminent for worldly policy and wisdom, let them not walk in self-satisfaction, nor place confidence in themselves on that account. If you be wise in the great schemes of human emulation and advantage, and, at the same time, are not prepared for eternity, you will sink never to rise again. Your wisdom will be esteemed as the most elaborate folly, and God and angels will exult over your ruin to all eternity. These things are not unknown to us: they are familiar to all, they float on the very surface of religion. Let us be wise, and consider our latter end; let us seek henceforth the things that are above; let us renounce the world; let us follow Christ wherever we go; let us take the Scriptures, considering them as a guide and help, regulating all our sentiments by them; and, like children, let us sit at the feet of Christ, and learn his words, for they are the words of eternal life. VI. THE DIVINE FAITHFULNESS.* Joshua, xxi., 45.-There failed not aught of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel: all came to pass. [Preached at Broadmead, Bristol, October 29, 1828.] THIS is the testimony which Joshua, or some pious person who closes the account which Joshua is supposed to have given of the conquest of Canaan, bears; by which he drew the attention of the people of God to his faithfulness in fulfilling his engagements and verifying his promises. Great difficulties attended the conducting of the children of Israel to the land of Canaan-difficulties of a moral as well as of a natural description-difficulties arising from the perverseness of their conduct, which rendered it necessary for the Divine Being from time to time to cut them off-ar difficulties arising from the circumstances in which they were placed; their utter inability to combat or cope with their enemies, and the mighty obstructions that lay in their way in the wilderness, but especially when they arrived in the promised land. Yet through all these difficulties the hand of God. was pleased to conduct them; they were carried triumphantly through them, and brought to that promised land which occasioned this per manent record of Divine faithfulness and truth. The words of the * Reported in the Pulpit, vol. xx. |