upon the rule of duty; thinks not so much of what he has attained, as what he has yet to do. He does not attend so much to what he is, as what he ought to be; he forgets the things that are behind and presses toward the mark of perfection. When he compares himself, with the divine law, that standard of right; he sees how far, very far he is from what he should be; he necessarily appears vile to himself, and his religious acquirements appear small in exact proportion as his views of the beauty and glory of the divine character enlarge. The more clearly he sees the excellency and glory of God, the more he will see the reasonableness of the divine law, which requires him to love God with all his heart, and consequently the deeper impressions will he have of the evil of sin, and of his own vileness in particular. With these views he thinks lowly of himself, "and becomes dead to the law, that he might be made alive unto God." Real grace always humbles the man, and leads him in lowliness of mind to prefer others above himself. Grace never exalts a man in his own eyes; and therefore it is a very sure indication of its want, when he thinks highly of his religious attainments. Attend to the voice of Christ to the church of Laodicea, "Because thou sayest I am rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." On this passage I would observe, how greatly people may be deceived as to their religious state—and that when a person entertains a 'high sense of his spiritual attainments-that he has advanced far beyond other christians in the divine life-such an opinion is itself, a very sure evidence, that the person has no religion. Humility never fails to make a man poor in his own eyes; poor in the view of his love to God and to his cause, compared with what he ought to be. A christian may hope that he has more love to Christ than his neighbour; and yet his own sinfulness appear so much greater to him, than the sinfulness of his neighbour possibly can, that he will conclude that his character, all things considered, is more vile than that of his neighbour. This appears to have been the case with St. Paul, who knew that he loved Christ with a supreme and ardent affection, even so as to cheerfully die for the name of Jesus; and was doubtless persuaded that he loved God more than some other christians; yet this was far from making him proud, or to think himself better than they. He had such a clear sense of the beauty of the divine character, and of his sin in persecuting the church of God, that he was disposed to view himself "less than the least of all saints." His sins appeared to him so much greater than the sins of other christians, that it seemed to him but reasonable, that he should love Christ so much more than others, as his sins had been greater than their's. Our Lord once proposed this question to a particular person, A certain man had two debtors, one owed him five hundred pence, the other fifty, and, in as much as they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both, which of them will love him most? The answer was, "He to whom he forgave most." Paul, viewing the matter in this light, concluded that he was far from answering the obligations laid upon him by the pardoning mercy of God. This is alway's the certain and necessary consequence of true spiritual light. A view of the glory of God, is ever attended with a lively view of the evil of sin, which directly tends to destroy pride, and make the subject humble, and poor in spirit. And his humility will increase exactly in proportion to the clearness of his perceptions of the beauty and glory of the divine character. For a man therefore to rise in his opinion of his own goodness is a very certain evidence, that he is indeed a stranger to true godliness. 3. To be poor in spirit is to have a temper, that will dispose us to be constant beggars at the throne of grace. A poor man, who has nothing of his own, and is unable to procure a subsistence, depends on charity for his daily support. The poor cripple gets his liv ing by begging. He can earn nothing; and he is wholly dependent on charity. So it is with the poor in spirit. Such feel that they have nothing but what they get by begging. You will understand me to mean prayer. Such, like the beggar, will be frequent and importunate in their addresses for the supply of their hourly wants. And every benefit they receive will appear as the fruit of God's boundless mercy to ill deserving creatures. They know that their old stock of grace will not support them in future, as the beggar knows, that the food which supported him yesterday will not supply him to day. Hence the reason why real christians are persons of prayer. They cannot live without deriving daily supplies from their father's house. 4. To be poor in spirit is to have our own interest appear inconsiderable compared with the glory of God. God is a being of infinite worth and dignity, and has indeed made all things for his own glory; because his glory and happiness are infinitely the most important objects in the universe, and therefore to have made any thing to serve some other purpose only, would have been infinitely beneath his wisdom and goodness. God is the sum of all real worth and excellence; nay could he cease to be, the whole creation would sink into nothing in an instant. In him is every thing truly valuable, and without him, nothing would be so. Angels and men might cease to be, and their loss would be like taking a few sands from the sea-shore, or a few drops from the ocean; but were it possible for God to withdraw himself from the universe, the whole creation would be an infinite evil. Are not then the glory and kingdom of God to be loved and sought after, more than our own private interest? This is our indispensable duty; and the contrary conduct is altogether unreasonable; for it is, in effect, to say that my interest is of more importance than the glory of God. This is pride this is selfishness, which disposes us to think more highly of ourselves and interest, than we ought to think. therefore, impossible for a person to be poor in spirit, and yet think his own interest worth much, compared with the glory of God. Moses, who was a distinguished servant of God, was willing to give up his interest for the glory of God. And it is evident from his conduct, that he was more anxious for the honour of God, It is than for his own private good. When God threatened to destroy Israel in the wilderness for their sins, and proposed to Moses to make of him a great nation,' he replied, "what wilt thou do for thy great name ? For the Egyptians will hear of it," and will take occasion to speak dishonourably of the power and wisdom of God. On this ground he intercedes for them, and discovers his high regard to the honour and glory of God. His interest appeared so small and inconsiderable, compared with the welfare of his people and the glory of God, that he was willing to be blotted from the book which God had written, rather than these objects should be injured. "Yet now, said he, if thou wilt, forgive their; sin and if not, I pray thee, blot me out of the book which thou hast written." ཚ་ 5. To be poor in spirit is to be of a temper which will dispose us to be silent, should not God grant us the favours which we ask of him. Instead of granting our requests, should God visit us with afflictions, and grievous trials, the poor in spirit will be still and know that he is God. This spirit tends to make us resigned under all the dispensations of providence, and approve of God's righteousness and faithfulness in afflicting us. Afflictions commonly wear a different aspect when viewed in relation to others, or ourselves. Wicked men can approve of God's judgments when inflicted on others, but the humble only can accept the punishment of their iniquities, and say, "not my will but thine be done." Humility always produces this effect. This temper was manifested by good old Eli, when Samuel came and told him the destruction which |