well as his moral laws, is continually being broken ? But the sufferings, which have been spoken of, are such as the sincere and faithful follower of Christ must look for, over and above the sufferings which he has in common with other men. They are necessarily and essentially connected with his religion.

And here it might occur, that the sufferings, which have been described as incident to the profession of Christianity in the present day, were equally the portion of our forefathers; that the early followers of our Lord, while they were exposed to trials like our own, had, besides, a fierce and fiery conflict to encounter, in which we take no share. We need not be reminded, however, that if times of persecution have their peculiar dangers, they have also their peculiar advantages. The blast, which strips the tree that the Lord's right hand hath planted of its withered leaves and sapless boughs, gives a healthful exercise, so to speak, to those branches, whose living union with the parent stock enables them to withstand its vehemence; and, by opening a freer course to the air and light, causes them to shoot forth with fresh vigour, and to rise to a loftier eminence. If, in the Church's day of outward prosperity, we are, by the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit, meekly taking up our daily cross, light though that cross be, when compared with that which it has fallen to the lot of some to bear; we may surely trust, that,

had we lived in times when persecution was let loose upon Christ's followers, we should then likewise have been enabled to fight the good fight of faith. Whereas, if we are shrinking from such trials as meet us in our ordinary duties and in common life, we may judge, by that token, what part we should have borne, had we been called upon to confess the name of our adorable Master in prison or at the stake. "He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much and he that is unjust in that which is least, is unjust also in much"."

To return, however. It is plain, from what has been said, that, in one shape or other, tribulation, more or less, must be our portion, if we would reach heaven. Not of course in the way of meritto that title no sufferings but those of Christ can lay claim-but as a discipline, which the fall has rendered necessary, and without which, the work of sanctification cannot be completed.

Let us then expect tribulation: let us look for trials in our daily duties, in our ordinary employments. We have no need to go out of our way, to frame for ourselves austerities of our own devising. We have but to seek, in simplicity and godly sincerity, to devote ourselves to God, and to obey in all things the motions of his good Spirit, and we shall assuredly find abundant opportunities for

d Luke xvi. 10.

See 1 Pet. i. 6, 7. Jas. i. 2-4. Heb. xii. 8-12.

mortificationf. Too often, indeed, we are disposed to shrink from self-denial, to excuse ourselves by the plea, that each case, as it comes, is a peculiar case, and has some special claim for exemption from the general rule. But let us remember, that, in so doing, we are only storing up sorrows; that that man will invariably be the most cheerful,

f We need not bid, for cloistered cell,
Our neighbour and our work farewell,
Nor strive to wind ourselves too high
For sinful man beneath the sky.
The trivial round, the common task,
Would furnish all we ought to ask;
Room to deny ourselves; a road
To bring us, daily, nearer God.

CHRISTIAN YEAR, Morning.

Plerumque enim ab eis (malis) docendis, admonendis, aliquando etiam objurgandis et corripiendis male dissimulatur; vel cum laboris piget, vel cum eorum os verecundamur offendere; vel cum eorum inimicitias devitamus, ne impediant et noceant in istis temporalibus rebus, sive quas adipisci adhuc appetit nostra cupiditas, sive quas amittere formidat infirmitas: ita ut, quamvis bonis vita malorum displiceat, et ideo cum eis non incidant in illam damnationem, quæ post hanc vitam talibus præparatur, tamen, quia propterea peccatis eorum damnabilibus parcunt, dum eos in suis licet levibus et venialibus metuunt, jure cum eis temporaliter flagellentur, quamvis in æternum minime puniantur. Jure istam vitam, quando divinitus affliguntur cum eis, amaram sentiunt, cujus amando dulcedinem peccantibus eis amari esse noluerunt." August. de Civ. Dei, i. 9.

"This was the only issue of that so threatening accident, God's restraining power interposing here, and exemplifying upon him, what in others he was wont to observe: That they who least considered hazard in the doing of their duties, fared still the best." Life of Dr. Hammond, Wordsworth's Eccles. Biog. vol. v. p. 377.

the most fruitful in every good work, the most ornamental to his Christian profession, who, by the help of God's Holy Spirit, is enabled to take up the cross (whether in doing or in suffering his Master's will) which each day and each hour lays at his feet. Let us cease then to expect our rest here let us be content to wait with patience for that time, when our Lord shall have subdued all the enemies of himself and of his Church. Then, and not till then, will the prophet's words be fully verified: "The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever; and my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places"."

And

II. BUT it would be a melancholy way of occupying our time, if we were to spend all our thoughts in dwelling upon the trials that await us. Nothing would be more likely to make us shrink back altogether from the heavenward course. powerless indeed would be the Apostle's exhortation, that we should be " patient in tribulation." Let us see then, whether there be not in our holy religion those consolations and supports, which adapt it for the outward circumstances, in which in this world it is placed.

1. Let any one look at the history of St. Paul, as set before us in the New Testament. Who Isa. xxxii. 17, 18.

could have more sufferings to endure than he1? and yet who would say that, with all his sufferings, he was an unhappy man? We have many of his writings. Where is there any thing like melancholy or despondency to be found? Do not they all breathe the same spirit? Are not they full of life and buoyancy and animation? Nay, do not they rise, at times, to a tone of holy exultation, of more than human joy? And what was the secret source, from which these waters flowed? The answer is at hand. It was the very same to which he was wont to guide the steps of those, who, like himself, were called to endure a great fight of

See e. g. 2 Cor. xi. 23-28. "Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches." Such is the summary which he gives of what may be called his external sufferings. Were the trials less which arose from within? That man could have had no slight acquaintance with internal conflicts, to whom the exclamation (whatsoever view we take of the passage in which it occurs) naturally suggested itself, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Rom. vii. 24.