perfection, unless his faith had produced endurance under temptation? Who could rejoice in the prospect of becoming " entire, and lacking nothing," if his patience had not remained firm under trial? Let us then, my dear friends, esteem it as a matter of joy, as gain, as happiness, if we suffer" divers temptations," since we know that they tend to cherish inward piety. Let us readily welcome the severest trial, since it will be an occasion for the exercise of patience. It is true, that "no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby," Heb. xii. 11. But let us not be weary; though 66 our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day," 2 Cor. iv. 16. Though we walk in a dark valley, God is present, and will turn darkness to light, and night to day. If we see not, yet let us believe, and amidst all our sorrows, adore that Saviour, in whom all the promises of God are yea and amen.

Let me here make one remark, which, though not immediately deduced from the text, is in perfect accordance with it. Does not that hold good of all faith which we have asserted of the christian faith in particular? Wherever there is a permanent and happy connexion among men, bearing some resemblance, however remote, to the connexion in which the christian stands to his Redeemer, can we conceive of its existing without a certain measure of faith? Are not the tenderest and most intimate relationships of

life rooted in faith? Can mutual love be ever imagined to exist without reciprocal confidence? Surely not. Where faith and confidence are wanting, no bond of union can exist; when doubt and mistrust gain the ascendancy, when we feel uncertain and perplexed respecting the characters of those around us, the ties which unite heart to heart are snapped asunder. Yet confidence between man and man does not arrive at maturity all at once. Do you imagine that from the very beginning such faith amounts to a full certain assurance that our expectations will be realized; that what we do not at present see will surely come to pass, as far as it depends on the hearts and inclinations of our fellow men, which are fully known to God alone? By no means; this faith also, the faith on which all human love and friendship rests, needs proving and verifying; it must acquire strength, and thus produce patience, firm constancy, and enduring fidelity. And how otherwise can it prove itself true, excepting under the manifold temptations which life in its various forms furnishes for every human relation ? How can our confidence be verified, excepting under the trials which Divine Providence attaches to all our connexions? Therefore, painful as it may be, we will welcome such trials, even those that seem to threaten our dearest earthly possessions; and since we have been taught by the apostle to consider every affliction as affording occasion for joy, we would surrender ourselves to the "chastening of the Lord" without

reserve for the truth's sake, we would be ready to make every sacrifice, full of lively confidence that thus we shall be made " free indeed," and cheered by the not less lively hope that "God will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able to bear." Amen.

LECTURE II. !

JAMES i. 5-8.

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. But 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. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.

THE apostle, in the introduction to this epistle, exhorts his brethren to whom it was addressed to count the various temptations which fell to their lot, as matters of pure joy, because they would be the means of confirming their faith, and increasing their patience. It is possible, that to some among you, my brethren, this injunction may appear extravagant. Perhaps you may think, "So holy a man as the apostle James might have cause to rejoice in all the temptations he endured; and he might reasonably exhort the first christians to imitate his own conduct, since the persecutions of their Jewish brethren became a manifest blessing to them, by the confirmation of their faith. But how is it possible that we should obtain this pure joy? we, whose severest temptations oftentimes do not come from without, from events

ordained or permitted by God, but are such as arise from the mournful condition of our inward nature, from the weakness and corruption of our own hearts, by which so many things become temptations, which in themselves are not evil, or at least would not have an evil influence on minds more strongly fortified than ours. To call upon us to rejoice in temptations, is nearly the same as to call upon us to rejoice in sin, and in our continually repeated defeats in our conflict. with that enemy. And how can the apostle be supposed to require this from us?" Be assured, my friends, that the inspired writer had foreseen such objections, and had foreseen the secret sighs with which many a one anxious for salvation would read the words, "Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.' That portion of his epistle which comes under our consideration to-day, is intended to satisfy such doubts. "I know well, my brethren," he would say, "that you will be led through many gloomy paths, and that under the various trials from within and without, which will assail you, it will often be difficult to adhere to your principles, and to allow what is evil and painful to be the occasion of joy. But as many among you have not advanced, have not yet reached the heights of the christian life, as many you have not attained beyond the elements of true wisdom, behold, I offer you help in your dark wanderings; I put a staff into your hands to aid you in your progress upwards; I show you how to obtain wings by which you will rise above the hinderances

of