the earth are lovely in their bloom, and form a beautiful garland round the head of the prosperous; but "the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower," its grace and ornament, "falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth." And thus fades whatever belongs to the earth. "So also," says the apostle, "shall the rich man fade away in his ways;" that is, in his earthly possessions, if his heart is fixed upon them, and he is unacquainted with any nobler riches. He will fade away; his heart will perish; he will be the victim of eternal death and corruption. Oh, the transitoriness of earthly things! How melancholy the contemplation, if we feel ourselves in the noblest part of our nature descending to its grave; if we are not conscious of possessing the germ and foretaste of eternal life! Oh, why should the rich man glory in his earthly elevation? let him glory in his humiliation, that God may exalt him for ever.

What is the effect usually produced by worldly prosperity, by riches, talents, acquirements, and reputation? is it not pride? And what is the tendency of poverty? is it not despondency? But when the poor man glories in his exaltation; when in blessed communion with Christ, the destitute, the miserable, the unfortunate, is consoled by the thought that in him he possesses all things; when his soul, full of faith, exclaims, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee;" "My heart and flesh faileth; but God is the

strength of my heart, and my portion for ever,"-oh then the heart recovers from its natural despondency, and rises gradually to that noble confidence which distinguishes the christian hero. And when the rich man glories in his humiliation; when the exalted, the powerful, the prosperous, places his hope and consolation only in Christ's blessed communion, as if with all his possessions he was worth nothing without that; when, for the Lord's sake, he who has a wife is as if he had none, and he that rejoices is as if he rejoiced not, and he that possesses is as if he possessed not, and he that uses the world abuses it not, because the fashion of this world passes away, 1 Cor. vii. 29—31,—oh then the heart is divested more and more of its natural pride, and sinks down continually deeper in heavenly humility, that most beautiful ornament of a truly christian life. Unsearchable as the depths of man's heart may be, both in pride and humility, still more unsearchable is the grace and compassion of that God, who forgiveth all our sins, who healeth all our iniquities, and redeemeth us from destruction, through Him whose name is "Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the Prince of Peace." Let us make him our glory and our strength. In him let the poor rejoice that he is exalted, and the rich that he is made low. To christians this is the only source of joy and boasting, that all flesh may be abased, and that he that glorieth may glory in the Lord.

We now come to the beautiful expressions of the

apostle in the 12th verse, Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." Both riches and poverty, (in that comprehensive sense which we attach to the terms,) are a trial of our faith, and instances are daily occurring around us of persons yielding to the force of this or that temptation. In the times when the apostle wrote, during the persecutions to which christians were almost constantly exposed, the poor might hope, by apostatizing from the faith, by a denial of Christ, to gain some worldly advantage, and to better their outward condition, for such promises were held out to them by the enemies of the cross. The rich, on the other hand, might apprehend that a bold and stedfast profession of their faith would expose them to worldly losses, to that confiscation of their property, which was not unfrequently threatened. Thus both riches and poverty were snares and powerful temptations to unfaithfulness towards the Lord. In like manner, at the present day, persons of one class, through abundance and prosperity are seduced to many "hurtful lusts, which, as St. Paul declares, "drown men in destruction and perdition," 1 Tim. vi. 9; while those of the other class are hurried on by want and distress to various transgressions, yea, to the blackest crimes. But he who makes extreme poverty an instrument of becoming spiritually rich, and strives in his state of destitution to serve the Lord; and he who makes a

state of affluence conducive to his becoming poor in spirit, and amidst his abundance desires only to serve the Lord, (the brother of low degree rejoicing in that he is exalted, but the rich in that he is made low,)— such persons, my brethren, are the poor and the rich, who endure the temptations attached to their respective conditions, and who on that account are pronounced "blessed" by the apostle. Not that temptations in themselves can make us blessed, as, alas! has been the vain notion of some christians; (the trials inflicted upon us by God, and the sufferings which we often endure, sufficiently disprove this;) but he only is blessed who endures the temptation, from whatever quarter it may arise, and whether its immediate and direct tendency be painful or pleasant; that is, who continues firm in the faith, and in attachment to his Saviour; who turns aside neither to the right hand nor to the left; whom nothing in the world, neither riches nor poverty, neither enjoyment nor suffering, can deprive of that "peace of God which passeth all understanding;" whom all things, whatever may be their other qualities and tendencies, only contribute to establish in the knowledge of God and in the love of Jesus. Let no one say, as perhaps some christians have said, that this expression of the apostle," Blessed is the man that endureth temptation," is inconsistent with the doctrine of another apostle, that faith alone has saving power, Rom. i. 16, 17. This is equally the meaning of St. James. Yes, faith opens to us the gates of salvation; but only a faith which has passed

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through the temptations of the world; only a faith which has proved itself true by those trials which life supplies to every christian; only a faith which, as the apostle describes it, has been tried and has produced patience; a faith by which, under all temptations, the christian maintains his simplicity of heart, and his confidence towards God, and hope of eternal life. And in the same manner we find St. Paul, in all his addresses and epistles, testifying to his brethren, that through much tribulation they must enter into the kingdom of God; that he only can be crowned who strives lawfully. The sentiments of both the apostles agree with what was declared by the lips of Eternal Truth, for Jesus said, "Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple."

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And how is this blessedness described by the apostle? "When he is tried he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." This is a figurative expression, which we must interpret according to scriptural usage. We always associate with the term crown the idea of living in power, affluence, honour, and glory. But such a life, the reward of the tried sufferer, does it lie on this or the other side of death? Does this Divine promise relate to the earthly present, or to the heavenly future ? My friends, from facts which fall under our own observation, we learn, that as it seldom goes well with the ungodly to the end of his days, but punishment seizes him even here below, so the afflictions of the righteous often reach their ter