death, the judgment, the heaven and hell in store for us-are tremendous enough to teach gravity and seriousness, if the soul, deluded with its earthly pride, has not actually lost the power to be serious, and become like the sea when it cannot rest. In this conflict the ridiculous is in the world and sin, not in religion and in God; and if on such a tremendous matter as the human soul, and with eternity full in view, the use of ridicule were consistent and possible, there would be ground enough for it in the position and claims of the world and sin. The aspect of a sinner pleading his own holiness, of a mortal creature standing in arms against God, of a dying man acting as if he were to live for ever, of one who cannot stand at the bar of his own conscience, thinking to stand uncondemned at the bar of God, of a person accepting the truths of God's promises, and denying the truth of his threats, are spectacles truly ridiculous. Those who love God cannot laugh at them, simply because they must weep at them. the objects of ridicule in hell. But they may be on the side of the world, not of the Church, that the true objects of ridicule exist, in its vices, its follies, its mad extravagance, its affectations, and its hollow insincerities. In this conflict there can be no danger of a Christian taking the wrong side. Yet he needs the earnest caution even here. Not only must he avoid associating ideas of the ridiculous with religion, but with anything belonging to religion. Men may not only always be sufficiently cautious to avoid what is peculiar and eccentric in the manner, for instance, of their devotions; but yet the solemnity of the act, and the majesty of Him to whom it is paid, should be stretched even over these peculiarities, and check the remotest tendency to treat them lightly, lest we treat them profanely. Let the Christian watch in every direction against associating the ridiculous with anything that lies under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty. Nothing is more destructive of all serious impression, than untimely laughter. Let us be on the watch, lest we fall under the condemnation, "Surely he scorneth the scorners." XIII. Our Plans for Life. A particular providence-Every man's place in life ordered by God-Disturbing influence of human wilfulness-God's purposes revealed by (1) His word, (2) His providence, (3) His spirit-Only source of true happiness in God-Godliness has the promise of the life that now is-" Enter not into temptation"-The future world and the soul the first objects of our plans. PRINCIPLES OF CONDUCT. God orders all things. 1 Chron. xxix. 11; Job v. 12—14; Ps. xxxiii. 10; lxxv. 6; cxxvii. 1; Prov. xvi. 9; xx. 24; xxi. 30; Jer. x. 23; Luke xii. 7; Acts xvii. 24-26; 1 Cor. xvi. 7; Phil. i. 19—24; 1 Thess. iii. 11 ; James iv. 13-15. God to be sought for help. Ps. 1. 15; lvii. 2, 3; cii. 17; cxix. 94, 147; cxxx. 1; cxlv. 18; Isa. xlv. 11; Zech. x.1; John xiv. 13, 14; xv. 7; xvi. 23—26, His teaching-the Word. Ps. cxix. 105.- Providence. Exod. xl. 36; Numb. ix. 17; Matt. xvi. 3.—The Spirit. Luke xi. 13. Happiness only in God. Isa. xxvi. 3; lvii. 21; Rom. xiv. 17; Gal. v. 22. INSTANCES. Lot choosing to live among the wicked. Gen. xiii. 10—13. Abraham's servant asking help. Gen. xxiv. 7-12. God with Joseph. Gen. xxxix. 2; Joshua forgetting to consult God. xlv. 7. Josh. ix. 14. David taken from the sheep-folds. Ps. lxxviii. 70. Hezekiah laying the Assyrian letters before God. Isaiah xxxvii. 14. The story of Mordecai and the sleepless king. Esther vi. Daniel and his companions feeding on pulse. Dan. i. 12-16 The pitcher of water carried through the crowded streets of Jerusalem as a sign. Mark xiv. 13. There's a Divinity that shapes our ends, Grace leads the right way. If you choose the wrong, He lives long that lives well; and time misspent is not FEW truths are more rich in comfort than the existence and exercise of a particular Providence. An unconverted person may be disposed to shrink from it, because the consciousness of his condemned condition makes every recollection of God painful, and the more close and constant the recollection, the greater the pain. To conceive of a God who is hated as constantly present, and operating all round about the man, must be almost intolerable, not because the thing itself is otherwise than blessed, but because sin perverts it, and turns comfort into poison. But in proportion to the confidence with which the soul is able to look up to God as a Father, whose loving care is over all his true children, the thought of it becomes the spring of joy and hope. The more effectual his power and wisdom, the more constant his presence, the more minute and particular his care, the better for those who shelter beneath his wings, and are |