to a vapour, or smoke, such as we see rising from a field or chimney, but which soon vanishes away, without leaving any trace behind it, and we know not where or in what it has lost itself. An admirable comparison for how could the uncertainty, the frailty, the nothingness of our natural life, be more aptly represented ? How foolish then is it, (the apostle would intimate,) that thou, who knowest not what to-morrow shall be, nor what shall happen to thee on to-morrow, whether or not this night thy soul shall be required of thee, that thou shouldst behave thyself as if every thing depended entirely on thyself, as if thy life stood in thy own power, as if thou couldst begin and carry through whatever project thou mightest form! Truly, such boasting is a mark of unbounded presumption.

"All such boasting is evil," says the apostle: evil, because it arises from that pride, which was the origin in the first man of the first transgression. For what does it indicate, but that the man who lives so securely, and speaks with such decision of the future, would be as God-that God who ordains and manages all things, and to whom alone belong all foresight and all power ? This the christian knows, and therefore such boasting and such speaking are in his estimation a vain thing; he must consider it as folly to say,

To-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain ;" and if he ever adopts such language he must commit sin; for "whoever knows to do good," who

ever knows what is right, and "does it not," but speaks and acts against his better insight and convictions," to him it is sin," as indeed "whatever is not of faith is sin," Rom. xiv. 23. Away, therefore, with such presumptuous boasting, so unbecoming in a christian. Rather let us say, "Let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord."

But in what manner are we to give glory to the Lord? How are we to confess his name, and glory in it, in our anticipations of the future, and in the formation of our plans? What is the apostle's direction ? "For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." He had blamed that carnal confidence, which glories in its haughty independence, and builds on its own power, or its own good fortune; it now seems as if he enjoined upon us a constant uncertainty; as if it became christians to plan and to arrange with a qualification and abatement of their confidence. This is implied in the expression, "If the Lord will, and we live, we shall do this, or that." But this indeed we must allow, if any one would traffic and get gain, if any one would acquire what belongs to the sustenance and necessary wants of the body, for himself and those dependent on him, much depends, on the one hand, on a right calculation of the time, and a clear view of the circumcumstances; and on the other hand, on a courageous determination to maintain what is right, and a steady carrying out of the resolutions that have been formed. He who does not look into the future; who does not

calculate and weigh one against another the circumstances which may be favourable or unfavourable to the success of his plans, or who timorously and irresolutely fluctuates, procrastinates, changes, despairs, will gain nothing, will never make progress. Therefore, to form a resolution to “go to this or that city,” at the right time or hour, “to-day or to-morrow," for wages or profit, wherever it may seem most advantageous, and to remain there to buy and sell and get gain, be it for a year or for whatever time it may appear suitable, to undertake what we have resolved upon with vigour, and accomplish it with perseverance; all this is only acting the part of rational beings, to whom God has not given an understanding and a will for no purpose; but that, by the right use of his gifts, we may perform what is right and wellpleasing in his sight in a manner befitting our worldly calling and our worldly relations. We may justly censure any person who is irresolute and undecided in fulfilling his duties as a citizen, or as the head of a family; and, on the other hand, we may feel satisfaction when we see any one pursuing the employments of life with intelligence and confidence. St. James by no means forbids our saying, "We will do this or that;” but he only enjoins, since we do not know what will be on the morrow, and our life is a vapour, which endureth but a little while and then vanisheth away, that we should add, “If the Lord will, and we live."

And here, before proceeding further, let me correct

a misapprehension into which some persons may fall, from attending rather to the letter than the spirit of the apostle's admonitions. It certainly was by no means his intention to lay down a positive injunction, that at the commencement of every transaction, whether of greater or less importance, or with every intention expressed, or every resolution adopted, these words must be used, "If the Lord will, and we live." There are not a few pious persons who interpret the text thus literally, and would charge themselves with sin if they spoke of the future without adopting this devout expression; and not only would they think the omission sinful, but would expect its punishment to follow in the failure of their plans and undertakings; while, by the use of it, they imagine that the blessing of Heaven is insured, and that they may feel themselves certain of success. But, my friends, when faith degenerates into superstition, (and we find traces of such superstition among christians, who are otherwise well informed) is not this significant expression reduced to a mere phrase which we have on our lips, without any just sense of its importance, on every trivial occasion? And is it not to be feared that those words will be uttered by the force of blind habit which should only be spoken with the deepest, liveliest feeling of our own weakness, and of the power of God? Let us bear in mind that weighty declaration of the apostle Paul," The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power," 1 Cor. iv. 20. Let it be our aim, not to have such an expression constantly on our lips;

but to have our hearts deeply imbued with its spirit. In the little occurrences of daily life, if we are among those who know and partake of the same disposition, the sentiment, " If the Lord will, and we live,” even when unexpressed, will be habitually understood; but among thoughtless and undevout persons the case is different; and the greater or more distant, and therefore more dependent on the vicissitudes of time, our plans and projects may be, so much the more is it obligatory and necessary, that we should express those sentiments which accord with this precept of the apostle, and that our mouth should overflow with that of which the heart is full.

And what is that of which our hearts ought always to be so full, that we should hear it as the voice of a constant monitor in all our undertakings? "If the Lord will." If our feeling is only this, that we are not lords over our own lives and futurity, that circumstances and events are not in our own power; but that in all things we are absolutely dependent on a superior arranging and governing power, on the Supreme Being, whom all mankind own as God; then we can only say with feeble assurance or anxious fear, "If the Lord will." But if we are christians, my friends, do not we know far more of God than only that he is the Supreme Being, the eternal, all-comprehending Power, on whom we are dependent? Has not God revealed himself to us; has he not visited us, Luke i. 68, in the image of his invisible essence, the brightness of his glory, in his only begotten Son, full