the flesh, and the devil, under our feet. A Christian is a man who, instead of living upon outward temporary things, is building upon the ROCK OF AGES; and, therefore, safe for this is that from which nothing can separate him. This is what St. Paul triumphantly asks, in the eighth chapter to the Romans-" Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution?" No, nothing shall! it is eternal union! As Christ has taken hold of my hand, and I of his, he says to me all the way I travel on, "Fear not!" He will take away present, perishing objects, to give better things; to give his own "unsearchable riches." We want nothing but this: if we can enter into the spirit of the subject, and feel in sympathy with the text, we shall not be saying to this or that creature-Come and comfort me! or asking, "Who will show me any good?" but we shall go to the all-sufficient God, who says, My grace is to be your sufficiency. With this grace, outward things cannot sink us; he can lift us above them all, whether painful or pleasant; nor can they afford us any real comfort if we have not this grace.

This passage seems to express that God will strip us of every thing but his GRACE: He will reduce us to HIMSELF. The grandeur of God's character is not sufficient, nor his holiness, nor the gifts he bestows: but, when he says, "My grace is sufficient for thee "my favor-"the good-will of him that dwelt in the bush" shall be manifested towards thee,-then man feels it is enough! That St. Paul should be supported under the thorn-that he should glorify Christ by itthis is infinitely more than removing the thing: it is the being lifted up above it!

Some people cannot understand this, and call it enthusiasm but God seems to say, It shall be demon

strated that man, when he depends upon ME, does not depend upon any outward thing: it shall be seen that I carry him and the burden too! I will lift him above it I will sometimes strip him, so as to make him feel that I can supply the loss of every thing. I will take away his ALL, that I may give something better than all. Therefore, brethren, seek the grace of Christ, and you will feel you have every thing. It was said by one, "I am so poor, that none but God can help me !" but he who takes his case to God, and thus obtains his grace and help, shall find he has enough.

Let me, in conclusion, address a few words to Christians under trouble.

1st. Learn from this passage what I will call, The divine philosophy of trying dispensations. None but Christians understand this. Learn to make the most of them, to improve them: this is, in Christianity, managing our accounts. Practical, experimental Christianity must be learnt in extremity. God is to be met in every thing; and his grace is the only thing to be secured. St. Paul's is no strange case it is a beaten path it is a common case. If we have not this peculiar thorn, yet we all have one thing or another: see Abraham, Jacob, and others had them,—and have not we? God alone sends these things; and he alone can sanctify them. A poet could say,

"Sweet are the uses of adversity."

but St. Paul explains this :-"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."

2ndly. Learn the holy simplicity of faith. The apostle went, as a little child, to Christ; believing he was able to do more than he could ask or think. There are few but know what it is to be brought into diffi

culties: but, for God to stretch out his right hand, we must simply take the matter to him, and, with a holy simplicity of faith, put the whole of our case into his hands. It is true, there may be something in our family, and in our hearts, that may be well called "a thorn in the flesh :" it may be indescribable to man: no matter it is describable to God! You may be like David, having nothing to rest upon-nothing but waves and billows going over you: but, in this, and all such cases, St. Paul gives us a lesson: it was enough for him that he was bid to cast his burden on the Lord.

Some people stand confounded or perplexed at the mysterious motions of the wheels of Providence. The stoutest heart is sometimes alarmed in contemplating them: "They were so high, that they were dreadful." But faith looks to him in whose hands the wheels, and their motions, are: it does not examine the wheels (we have no eyes to look upon them): it looks to the GREAT MECHANIC. It would be a surer and a shorter way, to turn our eyes from the wheels, the height of which may confound, and do as St. Paul did-turn our eyes to Christ that is the safest way: "For this thing I besought the Lord thrice," and he gave me an answer: and, depend upon it, the prayer of faith shall be answered.

3rdly. You have here a holy consecrated antidote to despondency. The true secret of Christian is, to cast his burden on the Lord. There are many antidotes proposed by the world; the house of mirth-businesshuman courage-pride, &c. But these are not consecrated. St. Paul has shown what this consecrated antidote will do for a man: I speak to the man that has found nothing in the world, in his family, or in his own heart, to comfort him-who can get no sympathy. I say-St. Paul stands up to-night as a preacher to you,

and may God enable you to listen! There is not only the lesson of affliction-that painful lesson-but there is also the evangelical lesson of the antidote: this is the peculiar lesson of the saint; who is taught, like Hezekiah, to turn his face to the wall, and pray; and like St. Paul, to take his case to God.

But there may be some present who feel no interest in this discourse. Some young man, rejoicing in the days of his youth, and letting his heart cheer him. He may be ready to say, You speak about some painful thorn, but I have none. I would, however, ask one question,—What may be the reason of this? Did you ever read of "the strong man armed, keeping his goods in peace?" Our Lord speaks of this as descriptive of the government and empire of Satan. Do you call it happiness to be like a felon, full of levity and trifling, going to be executed? But, do you say, you have no "thorn in the flesh,"—no painful trial? I do not read that Demas had any; therefore, he loved the present world, and the world him: but do you call him happy? Esau did not halt like Jacob: but was he happier than Jacob? Certainly, we cannot comfort you from the twelfth chapter to the Hebrews, where St. Paul says, "Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth." We are commanded to say to the righteous-though tried, tempted, afflicted-"it shall be well with him :" but, "Woe to the wicked; it shall be ill with him." For the day is coming, when "all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal. iv. 1.

Finally, If we have a heavenly science to learn, and a journey to pursue, let us patiently take the steps to accomplish it. The highest state we can attain is, to

honor Christ under a sense of our own entire weakness. This the apostle did by continuing to endure. In the verse following the text, we see him glorying in the effects of Christ's strength imparted to him: "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." Heavenly attainments are the lifting up of a man. Here we behold the greatest magnanimity of mind with the greatest poverty of spirit. If we would distinguish between the "poor in spirit" and a poor spirited man, let us look at St. Paul! St. Paul was lifted up when he was taught to say, "When I am weak, then am I strong." And who was this? A man whose rage had persecuted all that were "poor in spirit," and who sought to destroy them! What a triumph of divine grace is here!

THE DAY OF TROUBLE.

Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.-PSALM. I. 15.

[1796.]

THERE is a maxim in divinity by which we must ever abide namely, that as creatures we are bound to obey the will of God; and yet, that of ourselves we can do nothing. If this bring trouble upon our minds because we cannot do what we are commanded, then let us ask help of him who has promised to give his Holy Spirit to them that seek it. And if you can have help for seeking, why should you complain because, of yourselves, you cannot do any thing?

There is here given us a coMMAND, and a PROMISE.