"The things which are impossible with men are possible with God;" and it is a great part of our trial here whether we will believe this or not. There is no use in complaining of it—such is the lot God has appointed for us, and if we will take His way it will be well with us. Let us not, then, be like silly children, that are afraid to do what their parents bid them, when, if they would but make up their mind to it, the difficulty would be nothing. Most of our difficulty is mere show, a deceit of the evil one, to make us turn back. God permits it, not that we may fail, but that we may overcome, and learn to trust Him more. Those who have won any of the victories of grace know this well, and are strengthened by the thought of it for future trials. The help God gives to the willing soul is fully adequate to the need, and the force of temptation, that seems so overwhelming before we face it boldly, is understood, when we have once overcome it, to be such as we may well be ashamed of having feared. We learn to wonder at ourselves that we should ever have trembled before an enemy, whom a few resolute thrusts would have driven away from our sight.

The hardest case is, if we have so often

° S. Luke xviii. 27.

yielded to a temptation as to strengthen its hold upon us, and to weaken our trust in the strength in which we ought to stand against it. Yet, even in that case, it is wrong to despair. That is what the enemy wishes us to do, while what God would have of us is a firmer trust in Him. If any of you, then, are in this sad case, think whether you have really ever faced the difficulty boldly, in God's strength, fully determined, by His help, to stand firm, however much tried. I think you will find that there has been a half-will not to lose the pleasure of sin, a half distrust of God, or, what is just as bad, an over confidence in self, long before the actual and decisive yielding to temptation. Whatever is your case, be sure there is no remedy but in acting boldly. Face the real present state of your case, and deal with it before God as you find it. His mercy in Christ is sufficient even for the soul that has fallen from grace once given. But that mercy must be sought with a decided will, by casting yourself at His feet, to be dealt with as He shall please, and giving yourself up heartily to do His will, as you shall find it. However hard may be your trial, be assured there is strength for you proportioned to your day, for "His

strength is made perfect in weakness," and if at any time it seems severe, yet check every rebellious and discontented thought, and remember that temptation "yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby," and that, for every

effort of faith and obedience, there is a rich reward in the present approval of your Lord and Master, and in the fresh supplies of grace here that wait for a dutiful will, and come often, at the end of a conflict, as blessed tokens from Him; and in the crown of glory which shall be given at the end to those who have persevered and overcome.

p 2 Cor. xii. 9.

i Heb. xii. 11.

SERMON XXVII.

Philip, i. 9.

"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge, and in all judgment."

a a

THE services of the Church at this time of the year lead us to think much on the subject of practical wisdom. And perhaps it may be said that the time is suitable for this in several ways. The very season of the year, when all its beauties and pleasant things are hastening to decay, reminds us that in everything we ought to look beyond present pleasure. The hard weather that is coming on reminds us of times to come that must be provided for. The fruits of the earth now gathered in remind us of opportunities that must not be wasted, unless we are prepared to satisfy our souls with the bareness of a November field.

And not only does the natural year make this time a kind of annual old age, suitable to serious reflection on the vanity of this world, and on the real good that is to be

a The twenty-second Sunday after Trinity.

gotten in passing through it, but farther, the course of the Church services for the year is such as to make this time very suitable for the reading of the Proverbs of Solomon; and other books of practical wisdom.

That course is divided into three principal parts. From Advent Sunday to Easter-day we are occupied with the mysteries of the Incarnation, taking them in the order of the history of our Blessed Lord's life upon earth. From Easter to Trinity Sunday is a kind of Sabbath, in which we dwell upon His glory, and the mysteries of Heaven. The Sundays after Trinity are given more to the consideration of our own condition and course of life, and after the instruction and experience of the greater part of this course, we are suitably called npon to reflect, and to gather for ourselves lessons of wisdom from what we have seen, and heard, and practiced. It is true that "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" are hid in Christ. All wisdom of life, as well as the knowledge of God, comes to us through His Incarnation; and so it might be thought that all wisdom might be learned from that part of the Church's annual course which treats of Divine things only. But a little

b Col. ii. 3.

b