But the influence of such a hope will, perhaps, be best seen by contemplating somewhat more particularly the circumstances in which they are placed, and the trials they endure in the present probationary state.

First, It is fitted to make them cheerfully submit to the appointment of Heaven respecting their station in society.

Without limiting the bestowment of spiritual blessings to that class exclusively, we are assured, upon the highest authority, that "God hath chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him." The condition of his people from the beginning, in reference to worldly things, illustrates the nature of this declaration, and confirms its truth. They generally move in the lower walks of life, and, not unfrequently, feel the painful consequences of deep poverty. They are, in a great many instances, not only destitute of the comforts and conveniences which can be procured by wealth, they have to struggle on through life against difficulties and discouragements, and can hardly obtain, even by unremitting toil, what is requisite to supply the wants of nature, whilst many of them, like Lazarus, subsist upon the crumbs which fall from the rich man's table. There are cares and anxieties and sufferings arising from these circumstances to which those whose cup

is always full are entire strangers, and which none can fully understand but those who have felt them.

When they look around and see the most irreligious men in the enjoyment of affluence, and having all that heart could wish; when they see the bounties of Providence showered down in profusion upon them, and the riches of the world, to a great extent, in their possession; they sometimes feel disposed to question the kindness of God towards them, and to conclude that it is vain to serve him. Painful as they feel their condition to be, their forgetfulness is occasioned not so much, perhaps, by their poverty and the suffering consequent upon it, as by seeing others pampered with wealth and luxuriating amidst the greatest fulness. It was evidently this that made the Psalmist arraign the procedure of the Most High. Without attempting, in any degree, to disguise his feelings, he says, "I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world; they increase in riches." As soon, however, as he, by divine illumination, saw what was reserved for them in the future state, his envious feelings were suppressed, and his misconceptions of the ways of God completely corrected. And it seems to have been with a heart swelling with gratitude for being placed in circumstances different from theirs, that he exclaimed,

S

"Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are As a dream when utterly consumed with terrors.

one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image."

Without extending our views into the other world and contemplating the whole range of our existence, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to point out any considerations sufficiently powerful to produce in the minds of christians a cordial acquiescence in the arrangements of Providence, and an unwavering confidence in the rectitude of the Divine procedure towards them in this. There is no doubt that, in all his dispensations, God has a special reference to their welfare in the future state; and if he sees that poverty, with its temporary evils, will have the most salutary effect upon them, and be the best means of fostering and strengthening the habits which will fit them for the joys of immortality, they have reason not only to submit with all humility to the appointment, they ought to rejoice in it as a proof of the strongest love. Such being the case, what cause have they to repine? Or what motive can they possibly have for desiring a change in their circumstances? Although the riches of the earth were laid at their feet; although they were elevated to the very summit of human grandeur; although thousands were perpetually ministering to them and pouring the language of adulation into their ears; would they not, without a sigh

or a single feeling of regret, relinquish them all, if they were to be enjoyed at the expense of the felicities of the future state? And would they not consider any arrangement, in virtue of which all these would be secured, if it made no provision for their eternal welfare, as indicating a disposition towards them infinitely less benevolent than the one which, though it entails upon them privation and suffering here, leads to glory and honour hereafter.

But independent of this consideration, the prospect of the happiness which awaits them in the future state is more than sufficient to reconcile them to their lot. It exceeds their highest conception, and will fully satisfy every desire which they can possibly feel, even when their knowledge is enlarged by the visions of heaven, and their capabilities of enjoyment increased to an inconceivable degree. Nor need they cherish a doubt about its ultimate possession. It is secured to them by a bond which can never be nullified; and no circumstances can ever occur to deprive them of it. This cannot be affirmed of any earthly inheritance which they may have in expectation. A thousand fortuitous events may take place to blight their hopes and prevent their ultimate possession of it; or death may lay his hand upon them and take them away from it. In either case, what does their cherished expectation avail them? It neither sustains them in death nor is of the smallest benefit to them in the other world. It is not so, however, with those whose inheritance is in heaven. That inheritance

cannot be affected by any events which can possibly occur; and they may anticipate it with a confidence which nothing can shake. And, oh! what a delightful influence does the anticipation of it have upon the mind! When they look, it may be, at their wretched dwellings, destitute of all that is fitted to minister to their present comfort, they look with unmingled satisfaction to the mansions prepared for them on high, furnished with every thing suited to their state and character as children of God; when they look at the rags with which, it may be, they are covered, and in which they feel ashamed to appear among men, they think with joy of the robes of righteousness with which they shall be clothed, and by which they shall be qualified to appear in the court of the King of kings; and when depressed by marking the feelings with which they are regarded by the rich and the great of this world, how does it cheer them to contemplate the society into which they shall be introduced, and the feelings which shall be cherished towards them by angels and all the inhabitants of the celestial kingdom! With the anticipation of such an inheritance, it can scarcely, in truth, be said that they are poor.

But although they cannot appropriate to their special use, the world and the temporary comforts which it affords, they are warranted, in a peculiar sense, to regard it as their own; and in virtue of that warrant they enjoy it with emotions of a purer and higher