should not his splendour and glory become dim in the day of the mighty man, let him know there is a King and Conqueror at the door, to whom he must soon surrender. The King of Terrors sends out such an army of irresistibles that escape from his power is not possible-" Let not therefore the mighty man glory in his might."

3. Another attractive object of glorying is riches, concerning which the text charges us saying, "Let not the rich man glory in his riches." The tendency to glory in riches is wider and more general than in either wisdom or power. For this reason it is more dangerous to a greater number. The causes and grounds of its wider sweep are principally these: First, because love of the world is a natural heritage of mankind, which the grace of God seldom entirely removes from the heart. And second, because the order of talent required for accumulating riches is lower and more general than for acquiring wisdom or grasping power; therefore a greater number of our fellow creatures glory in its pursuit. Third, because of the advantages which riches secure for those who possess them. They procure fertile lands and broad estates, retired palaces, or peaceful villas, urban or suburban homes. They furnish sumptuous tables with regal luxuries, and elegant drawing-rooms with the furnishings of King's palaces. They also exalt their possessors into the society of the more cultured and refined. They put the price of power in his hands, and secure worldly comfort and consequence. Yet hear how truth itself speaks on the matter. It says, "Riches profit not in the days of wrath, but righteousness

delivereth from death." Says the prophet Ezekiel of his own people in the day of their trouble, "They shall cast their silver in the streets, their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord." And Solomon asks, "Wilt thou set thine heart on that which is not; for riches certainly make to themselves wings and flee away, as the eagle toward heaven?" Why then should we not hearken when the Lord says, 'Let not the rich man glory in his riches.'

Thus are we cautioned in reference to glorying in wisdom, might, or riches-the three most powerful of worldly inspirations. They tower above others, as the summits of the Andes or Himalaya mountains do above the other piles of nature. But as these peerless heights, when viewed from the standpoint of the nearest star, dwindle into unnotice, the very globe to which they belong becoming a scarcely perceptible point, so do the most attractive and brilliant objects of human pride, when viewed from the lofty standpoint of a heavenly state-being lost and as it were swallowed up in their own relative nothingness. But the loveliness and beauty of spiritual things become more bright and vivid to the soul as we ascend the heights above. In this light let us chasten the pride of intellect which is so sensitive and exacting that it is insulted if the slightest fault or feebleness is imputed to it; and the pride of power which is so high and haughty, that it resents as a slander and a dishonour any insinuation of weakness or wrongdoing; and the pride of wealth, which often turns away from life's earliest memories,

lest the recollection of straitened circumstances at home should embitter the enjoyment, or be out of harmony with present wealth or luxury. Says the Apostle Paul, commenting on the words before us, "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty. And base things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen, and things which are not to bring to nought the things which are: That no flesh should glory in his presence, but . . . that he who glorieth should glory in the Lord," the Lord Jesus "who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption."

"Rejoice, the Lord is King,

Your Lord and King adore;
Mortals give thanks and sing,
And triumph evermore :

He sits at God's right hand
Till all his foes submit,
And bow to His command

And fall beneath His feet.

Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice again, I say, rejoice."

The spirit of the world trusts to the things of the world, rather than to those that be of God. The things which man's wisdom teaches, must, at best, be trusted only as instruments, and subordinate to those, the spirit of God teaches. The world is slow to acknowledge that the will of God is supreme and must prevail. The objects in which men now glory, as in the days of the prophet Jeremiah, are the skill and ability of their rulers, the power and

prestige of their armies, the strength and greatness of their navies, and the abundance of their riches. While we thank God for these good stores, we must learn that truth, righteousness and loving kindness are of God, and if a people is to be strong and stable it must come through knowing God as "a God who exercises lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth." The skill of their leaders, the bravery of their army, the wealth of the people did not save the Jews from captivity, against whose disobedience to God Jeremiah so long and so fearlessly protested. Nor will the glorying of any people in worldly appliances save them in the time of trouble, if they disregard the gracious warnings and entreaties of heaven and refuse to know the Lord "who exercises loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth."

"Who is on the Lord's side?
Who will serve the King?

Who will be His helpers

Other lives to bring?

Who will leave the world's side?

Who will face the foe?

Who is on the Lord's side?

Who for Him will go?
By Thy call of mercy!
By Thy grace Divine,
We are on the Lord's side;
Saviour, we are Thine."

XII

THE FOOL'S CREED, OR ATHEISM SPECULATIVE AND PRACTICAL

"The fool hath said in his heart there is no God."-PSAlm liii. 1.

"Vain are the hopes the sons of men
Upon their works have built;
Their hearts by nature are unclean,
Their actions full of guilt.

Jesus; how glorious is Thy grace;
When in Thy grace we trust,
Our faith receives a righteousness
That makes the sinner just."

Few

THE fool's belief is not openly professed with the lips, but silently revolved in the heart. of those who entertain his opinions venture to embody them in words, or to affirm them as articles of faith. Against doing so all the Verities raise an united and solemn protestThe voice of nature from all the wide realm of her wondrous beauty, order and harmony, declares that the hand that made all these things is divine. The voice of reason, also, as she contemplates the constitution of man, the adaptions of things in the world, the order and harmony of the hosts of heaven, affirms not only that they have a maker, but one who is infinite in wisdom and power, and heartily join in the refrain of the Psalm, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy work." Conscience, likewise,