gotten me these things." But we are furnished with new and growing opportunities to trust and hope in God.

And here, amidst the merry lesson of the fields and groves, we may endeavor to rescue for the purposes of faith, the seasons of relief as well as of necessity - the wider range of prosperity, as well as the narrower limits of adversity. The Scriptures do indeed commend adversity our darkness and sorrow, as the opportunity of faith but they do not commend it at the expense of prosperity - do not give to necessity and distress a more blessed design, than to relief and enjoyment: do not despoil the greater proportion of our lifetime of its religious use; but call us, amidst prosperity, to joyful trust. They do not require us to be insensible to the cheerful scenes of earth, nor to consider ourselves as uncalled to faith and hope in God, except amidst darkness and the storm. On the other hand, they give the finest examples of joyful faith in the midst of returning and abiding mercies. So it was with David, when the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul. "I will love thee, O Lord, my Strength. The LORD is my Rock, and my Fortress and my Deliverer: my God, my Strength in whom I will trust: my Buckler, and the Horn of my salvation, and my high Tower." What faith, too, in consequence of merciful relief, is expressed; Psalm 116. "I love the Lord because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I

live." Thus also it was with Jacob amidst the blessings of his lot; with Daniel amidst the splendors of the Persian court. St. Paul, too, amidst his abounding, no less than amidst his abasement, learned to say, "I can do all things through Christ strengthening me." And thus may it be amidst all the blessings, as well as all the afflictions, of our earthly lot. The blessings of life-its cheerful scenes overspreading, as they do, its far greater portions; giving this life, when enjoyed aright, great means of happiness, are not alien to faith, but were ordered for its nurture, by the same kind hand that chastises us in necessities and gloom. Light as well as darkness — joy as well as sorrow — deliverance as well as difficulty, afford the opportunity for faith to say in joyful covenant: "Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live." — We need not cherish gloomy views of earth, as the only means of faith, but freely rejoice in its mercies, in all its cheerful scenes, assured that they need not separate us from God. It was not the believer, but one of the most marked unbelievers of our times, who is said to have exclaimed, amidst a profusion of outward blessings, "there is nothing but misery in this world, I think." It was a saint,† who found the opportunity for faith amidst remarkable sufferings, who was wont to exclaim of pleasant occurrences, amidst the complaints of others: "It was very pleasant; I enjoyed it. I enjoy everything." It was the patriarch Ternel whose dying piety glowed in the light of the

mercies of his earthly path: "The God which fed me all my life long until this day; the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads." So holy a thing of earth, too, was the dying piety of that lovely and gifted saint,* who was wont to see his heavenly Father's smile in the flowers. It was cherished by the commonest blessings of earth, while his spirit was buoyant and longing for its flight to heaven. "I have," said he, "every little comfort of life; food, clothing, everything." The last finish to his character, was a deeper sense of earthly blessings - the last polish which it needed that it might shine in immortal glory.

Such, then, is the earthly opportunity for faithto secure which, what pains have been taken by our all-wise Parent! He has arranged this school of discipline for the recovery of his erring children, — to force and win mankind to their only Helper. Hence, this world is constructed and arranged, not to prevent anxiety, but to awaken and deepen it: not to repress our joy amidst our blessings, but to excite and exalt it. For this the seasons are ordered, now cutting off the whole, now bringing in abundance. Even the season of increase is beset with constant hazards, as if purposely to make the mind unstable as water; tossing like the sea. Over the early promise of the spring, the frosts keep hovering, threatening again and again to blight the blossom and the blade; which yet are preserved and cherished by the vernal sun and rain. Then succeed droughts, curling the leaf, parching the

* See p. 32.

soil, and withering even the hidden roots and fibres of the plant, — bringing the expectation of the year to the utmost point of ruin; yet followed, for the most part, by rains so timely as to turn the whole earth into a scene of joyful hope. Then, when the harvests are waving in their glory, or the barns are filled with plenty; hail and lightning and tempest give their dreadful tokens in the sky; or, receiving their limited commission, spread devastation over the yellow fields; scatter the treasures of a year to the four winds, or lick them up in an instant with their blasting tongue: while yet, for the most part, the threatening passes by, leaving the earth covered with a more placid smile, and promising more abundant rewards. Manufactures and commerce -all plans and efforts meet their emergencies of difficulty, which put to nought the wisdom and power of man; and their turns of relief and blessing, which tempt our erring minds to a fool's exaltation. All the ways of men are beset with dangers, amidst prevailing blessings, as if purposely designed to awaken and deepen our anxiety, to excite and exalt our joy amidst earthly things. Earth is, was it not designed to be a scene for frequent fear, and for sudden turns of cheerful expectation; a tossing sea of opposite and contending passions; for what purpose but to give the opportunity of faith in God? - thus calling us amidst infirmities to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness? But the fitness of the earthly scene, for giving the substance of eternal blessings, will be unfolded in the next discourse.

SERMON V.

THE END OF OUR FAITH.

MATTHEW 6: 19, 20.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth: - but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.

31-33. Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek ;) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his right

eousness.

In view of the earthliness of our last discourse, it may be asked, if we have forgotten "the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls:" if we have not so commended the warrant to our lower wants, as to hazard the welfare of the immortal spirit? By no means. On the other hand we would follow our Lord, in bringing in, upon the very juncture of our need and desire of food and raiment, the appeal: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.-Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness."

In these lessons of the season, in urging the warrant to faith, upon the common path of life, I have not a mere earthly object. Precious as is the privilege of