sicr. tr.? IN REGARD OF GOD. 473 for the most formidable enemy : " My grace, O Paul, is sufficient for thee against the thorns of the flesh, and the buffets of Satan." The rich gospel of grace was only made for the poor and the humble among the sons and daughters of Adam For whom is all that fulness of righteousness and fulness of grace treasured up in Christ Jesus, but for those who are deeply abased tinder a sense of their own guilt and sinfulness ? It is for those who are dying and despairing in themselves that Jesus has brought in hope ,and life. We can never be christians till we are thus humbled and brought to the foot ofGod to receive all from his Son. Remember, Omy soul, it is this self=poverty, this emp-' tiness and dependence makes thee a prepared vessel for the largest communications of divine influence and blesr sing. Jesus, the Son of God, came down from heaven furnished with all fulness of heavenly graces, to bestow only upon thepoor and needy and the dependingcreature. He was sent to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to heal the sick, to give sight to the blind, to bestow wisdom upon the ignorant, to preach the gospel to the poor, and to call sinners to repentance and salvation : but the self- righteous and the wise, and the exalted "haughty things of this world, he hath no blessings for them, for they are all full of themselves, they do not feel nor imagine that they have any need of his bounty. The doctrines and benefits of his gospel are hid from the wise, and the mighty, and the sons of pride ; but they are revealed to babes and conferred on the poor. The humble soul dwells nearest to the rich treasures of grace, and the empty vessel is best prepared to receive the largest com- munications. What is it then, O my heart, that should tempt thee to maintain high thoughts ofthyself, ofthy own understand- ing, of thy own sufficiency, when it is the ready way to exclude thee from all the aids of divine grace ? He bath filled the hungry withgood things, but the rich he bath sent emptyaway; Luke i. 53. God resisteth theproud,. but giveth moregrace unto the humble : James iv. 6. 11.- When we have low thoughts of ourselves, our hearts and lips will be full of acknowledgments for the daily favours of grace and providence. We shall bake notice of every favourable dispensation that attends us,
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