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SERMON XXI.

PHILIPPIANS, ii. 5-8.

"LET THIS MIND BE IN YOU, WHICH WAS ALSO IN CHRIST JESUS: WHO, BEING IN THE FORM OF GOD, THOUGHT IT NOT ROBBERY TO BE EQUAL WITH GOD; BUT MADE HIMSELF of no REPUTATION, AND TOOK UPON HIM THE FORM OF A SERVANT, AND WAS MADE IN THE LIKENESS OF MEN; AND BEING FOUND IN FASHION AS A MAN, HE HUMBLED HIMSELF, AND BECAME OBEDIENT, UNTO DEATH, EVEN THE DEATH OF THE CROSS."

AMONGST the deep distempers, and manifold miseries of our depraved nature, there is none, perhaps, so fruitful in unhappy consequences, as pride. It was by pride that the angels fell. It was by a proud desire to rise above their proper sphere, and to be as gods, that our first parents brought down death upon themselves, and their posterity.

Pride is, in its essential nature, rebellion against God. It is, as it were, placing ourselves on the throne of the Most High, and claiming, for ourselves, that glory, which he will not give to another. Pride sets us in pointed opposition to God himself: for "God resisteth the proud." It is his purpose to stain the pride of all human glory, to cast down every imagination, and every

high thing that exalteth itself: that no flesh should boast; but that he that glorieth, should glory in the Lord.

Pride, if it be not subdued within us, must prevent our ever being admitted into the happiness of the world above. For the peace and joy of heaven itself, consist in a full subordination and conformity of the mind, to God. Such is the serenity and order, which prevail there. No jarring discords are heard, amidst the harmonies of the blessed. There God is all in all; his will is the universal law; and "holy, holy, holy," are the only sounds of triumph, in those happy regions. Into this state, the selfish and the proud could not enter. Let there be no decrees to oppose, their own tempers and nature, would bar the doors of heaven against them. It is on this account, that our Lord, who knew what heaven is, and who knew what we are, says; except ye be converted"-except ye come down from the native pride, and high mettle of your natural hearts, to the simplicity and humility of little children-" ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

The same temper of soul, which will exclude us from future salvation, is the great enemy of our present happiness. And so it must be. For our eternity begins here. These souls which live within us now, will live for ever. They are the

seed of an immortal being; and in that seed are folded up destinies, as endless as eternity. There: is a character impressed, in this life, upon the soul, by which we may read whether our names are written, or not written, in the rolls of heaven. The vessel is now launched; and already the dark clouds are gathering, on the one hand, or the celestial breeze is rising, upon the other hand, which will attend it through its never-ending voyage. Many are the troubles of the righteous; while the wicked are, oftentimes, in great prosperity. But under this outward surface, there is a deeper current of the waters. Beneath the history of the life, there is a secret history of the soul;-in the righteous, the beginning of their future heaven; in the wicked, the commencement of their future hell. The face of the deep may be agitated, and both be tossed upon its waves: but let them drop the fathom line, and they will find, the one, misery, and the other, happiness, at the bottom. In a word, the instinctive tendency of the righteous, is upwards, to the peace of heaven: the instinctive tendency of the wicked, is downwards, to the confusion and disorder of accursed spirits. And why? Because the one is subordinated to God, and the

other not: the one

is humble, and the other proud. For who can be happy, who is vainly striving to rest upon himself,

as his own God? Who can be happy, whose life is rivalship and emulation? Can he be happy, who lies sleepless upon his bed, when another is preferred before him-who is sore and vulnerable at every point-whom every slight can unman with dejection, or madden into fury—who has no fortitude to bear the world's contempt ?

In my text, we find the only remedy, to set a troubled mind at rest-to bring down a proud heart, to the blessedness of the meek, and the tranquillity of the poor in spirit. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."

There is nothing, in common life, which tends more to wean us from pride, than to see humility in some acknowledged superior. If we have been carrying it with a high hand, over those a little below us, and making all the display we can, of our comparative importance; nothing more effectually dissipates the bubble, and shames our vanity, than the presence of one who unites meekness, to exalted station. We compare his condescension, even to the lowest, with our wish to magnify every trifling distinction, which can set us above others. We are humbled by the contrast; and feel the meanness and littleness of pride. The Scriptures, then, in order to hide pride from man, bring home this very motive, with overwhelming power, in the words before us.

Here was one, whose exalted majesty exceeds all finite comprehension;-who was "in the form of God" from all eternity; "of one substance with the Father;" "the brightness of his glory," and the partner of his throne. In this high estate, he thought it not robbery to be equal with God." He thought it no derogation from the eternal Father's honour, to confess himself his fellow, and his like; that "such as the Father is, such is the Son"-" the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal."

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Such was the being who, in pity to lost sinners, "made himself of no reputation." He emptied himself for so the expression may be taken-he emptied himself of his divine glories; threw them all aside; and came down to visit us, in great humility. Being "made in the likeness of men, he did not assume even the dignity of earthly state. He had not large possessions. He was not attended by a train of followers. He did not fare sumptuously every day, and live delicately, like those in kings' houses. The name of Jesus was not enrolled with heroes and statesmen, with the honorable of the earth, and the idols of the world. No. Far otherwise was the humble condition of the Son of Man. His situation was low; his life was obscure; the path he trod was far removed from all the haunts of human greatness. He came to preach the gospel to the poor; and with the