and confidence, and trust. This subject presents a motive,

First: For gratitude. How thankful should Christians be for being brought into such a benign and glorious system as this! A motive,

Secondly: For catholicity. Heaven is not for a sect. The

city of the living God is for the good of all ages and all worlds. A motive,

Thirdly: For self-inquiry. "Are we come" to this system? How do we "come" to it? Not by mere birth, not by profession, but by a new creation in Christ Jesus. Heaven is not something in the future. If we are true Christians, we are come to it now. We are on the celestial mount, we are in the heavenly city, we are with the supernal intelligences, &c.

COMPANIONSHIP.

Take

"Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly with

stood our words. At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me."-2 Tim. iv. 9-17.

PAUL'S nature was strongly and tenderly affectionate. Many of the passages in his letters to various churches, and the whole of his relationship to Timothy, strikingly prove this.

He had by nature the capacity, and by character the right, of possessing many companions. This paragraph from a letter of his to his beloved Timothy, reminds us of some of his experiences as to companionships. This record of his feelings assures us,

I. HUMAN COMPANIONSHIPS ARE VERY NECESSARY.

The ear thirsts for a friend's voice; the heart hungers for a friend's love. Occasional solitude is a blessing; constant solitariness would be a soul

crushing curse. All men, therefore, seek companionships. So even does Paul, intellectual and moral giant though he be. Hence how eagerly does he entreat Timothy to come to him at once- "Do thy utmost," &c.

ship; but how scattered and separated his companions are at the time he writes! Of the eight here brought before us, only one was with Paul. Some had gone to far-off places-Thessalonica, Ephesus, &c. Others-Demas and Alexander, wherever their bodies were-were leagues distant from Paul in spirit. Such is but an instance of the changes continually transpiring in companionships. Such changes are caused by distance, death, depravity.

III. HUMAN COMPANION

SHIPS ARE OFTEN GREAT BLES

SINGS. (1.) Luke was with Paul. This must have been a deep joy to the aged prisoner. For Luke, his future biographer, was so intimately familiar with his life, that he could keenly sympathize with him; and, better still, he was so intimately familiar with the Saviour's life, as one of his biographers, that his memories must have been the richest converse to which Paul could have listened. Besides, Luke was a cultured man-a physician; and to an educated man like Paul, this must have greatly enhanced his worth as a companion. (2.) Mark was to be brought to him. There had been a time when Paul had differed with Barnabas concerning Mark, but now Paul saw reason to believe that he would be of

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service to the cause of Christ, so he welcomes him to his companionship. (3.) Timothy was coming to him. He could serve Paul by bringing the cloak," the "book," the "parchments." Such-like service no candid man will affect to despise. But far higher joy would Timothy's companionship yield. He was Paul's son in the Gospel. No ties are more tender, sacred, lasting, than those of such relationship.

SHIPS SOMETIMES PROVE GREAT

AFFLICTIONS. It must have been on a tear-blotted leaf that Paul wrote "Demas hath forsaken me," &c. Those tears fell because sin had caused the separation. Alexander, too, once in the Church with Paul, grieved him now by becoming a false witness against him. So is it always. Men suffer most when "wounded in the house of their friends."

V. HUMAN COMPANIONSHIPS MUST SOMETIMES FAIL

US. Paul, waiting now the second stage of his Roman trial, had only one old companion, Luke, with him. Worse still, at the first stage "no man stood by him, but all forsook him." There are often in men's lives crises when old companions forsake them. They are sometimes scared by poverty, failure, shame. But

THE LIGHTS OF SOULS.

"The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out."-Prov. xiii. 9.

"LIGHT," if not essential to life, is essential to its well-being. Life without light, could it be, would be cold, chaotic, wretched. There are different kinds of light even in the material world-some feeble, flickering, transient, others as the lights of heaven, strong, steady, permanent. There are different moral lights-the lights of soul. The text leads us to consider two :

I. THE JOYOUS LIGHT OF SOUL. "The light of the righteous rejoiceth." In what does the light of the soul consist? There are at least three elements-faith, hope, love. The first fills the soul with the light of ideas; the second with the light of a bright future; the third, with the light of happy affections. In all souls on earth these three exist. There is a faith in all, a hope in all, a love in all. Extinguish these in any soul, and there is the blackness of darkness for ever. The righteous have these as divine impartations, as beams

VOL. XX.

from "the Father of lights," and in their radiance they live, walk, and rejoice. They rejoice in their faith. Their faith connects them with the Everlasting Sun. They rejoice in their hope. Their hope bears them into the regions of the blest. They rejoice in their love. Their love fixes their enrapturing gaze on Him in whose presence there is fullness of joy.

It

II. THE TRANSIENT LIGHT OF SOUL. "The lamp of the wicked shall be put out." It is implied that the light of the righteous is permanent. And so it is. is inextinguishable. "It shines brighter and brighter, even unto perfect day." Not so the light of the wicked. Their light, too, is in their faith, their hope, their love. But their faith is in the false, and it must give way. The temple of their hope is built on sand, and the storm of destiny will destroy it. Their love is on corrupt things, and all that is corrupt must be burnt by the all-consuming fire of eternal justice. Thus the lamp of the wicked must be put out. The light of the righteous is an inextinguishable sun-that of the wicked a mere flickering “lamp;”

X

the breath of destiny will put it out. "How oft is the candle of the wicked put out." To live in a world without a sun, were it possible, would be wretched existence -such a world as Byron describes:

"The bright sun was extinguished, and the stars

Did wander darkening in the eternal space,

Rayless and pathless; and the icy earth Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air."

But to live without faith, hope, charity, is infinitely more calamitous.

(No. XCV.)

PRIDE.

"Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well-advised is wisdom." -Prov. xiii. 10.

PRIDE is an exaggerated estimate of our own superiority, leading often to an insolent exultation. "There is no such thing," says Fuller, "as proper pride, a reasonable and judicious estimate of one's character has nothing to do with it." From the text we learn

I. THAT PRIDE GENERATES DISCORDS. "Only by pride cometh contention." "Pride," says Collier," is so unsociable a vice, and does all things with so ill a grace, that there is no closing with it. A proud man will be sure to challenge more than belongs to him. You must expect him stiff in conversation, fulsome in commending himself, and bitter in his reproofs." And Colton says, "Pride either finds a desert or makes one; submission cannot tame its ferocity, nor satisfy or fill its voracity, and it requires very costly food-its keeper's happiness." Being in society essentially exacting, insolent, heartless, detracting, it is ever generating "contention."

II. THAT PRIDE REJECTS COUN

SELS. This is implied in the last clause rather than expressed. "But with the well-advised is wisdom." The proud man is too great to take the counsel of any. "Pride," says Gurnell, "takes for its motto great I, and little you." Who can teach him?

"Pride (of all others, the most danger. ous fault)

Proceeds from want of sense or want of thought.

The men who labour and digest things most,

Will be much apter to despond than boast;

For if your author be profoundly good, "Twill cost you dear before he's understood."

(No. XCVI.)

WORLDLY WEALTH.

"Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase."-Prov. xiii. 11. THIS verse implies three things

I. THAT WORLDLY WEALTH IS A GOOD THING. (1.) The universal feeling of man shows this-all men strive after it. (2.) The

services it can render show this. Man's physical comforts, intellectual opportunities, social resources, and the progress of his religious institutions greatly depend upon this. (3.) The Word of God shows this. "Money," says Solomon, answers things." The Bible does not despise wealth. It legislates for its employment and denounces its abuse. We infer

all

II. THAT WEALTH MAY BE OBTAINED IN DIFFERENT WAYS.

There are two ways referred to in the text. First: The way of vanity. "Wealth

gotten by vanity." The word vanity may represent all those tricks of trade, reckless speculations, and idle gambling, by which large fortunes are often easily gained. Within our own circle of acquaintance, we know many who have become millionaires by happy hits.

Secondly: The way of labour. "He that gathereth by labour." Honest, industrious, frugal labour, is the legitimate way to wealth. Honest industry is God's road to fortune. We infer

III. THAT THE DECREASE OR INCREASE OF WEALTH IS DETERMINED BY THE METHOD IN WHICH IT HAS BEEN OBTAINED. "The wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase." Two facts in human nature will illustrate this principle.

First: What man does not highly value he is likely to squander. That which we hold cheaply we are not cautious in guarding nor tenacious in holding.

Secondly: What comes to him without labour he is not likely highly to appreciate. We generally value a thing in proportion to the difficulty in getting it. The man who has toiled hard for what he has got, will take care of it; whereas he who has got it easily by a hit or by a trick, treats it with less caution, and is more likely to squander it away. Thus the text announces a law in human experience: "Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase."

Brothers, whilst we would not have you to disparage wordly wealth, we would not have you put it in its wrong place. Use it as the instrument of action, not as the representative of wealth or the source of happiness.

"To purchase heaven, has gold the power!

Can gold remove the mortal hour?
In life, can love be bought with gold!
Are Friendship's pleasures to be sold?
No; all that's worth a wish, a thought,
Fair Virtue gives unbribed, unbought.
Cease, then, on trash thy hopes to bind;
Let nobler views engage thy mind."
JOHNSON.

(No. XCVII.)

HOPE DEFERRED.

"Hope deferred maketh the heart sick but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life."-Prov. xiii. 12.

HOPE is a complex state of mind -desire and expectation are its constituents. We define it as an expectant desire. It implies the existence of a future good, and a belief in the possibility of obtaining it.

The text leads us to make three remarks concerning it.

I. THAT MAN'S OBJECT OF HOPE IS OFTEN LONG DELAYED. "Hope deferred." The future good which men hope for they seldom get at once. Long years of struggle often intervene. It looms a far distant thing before their vision. There is kindness in this arrangement, although we may fail sometimes to see it.

First: It serves to stimulate effort. It is the goal before the eye of the racer, keeping every muscle on the stretch.

Secondly: It serves to culture patience. We have need of patience. If what we hope for came at once, was not deferred, not a tithe of our manhood would be brought out.

II. THAT THE DELAY IS GENERALLY VERY TRYING. "It maketh the heart sick." It is trying to the strength, to the temper, and to the religion of man. Still, those "sick men will not give up the hope. "Hope," says Diogenes, "is the last thing that dies in man." Pandora's fabled box contained all the miseries of mankind, and when her husband took off its lid, all rushed away, but hope remained at the bottom. Ay, hope sticks to the last. However sick at heart, we hold it still. "The wretch condemned with life to part,

Still, still on hope relies;
And every pang that rends the heart

Bids expectation rise.

Hope, like the glimmering taper's light, Adorns and cheers the way,