and if, by any means, I can attain it, I shall be satisfied. Whatever-dear and useful as I have deemed it, I cannot retain in following thee, I cheerfully give up. All I fear is, separation from thyself-Entreat me not to leave thee, nor to return from following after thee-Lord, I will follow thee to prison and to death." But, alas! his mean and mercenary temper was now detected. We hear no more of him-he left him; having loved this present world. But But the narrative is recorded for our admonition: and the fact, which, by way of trial, our Saviour addressed to this pretender, is worthy of our attention. It is very affecting and instructive-It is the indigence of Jesus, appearing in the homelessness of his condition. This, as a part, is put for the whole of his abasement: and it is held forth, enhanced, by contrast. The inferior creatures have dwellings convenient for them, in which they secure themselves, and enjoy repose, and breed up their young. Some of these, man takes, as inmates, under his own roof: such are, the faithful dog, and the feathered songster in the cage. He furnishes also, shelter, as well as provender, for his cattle. animals that live at large, have also accommodations suited to their kinds. "Foxes have holes." "The young lions gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens." "The high hills are a refuge for the goats, and the rocks for the conies." "The spider taketh hold with her hand, and is in kings' palaces." "The birds of the air have nests." "The eagle mounts up, and," in rocks inaccessible, "maketh her nest on high.' "As for the stork, the fir-trees are her house." Some build on the ground; some, in dense thickets; some, in boughs, depending over the flood; some, in isles, secured by water. Some repair to the habitations of men: there the sparrow finds a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young. And who, 99 in all this, can help admiring the wisdom and kindness of Providence? His tender mercies are over all his works. As he made all, so he careth for them. He giveth them their meat in due season. He furnishes them with their powers of defence, or flight; and actuates the skill they display in all their surprising economies. And will he disregard his rational offspring? He teacheth them more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh them wiser than the fowls of the air. There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding. How superior is reason, to instinct! How boundless in improvement, is human ingenuity! What abodes has it provided for us! And with what conveniences, comforts, pleasures, has it replenished them! From hence, springs the idea of home. We cleave to a place where we received our birth, passed the days of infancy, indulged in the sports of youth; where sleep has refreshed our wearied bodies; and where we have smiled at the descending storm, and the piercing cold. 66 ".... Home is "The lov'd retreat of peace and plenty; where, Well may the same poet represent the man returning at eve, buried in the drifted snow, "Stung with the thoughts of home." A homeless condition, therefore, is the most pitiable. And was this the condition of the Lord Jesus? Not absolutely. During his private life, he lived with Joseph and Mary, at Nazareth. And after he entered on his public ministry, he had friends, who, like Martha, gladly afforded him the accommodations of their own dwellings. But these advantages were occasional; and were of the nature of hospitality. He never possessed a habitation or an apartment he could call his own. He was born in another man's house-and this was a stable-and he was laid in a manger. How often, when my children were about me, have I said, while viewing my sleeping babe "How much better thou art attended "Than the Son of God could be, "When from heaven he descended, "And became a child like thee! "Soft and easy is thy cradle "Coarse and hard the Saviour lay, "When his birth-place was a stable, "And his softest bed was hay!" How soon was he driven an infant-exile into Egypt! Widows ministered to him of their substance. Wearied with his journey, he sat on the well, and said to the woman, Give me to drink. A fish furnished him with money to pay the Temple tribute. One night, he slept in a fishing-boat. Another, he continued all night in prayer in a mountain. We read only once of his riding-though he went about doing good; and this was upon a borrowed ass-and a colt, the foal of an ass. Passover in a borrowed wrapped in linen, not his He partook of the last chamber-And he was own, when taken down from the Cross-and was buried in another man's garden, and another man's this teach us? tomb! What does all DEC. 18.-" And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." Matt. viii. 20. THE fact is affecting; but is it not instructive, too? We may take from it a standard, by which - to judge of the age and country in which he appeared. Nothing reflects more upon a people, than suffering characters, distinguished by the greatest goodness and usefulness, to want. It will always be a reproach to the Corinthian converts that they allowed such a man as Paul, while preaching and working miracles among them, to work night and day at tentmaking. But we love and commend the Philippians, who once and again, when he was in Thessalonica, sent to his necessity. Surely we should have said, men will reverence God's Son. At his coming, nobles and princes will offer their mansions and palaces-What preparations are made to receive a superior! Yet the honour of the visit is deemed a recompence for the trouble and expence. But he was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came to his own, and his own received him not. What is man? Judæa furnish an answer. See the Lord of all; the friend of misery; possessed of every moral perfection; the image of the invisible God-yet not having "where to lay his head!!" But is human Let nature the same now? Some censure others, and think well of themselves merely because they have not been tried by the same circumstances. "Oh! had we been then living there, he should not have been destitute of any accommodation we could have yielded him." Yet you follow the multitude— and the reproach of a name will keep you from owning his truth-and you are backward in giving, in the support of his cause. But, by the disposition which you exercise towards his Gospel, and house, and ministers, and members, he judges of his attachment or indifference to himself-He that receiveth you, receiveth me-Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not to me-Depart. Pause, and admire the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich. Do not imagine that he did not feel his condition. He was really a partaker of flesh and blood; and knew the sensations of hunger, and weariness, and cold, as well as any other man. But the conveniences and comforts which he required, he often found not. Think of his preaching and travelling all the livelong day; and at night not having where to lay his head! The sensibility of his condition was enhanced by his former state of dignity and enjoyment. We are therefore more affected when we see a prince reduced, than when we behold an individual suffering who was always indigent. Jesus was higher than the kings of the earth, and had given them all their thrones. Heaven had been his dwelling-place: and all the angels his attendants; and adorers, too. What condescension was here!-Let us remember that he made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant-There was no compulsion-it was all voluntary.-And not for himself, but for us. And did we deserve such an interposition; such an expensiveness of sacrifice for our comfort? were viler than the earth-we were enemies by wicked works.-Yet he never repented of his engagement; but said, as he was entering all this abasement, Lo! I come! I delight to do thy will! And as his agony approached, he said, "I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" It was therefore, as the Apostle calls it, Grace-grace the most free and unparalleled. And shall not this love, which passeth knowledge, fix our minds, and fill our hearts? Where is our gratitude, unless we are willing to deny ourselves for him, and to walk worthy of such a Divine Benefactor unto all well-pleasing The lower he descended to save me, the higher shall he rise in my esteem for ever. He is always, and altogether lovely; but never so adorable as when his face is marred We |