A little is sufficient to satisfy the needs of hunger and of thirst. A little will serve to clothe the body decently and with comfort. Now when these and all other reasonable wants are supplied, what shall the wealthy part of mankind do with their superfluities? Can they be disposed of better than in making up the deficiencies of others, and in smoothing and adjusting those inequalities, which are permitted, for the best and wisest ends, to exist in the different conditions of men? Indeed, if there were no such thing as pain, what would become of the feeling of compassion ?—and if no one were ever in want,-who could enjoy the glory of relieving? There would then be no opportunity of exerting those noble virtues, which are the ornament and the happiness of our nature.

What we at present are, should not so much engross our thoughts, as to leave no room for reflecting what it is possible we may be. Is not the possession of the best things on earth uncertain? Is not the tenure of health, of power, and of affluence, exceedingly precarious? May not the indigent be raised, by the changes of fortune, to high estate, and the haughty and imperious be brought low? In such a case, how can those, in their humbled condition, expect from others that sympathy which they themselves, when in their prosperity, have never shewn ? Could any man hope, indeed, that his entreaties should pierce the hearts of others, to whose necessities he had always been himself deaf and insensible?

Therefore, even though we will not be persuaded to place our virtue in loving others, and our honour in being beloved by them in return, yet our mutual interests, and our self-love, loudly call upon us to do it, for our private welfare.

Perverse and unreasonable men will hardly be prevailed upon to hearken to the precepts of religion; yet those who follow the natural bias of the heart, and who observe the dictates of reason, are confirmed and strengthened in this labour of love, by the declarations of God in its favour. Christ came into the world, to shew the beauty of it, by his own example, and to encourage its practice, by the most affecting arguments, and by promising the most glorious rewards.

Love is the disposition which he commands and enjoins us to cultivate. In that short, but comprehensive word, he has summed up our duty. He says to his disciples,-" Love one another," with the same disinterested and warm affections "as I have loved you." Without this Christian disposition, we are not subjects of his moral kingdom; and, therefore, cannot hope to be subjects of his eternal kingdom of glory.

Charity, or love, is the voice of God speaking to us by the instinct of our nature, and by the deductions of our reason. "Ye yourselves," says St. Paul to the Thessalonians, "are taught of God to love one another." Without it, all pretences to religion are vain and idle, and are made up of hypo

crisy and falsehood. St. John tells us that if a man professes to love God, and yet "hates his brother, he is a liar." Whenever an affectionate concern for the good of our brethren is driven from the heart by selfish and irregular passions, and when its place is, consequently, occupied by hatred and ill-nature, the man becomes lost to every thing that makes us valuable in society and acceptable in the eyes of God.

But further, the spirit of Christianity itself is nothing but love. It is a noble and generous scheme of the most enlarged and diffusive benevolence. All its precepts and all its doctrines are therein contained, and are reducible to it :-for to quote faithfully the passages of Scripture that inculcate it, we must quote all our Saviour's discourses, and all the writings of his Apostles. Throughout the New Testament, it is still the same duty in general; but it is displayed in different views, in order to engage our attention, and guide our endeavours. The charity and brotherly affection enjoined by St. Paul, and "the bowels of compassion" mentioned by St. John, are the same love that our blessed Saviour himself has recommended.

Let us, therefore, be cautious, that we do not impose upon ourselves, so as to be deluded into an ignorance of our Christian state. Let us have faith, and let us entertain hope; but let us still "follow after charity." We are not to sit down at the beginning of the course, but must run the whole race with spirit and resolution. We should make our faith visible, by manifest proofs

of our love to all men. We must shew that we have built upon a solid foundation. We must trust to

And

those methods only, which are acceptable to God:and they will be acceptable, if we sincerely endeavour to do good to our brethren. It was the sentence of Christ himself, that the tree which bore no fruit, should be cut down, and cast into the fire. what can mere faith avail us, if it resembles only a shapeless trunk,-if it neither spreads forth its branches for shade and shelter, nor puts forth any fruit to refresh and repay the owner.

The sincerity of our professions must be shewn by our actions; for it is charity alone that speaks for us, and that recommends us :-charity, in the extensive sense in which it is taken by St. Paul. Giving alms, or relief to the poor, is but one branch of it. The other branches are patience and kindness, and sympathy, and affability,—an entire freedom from envy and malice, innocence of thought,-gentleness of manner,-friendliness in our words and actions ;-a mind not to be provoked by injuries, nor delighted in hurting or oppressing others,-a mind that will bear all things,-that will believe and hope the best, -and that will endure all things, in the cause of virtue and religion. This is that great Christian duty and temper that will recommend us to God's acceptance, through the mediation of Christ.

T

SERMON XXII.

WAITING ON THE Lord.

PSALM XXVii. 14.

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.

THIS Psalm appears to have been written at a time when David was beset with great dangers and perplexities. That time was, probably, when, though exiled and even outlawed from his country, he had raised the siege of Keilah,* and preserved it from the attempts of the Philistines. Though he was persecuted with the utmost malice by Saul, of whom, by many signal services, he had deserved so well, he still thought that he owed fidelity to his countrymen, and even to the king himself. He, accordingly, rescued the men of Keilah from their enemies, when Saul either would not or could not relieve them. He complains, in the 12th verse of this Psalm, that "false

* 1 Sam xxiii. 1.