very enjoyments? Does not success, as well as disappointment, tell you, that this is not your rest? Ah! these failures of hope, these inward uneasinesses, are the inspiration of the Almighty, to give you understanding. They are designed to turn you from creatures, which are all vanity and vexation of spirit, to a Saviour, who is full of grace and truth. Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee.

Art thou the subject of affliction? Dost thou believe on the Son of God? To be poor in the world, and be destitute of the true riches; to have no friend below, and no God above; to pass from the sorrows of time into a more miserable eternityis a state so dreadful, that every feeling of benevolence must be concerned to find a resource for its victims. And such we can open. There is the hope of Israel-the Saviour thereof in the time of trouble. His Gospel is sent to bind up the broken-hearted. Perhaps you are at your wits' end-Perhaps ready to curse the day of your birth-Perhaps tempted to destroy yourself. Beware of the Devil's relief-that cure will be far worse than the disease. And you need it not. There is One near you whom you know not-O that you did! He is now stretching forth his soft hand; he is now saying, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." This man shall be the peace when the Assyrian cometh into the land.

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Dost thou Why should you Had not the Church

Art thou a professor of religion? believe on the Son of God? address the inquiry to me? been satisfied with my character; and deemed me a believer; they would not have admitted me to their communion." But they might have been mistaken. They could only judge from outward appearance and it became them to be candid. There is no certainty from this quarter." But if I had not hoped that I was a real believer in Jesus, I should

not have proposed myself as a member of a Christian Church, and have come to the Lord's Table, where I should have eaten and drunken unworthily. Why, then, do you suspect me?" My friend I do not suspect you; but I love you-and love, though not suspicious, is cautious. As mistakes are possible, and common; it cannot be improper for you to examine yourself, and prove whether you are in the faith. If the house be upon the sand, it is well to know it before the storm comes. But if it be built on the rock, the discovery will yield fresh satisfaction; and you will be encouraged to say—“I know whom I have believed; and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day."

Or art thou a real Christian? Dost thou believe on the Son of God? "I know that thou believest." Yet, as pride blends with the humility of the most humble; and impatience, with the resignation of the most patient: even so, as an old writer says, what unbelieving believers are the best believers! When our Saviour had expressed himself more fully and clearly; his disciples exclaimed, "Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?"-You think so: but imagination is not reality-I know you better than you know yourselves-And you yourselves, in a little time, will see that you have much less faith than you now profess" Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me." All-all may cry out, with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

DECEMBER 1.—" Doth Job fear God for nought ?"
Job. i. ix.

THESE are the words of Satan. Some deny the agency, and even the existence of such a being. But the denial renders the language of the Scripture inexplicable, or absurd; and furnishes a proof of the fact itself: for the god of this world blindeth the minds of them that believe not.

These are the words of Satan-And let us not refuse to consider them, because he is the speaker. Truth is the same, whoever utters it.

"Seize upon truth, where'er tis found;

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Among your friends, among your foes:
"On Christian or on Heathen ground,
"The flower's divine, where'er it grows.
"Refuse the prickles, and assume the rose."

Alluding to the Scribes, our Saviour said to his hearers, "Whatsoever they command you to observe, that observe ye: but do not after their works; for they say, and do not."

These are the words of Satan-But though we should not refuse the truth, because it comes from him; yet it surely becomes us to examine whether what he says is truth; and also for what purpose he says it. For even truth may be misapplied and abused. It is thus Antinomians are so injurious : by the most precious doctrines of the Gospel, they turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and make Christ the minister of sin. In our Lord's temptation, Satan had a Bible with him, and turned to the passages; or he shewed a good memory for the Scripture for he quoted it very readily; but it was for the vilest design.

Now it is easy to learn his meaning here. God had been extolling his servant Job-"The Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth: a

perfect and an upright man; one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?" Then Satan answered the Lord and said "He is, I acknowledge, a worshipper of Thee! And no wonder. He has found it the way to grandeur and wealth. It has procured for him seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that he is the greatest man in the East. He has found godliness gain; and now makes gain godliness-Doth Job serve God for nought?"

Here we see how well Satan is called, the accuser of the brethren. He accuses them to God; and, as many of the articles are true, they would have reason to fear; but they have One in court, to nonsuit them-they have an Advocate with the Father. "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." He accuses them before men. We see, from the early defences of Christianity, how much they were defamed. At their private suppers, they devoured their own infants. At their nocturnal meetings, they committed every crime that could disgrace human nature. If there was a fire or a famine, they caused the one and occasioned the other. In the Acts of the Apostles, we read, that Christians were a sect every where spoken against. It is so still and some of the brightest characters that have adorned the Church and served their generation, in modern times, have been blackened by every vileness of imputation.

See the malignant cunning of this adversary, who goeth about seeking whom he may devour or distress. He can bring nothing against Job's conduct-this was undeniably fair and righteous: he therefore insinuates a charge against his motive. Are there none that follow his example? "He is so and so. He does so and so-and this would be very wellbut it is to please his connexions-to aid his busi

ness-and to gain a name. Ah! were it real-but it is all outside, all show, all pretence." Now nothing can be more devilish than this. There is a great difference between judging ourselves, and judging others. In the one case we cannot be too severe; in the other, we cannot be too candid-Yet the reverse of this commonly prevails. We should not judge ourselves only, or principally, by our actions; but by our motives, which enter so essentially into their morality. But we should judge others wholly by their conduct, and not by their motives- for these are cognizable only to God. It is his prerogative to search the heart. He will not condemn us for our ignorance of it. Charity thinketh no evil. It will always be far more honourable to be mistaken in any of our fellow-creatures, than to be suspicious of them.

Satan was right in the principle of his insinuation : viz. That there was little to admire in Job's excellency, had he been a mere mercenary wretch, who, in all he did, had no regard for God, but to his own advantage only. Such actors there have always been. Thus Laban pressed Jacob to continue with him, not from affection or respect; but because, says he, I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. In the same way the Shechemites reasoned: "Shall not their cattle, and their substance, and every beast of theirs, be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us." Jehu said, "See my zeal for the Lord:" but it was to aggrandize himself and his family; and he was even punished for actions which fulfilled the will of God. Our Saviour did not commend those who followed him because they did eat of the loaves and fishes: and early applied a test which would evince a regard for himself in those that adhered to him-He that forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple. And we always, in the conduct of our fellow-creatures, value a trifle