wanted this; and the soul that wants it is just as fit for hell, as the body that wants the soul is fit only for the grave. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his !" He has chosen this world, and with the God of this world he must have his portion. But let me also address a word, before I conclude, to the Lazaruses of this age. My poor brethren! Beware of a common notion; I beseech you beware of it; viz.-that your sufferings in this life merit heaven for you hereafter, or that they will be as wings to raise your souls to glory. No! no! Afflictions can do nothing of this kind. Unless sanctified by faith, they will sink you lower in depravity. We see this verified every day. Look to our houses of correction, or places of punishment. There, squalid poverty meets our eye, and gives us pain. Who are they that, in general, throng those places? The poor, and the afflicted: So little does affliction avail to rid man of the evil that is in his heart. But yet remember, O ye that are poor, remember this ;the Almighty has not rejected you. "His ways are equal." Your state is one, which, when compared with the condition he has allotted to others, is certainly to be lamented. This is one of the mysteries of his providence, of which he at present gives no account; but he will explain it in due time. Meanwhile, he has placed salvation within There your reach, and has even given you advantages which your rich neighbours possess not. is something in your condition that has a tendency to make you" strangers and pilgrims upon the earth." It is comparatively easy to a man to renounce that world which seems so ready to renounce him; and to seek happiness in God when he can find it no where else. Heaven is brought down to him, (by the grace of God,) and placed, as it were, within his grasp. Neither are those hinderances in his way which abound in the way of others. Sin will attack you, and it has an advocate even in your poor heart; but it springs up under the feet of a prosperous man; it is the element in which he lives, and will unless a miracle of grace prevent it. live for ever, In addition to Beside, the poor are seldom flattered. To use a common expression, you will hear the truth on both sides of your head." You have another advantage. You are not in so much danger of that overwhelming pride which makes so many say, "Who is the Lord that I should serve him?" all this, and above all, my poor brethren, when you are tempted to murmur at your lot, look to your adorable Master! When "he was manifest in the flesh," might he not have chosen what station he pleased upon the earth? He certainly might. Yet he actually appeared in the poorest condition in the world!-That extraordinary man, Charles the Twelfth, of Sweden, whose name will live while war has a place among men, exerted his whole genius, in order so to form his army, that he might lead his soldiers from conquering to conquer. How did he effect this? Not only by labouring to infuse into them an intrepid spirit similar to his own; not even by taking an equal share in all their difficulties and privations; but by exposing himself still more than any of his men to every hardship. When about to encamp, he would choose the worst spot of ground whereon to pitch his own tent, generally selecting some wet or marshy place, where he could have no comfort; and the worst food in the camp he would take to himself. Hence his soldiers were ashamed to complain, for the answer was ready, "Are you not better off than the king ?" This conduct infused such a spirit into his army, that only God could stop that man; only death could arrest his course.-Consider now the Saviour of the world! "Of him, and through him, and to him are all things!" He, indeed, chose no suffering; neither is it his will that you should choose it. But he submitted to all. Born in the lowest condition, in every subsequent step of his holy life he was exposed to poverty,—often without a shelter from the raging elements,-a prey to insults and to injuries,-the victim of treachery, -and at length condemned to a cruel death. Brethren! ought we not to "learn in whatsoever state we are, to be content ?" Must we be "better off than the King?" Even if you also have not "where to lay your head," yet you are not called to lay it on a bloody cross! O ye poor in this world, judge not your Creator. Behold the unsearchable riches of Christ, and hear him saying, "All is yours!" But you must suffer with him, if you would partake of his glory. Let your hearts then be there fixed, where true joys are to be found. "Come up higher!" "Bless the Lord," yea, let "all that is within you bless his holy name," that you are so far "conformed to the image of his Son!" He was born, and lived, and died in the corps to which you belong. "To you it is given to suffer," says the great Apostle : And shall we lightly esteem the gift of God? Behold the primitive Christians! Under Christ they are our great model. Not many rich, “not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble, were called." No! These ungrateful recipients of those great gifts "desired to be excused;” and they were excused! God " them their request," but " gave sent leanness into their souls." On the contrary, "Hearken," says St. James, "Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom ?" By grace they too chose Him. Be this your happy choice likewise; and you shall be eternally rich in the glory of God. Amen! |