outward actions in all things where it ought, or can. He that hath a charitable soul, will have a charitable hand; and will give his money to the poor, as he hath given his heart to God. For these things which are in our hand, are under the power of the will, and therefore are to be commanded by it. He that says to the naked, "Be warm and clothed," and gives him not the garment that lies by him, or money to buy one, mocks God, and the poor, and himself.

3. Those things which are not in our power, that is, such things in which the flesh is inculpably weak, or naturally or politically disabled, the will does the work of the outward and of the inward man; we can not clothe Christ's body, he needs it not, and we can not approach so sacred and separate a presence; but if we desire to do it, it is accounted as if we had. The ignorant man can not discourse wisely and promote the interest of souls, but he can love souls, and desire their felicity; though I can not build hospitals and colleges, or pour great sums of money into the lap of the poor, yet if I encourage others and exhort them, if I commend and promote the work, I have done the work of a holy religion. For in these and the like cases, the outward work is not always set in our power, and therefore, without our fault, is omitted, and can be supplied by that which is in our power.

4. For that is the last caution concerning this question. No man is to be esteemed of a willing spirit, but he that endeavors to do the outward work, or to make all the supplies that he can; not only by the forwardness of his spirit, but by the compensation of some other charities, or devotion, or religion. "Silver and gold have I none," and therefore I can give you none; but I wish you well; how will that appear? Why thus, "Such as I have I will give you; rise up and walk." I can not give you gold, but I can give you counsel; I can not relieve your need, but I can relieve your sadness; I can not cure you, but I can comfort you; I can not take away your poverty, but I can ease your spirit and "God accepts us," saith the apostle," according to what a man hath, and not according to what he hath not." Only as our desires are great, and our spirits are willing, so we shall find ways to make supply of our want of ability and expressed liberality.

NOVEMBER 8.

LEIGHTON.

My hope is in thee.-Psalm xxxix. 7.

THIS holy man, seeing the vanity of all other expectations and pursuits of men, at length runs to this: And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee. He finds nothing but moving sand everywhere else; but he finds this Eternal Rock to be a strong foundation, as the Hebrew word by which he is styled doth signify. It is true, the union of the heart with God is made up by faith and love; but yet both these, in this our present condition of absence and distance from God, do act themselves much by the third grace which is joined with them, and that is hope. For faith is conversant about things that are not seen, and in a great part, that are not as yet, but are to come; and the spirit of faith, choosing things that are to come, is called hope. It is true they are not so wholly deferred, as that they possess nothing; but yet the utmost that they possess is but a pledge and earnest-penny, a small thing in respect of that eternal inheritance they look for. For what they have here is of the same kind with what they expect, but it is but a little portion of it; the smiles and glances of their Father's face, foretastes of heaven, which their souls are refreshed with. But these are but rare, and for a short time.

Hope is the great stock of believers: it is that which upholds them under all the faintings and sorrows of their mind in this life, and in their going through the valley and shadow of death. It is the helmet of their salvation, which, while they are looking over to eternity, beyond this present time, covers and keeps their head safe amid all the darts that fly around about them. In the present discomfort and darkness of mind, and the saddest hours they meet with in this life, hope is that which keeps up the soul; and it is that which David cheered up his soul with. Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. And even in this point the children of the world have no great advantage of the children of God, as to the things of this life; for much of their satisfaction, such as it is, doth hang, for the most part, on their hope; the happiest and richest of them do still piece it out with some further expectation, something they look for beyond what they have, and the expectation

of that pleases them more than all their present possessions. But this great disadvantage they have, that all their hopes are but heaps of delusions and lies, and either they die and obtain them not, or if they do obtain them, yet they obtain them not; they are so far short of what they fancied and imagined of them beforehand. But the hope of the children of God, as it is without fail sure, so it is inconceivably full and satisfying, far beyond what the largest apprehension of any man is able to reach. Hope in God! What is wanting here?

My hope is in thee. We can not choose but all of us think that God is immensely good in himself; but that which is nearer, whereon our hearts most rise, is a relative goodness, that he is good to us, and that he is so perfectly and completely good, that having made choice of him, and obtained union with him, we need no more. Were once the hearts of the children of men persuaded of this, all their deliberations were at an end: they would not only choose no other, but defer no longer to fix on him. And what can trouble the soul that is thus established? No change or overturning of outward things. Though the frame of the world itself were shaken to pieces, yet still the bottom of this hope is upon him who changeth not. And whatever the pressures be, whether poverty, sickness, or disquiet of mind, thou mayest draw abundant consolation from him in whom thou hast placed thy hope. There is only one thing that cruelly assaults it by the way, and that is the guilt of sin. All afflictions and troubles we meet with are not able to mar this hope or quench it, for where it is strong, it either breaks them or flies above them they can not overcome it, for there is no affliction inconsistent with the love of God; yea, the sharpest affliction may sometimes have the clearest characters of his love upon it. But it is sin that presents him as angry to the view of the soul. When he looks through that cloud, he seems to be an enemy; and when we apprehend him in that aspect, we are affrighted, and presently apprehend a storm. But even in this case, this hope apprehends his mercy.

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.-Eph. v. 20.

WHAT then? Are we to give thanks for every thing that befalls us? Yes; be it even disease, be it even penury. For if a certain wise man gave this advice in the Apocrypha, and said, "Whatsoever is brought upon thee take cheerfully, and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate; " much more ought this to be the case with Christians. Yes, even though thou know not the word give thanks. For this is thanksgiving. But if thou give thanks when thou art in comfort and in affluence, in success and in prosperity, there is nothing great, nothing wonderful in that. What is required is, for a man to give thanks when he is in afflictions, in anguish, in discouragements. Utter no word in preference to this, "Lord, I thank thee." And why do I speak of the afflictions of this world. It is our duty to give God thanks, even for hell itself, for the torments and punishments of the other. For surely it is a thing beneficent to those who attend to it, when the dread of hell is laid like a bridle on our hearts. Let us therefore give thanks, not only for blessings which we see, but also for those which we see not, and for those which we receive against our will. For many are the blessings he bestows upon us, without our desire, without our knowledge. And if ye believe me not, I will at once proceed to make the case clear to you. For consider, I pray, do not the impious and unbelieving Gentiles ascribe every thing to the sun and to their idols? But what then? Doth he not bestow blessings even upon them? Is it not the work of his providence, that they have both life, and health, and children and the like? Now if he bestows blessings on them that know him not, much more does he bestow them upon us. For what else is the peculiar work of God, if it be not this, to do good to all mankind, alike by chastisements and by enjoyments. Let us then give thanks only when we are in prosperity, for there is nothing great in this. And this the devil well knows, and therefore he said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast thou not made a hedge about what he hath, without and within? Take away all that he hath; no doubt, he will then curse thee to thy face! However, that cursed

one gained no advantage; and God forbid he should gain any advantage of us either; but whenever we are either in penury, or in sickness, or in disasters, then let us increase our thanksgiving; thanksgiving, I mean, not in words nor in tongue, but in deeds and works, in mind and in heart. Let us give thanks unto him with all our souls. For he loves us more than they which begat us; and wide as is the difference between evil and goodness, so great is the difference between the love of God and that of our fathers. And these are not my words, but those of Christ himself, who loveth us. And hear what he himself saith: "What man is there of you, who, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" And again hear what he saith elsewhere: "Can a woman forget to have compassion upon the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget; yet will I not forget thee, saith the Lord." For if he loveth us not, wherefore did he create us? Had he any necessity? Do we supply to him any ministry and service? Needeth he any thing that we can render? Hear what the psalmist says: I said unto the Lord, thou art my Lord, my goods are nothing to thee. Wherefore, let us give thanks for all things, let us give him glory for all things.

"Long as on earth by faith I live,

Jehovah's praise I sing:

Honor, and thanks, and blessing give
To Christ, my God and King:
And when my voice is lost in death,
To better life restored,

I'll sing with my immortal breath
My glorious heavenly Lord."

NOVEMBER 10.

DR. BATES.

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.—Titus ii. 11, 12.

HERE is a distribution of our duties with respect to their several objects; ourselves, others, and God. The first are regulated by temperance, the second by justice, the third by god