and obscurity of earth, to the freedom and brightness of heaven. For this purpose he directs them to the use of prayer: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

These words naturally remind us of our Saviour's direction in his sermon on the mount,

Ask, and it

shall be given you. If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him ?" But the Holy Spirit is no other than the Spirit of Wisdom who leads us into the full truth, and more especially presents himself to us in our temptations and trials, as the true and only Comforter. As the Saviour in the passage just quoted, compares God as the giver of good things, to earthly parents, and calls him "Our Father in heaven,' from whom only good may be expected; so the apostle James expresses the same sentiment when he says, "God giveth liberally, and upbraideth not." Let us think of the various modes and ways in which men solicit and receive gifts, and ask ourselves, how it happens that we often solicit our fellow-men with so little confidence, with so little hope of their bestowing the gift, or performing the kind service that we desire, that we often say to ourselves, "He does not give with simplicity, with a sincere heart; his heart is not directed simply to bestow the gift, or perform the service, or lend the help; but if he happens to give, or serve, or help, his intention does not

terminate in my benefit: he has some ulterior object in view, some by-end, some selfish purpose which he wishes to accomplish." Or we may say, "Yes, he may give to another, but I shall be sent away empty; for he makes an arbitrary distinction between the suitors for his bounty; he is not without respect of persons." Or, lastly, we may say, "He will very probably withdraw his kindness from me; or embitter what I receive, by reproaching me with my unworthiness; he will take great credit to himself for his liberality, and consider himself immeasurably my superior, so that I can never have the happiness of enjoying that inter-community of love, which ought to exist between the giver and the receiver." I must allow, my friends, that we have often reason to form such opinions of our fellow-men; and whenever such thoughts arise, when we fear either that we shall be sent empty away, or that the gift will be bestowed in a manner which forbids an affectionate confidence, in such cases we naturally prefer repressing our wishes, and concealing our necessities. But how entirely different is giving on the part of God! how incomparably superior is the style of the Divine beneficence! Of Him we know with perfect certainty that he giveth liberally, with simplicity, and without recalling his gifts. And how do we know this? From the fact that we are authorized to call him, "Abba! Father!" because he has sent his only begotten Son into the world. Oh! that was a gift granted in the simplicity of goodness; in unmixed love and heavenly purity; only for the

purpose of giving to the needy, and helping the undone; with no other view than to redeem and to bless; to communicate to the wretched children of earth, divine life and everlasting love! That was a gift for every man! It was a gift to the world, the whole world; no one, even the lowest, the most sinful, is excluded from it. That was a gift without any "upbraiding!" Unworthy indeed was the world to receive it, for how could sinners (and are we not all sinners?) lift up their eyes towards the all-righteous One ? How dare the children of mortality claim alliance with the Prince of life? And yet God pours blessings upon us, he remembers not our sins against us, he removes our transgressions from us, he allows his grace to prevail, he overshadows us with his love, as if we had deserved it. Such a giver is God, and thus, as no earthly benefactor ever did, he claims the entire devotion, the unwavering confidence of our hearts; while we are allowed to call upon him by that title, so expressive of trust and reliance, "Father," "Our Father, who art in heaven!"

Whoever then, among you, lacks wisdom, let him pray to God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. Yes, it shall be given him! For, "He who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" How shall he not "with him" give us the wisdom that we need? for are we not expressly told in Scripture, that Christ is of God" made wisdom" unto us? Certainly

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then, he will be wisdom" to us in the manifold temptations which assault our faith, in those countless trials to which the life of every believer is exposed. In those hours of darkness, when the natural man sees no light, when the heart that is unrenewed and estranged from God finds itself destitute of power for enduring and overcoming, then he who has been assured of the grace of God in Christ, of the forgiveness of his sins, and of his citizenship, or rather adoption into the family of heaven, reckons that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which already belongs to believers, and is hereafter to be revealed. The christian not only hopes, but knows, that to those who continue in the love of God all things shall work together for good, and exclaims triumphantly, "If God be for me, who can be against me? Who will accuse, who will condemn me ? Who shall separate me from the love of God? In all things I am more than conqueror, through him that loved me." Rom. viii. 31-37. Such a determination of the soul, such a regulation of the conduct, such a view of the world, this, my brethren, is true wisdom; this only is worthy the name of wisdom, and this we may venture, with comfort and full confidence of being heard, to ask of God, since it is a gift which he has already promised, or rather has already communicated in his Son, who is the gift of gifts, and in whom it hath pleased the Father that all the fulness of goodness should dwell.

In the following verses (the 6th and 7th) the

apostle gives directions, which will be applicable not only to prayer for wisdom, but to prayer in general: "Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." This may remind us of a passage in one of our Lord's discourses, recorded in the gospels. "Jesus, answering, saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Mark xi. 22-24. My friends, how is this to be understood? Can we dare to take the passage quite literally, and understand it to mean, that let a man only have a strong conviction in his heart that God will hear him, and he will infallibly obtain that for which he prays? But what kind of promise would this be? and how would it consist with the Divine government? Can we suppose that so great a reward would be promised to a confidence which would be nothing else than a groundless persuasion of the wisdom and rectitude of our own wishes? How could it be said that God governed the world? Would not every thing be subjected to the whim and caprice of men? It would come to this, that however erroneous a person's