Seeking this, he cannot be miserable; not seeking this, he cannot be happy. He knows he is but a point in the universe of God," an atom in the sum of being," a single member of Christ's mystical body; and is willing that God should lift him up, or cast him down at His pleasure. His own advancement is as a feather, a nothing, when put in

that diverge here, and that continue to diverge, will find the impassable gulph between them at last.

It is unhappy that plain Christians should have imbibed the notion, that the doctrine of disinterestedness is an innovation. It is not true. It is a doctrine of the Reformation; a doctrine well understood, and clearly taught by the divines of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The leading principles of that doctrine as exhibited in this essay, do not differ from the views of Calvin, Van Mastricht, and Witsius.

"Non propterea," says the great Witsius, "Non prop"terea, sanctitate operam dat vere fidelis, ut gloriam "famamque apud homines aucupetur. Non mercenario "sui amore ad propria vel hujus, vel futuræ vitæ commoda "solum collimat. Sublimior longe sanctiorque piorum est "intentio: quæ in Deum, et in seipsos, et in proximum fe"runtur. Ante omnia Dei gloriam quærunt. Hanc amant, "hujus amplificationem expetunt, omnique suo nisu pro"movent: Dicant jugiter, magnificetur Jehova, amantes sa"lutis tuæ. Huc omnibus suis exercitiis tendunt, inoffenso "cursu pergentes, at diem Christi; repleti fructibus justitiæ, " qui sunt per Jesum Christum, ad gloriam et laudem Dei. "Quorum operum scaturigo et principium est amor Dei, "corum finis non potest non esse ejusdem Dei gloria. Qui

the balance against the honour of Christ and the good of His kingdom,

Such is the spirit of self-denial. It is the result of a calm, deliberate, invincible attachment to the highest good, flowing forth in the voluntary renunciation of every thing that is inconsistent

"enim Deum impense amat, id quoque supra omnia amat, "quod Deo est amatissimum. Deus autem ita suam diligit "gloriam, ut ejus gratia faciat quodcunque facit; ideo om"nia sunt ex ipso, ut sint rursus ad ipsum, et ipsi gloria "sit in secula. Hac quoque in parte Deo similes sancti sunt, ❝ quod in omnibus actionibus suis Dei gloriam præ oculis ❝ habeant.

"Post hanc Divini nominis gloriam, licet quoque viro sancto "sui ipsius rationem in virtutum suarum exercitio habere: 66 atque id intendere, ut suæ sibi a Deo electionis æterne sit “conscius-ut inoffense conscientiæ testimonio, eaque quæ ❝ illud consequitur, tranquilitate exultet, &c. Hæc tamen ❝ omnia ita expetere sanctitas Christiana docet, non ut nis 66 tanquam ultimo sine subsistamus; sed ut ea quoque ad "Dei gloriam referamus." That is,

The true believer does not strive to obtain holiness for the sake of human applause. He does not, by a mercenary selflove, aim merely at his own advantage, either in this life or the life to come. The object of good men is far more pure and elevated; whereby they are carried out both toward God, themselves, and their neighbour. Above all things, they seek the glory of God. This is the grand object of their affections. This, they ardently desire and indefatigably pur

with the glory of God, and the good of our fellow

men.

That this is the scriptural idea of self-denial, it would be easy to illustrate by a multitude of examples. This is the elevated spirit that prompted the father of the faithful to offer up the son

sue. Let such as love thy salvation, say continually, the Lord be magnified! Hither, in all their exercises they tend, proceeding in an easy course, until the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. As the source and principle of their works is the love of God, so the end of them is His glory. For he who loves God fervently, loves above all things what is most beloved by God. But God so loves His own glory, that whatever He does, He does with a view to promote it; so that all things are of Him, that they may be again to Him, and to Him be the glory for ever. In this respect the saints are like God, because in all their actions, they have a supreme regard to His glory.

In subordination to the glory of the Divine Name, the child of God may also in the exercise of the christian graces, have respect to himself, and endeavour to gain the assurance of his own eternal election to rejoice in the testimony of a good conscience, and in that peace of mind which flows therefrom, &c. But evangelical holiness teaches so to desire these things as not to rest in them as our ultimate end, but to direct even them to the glory of God.

Vid. Hermanni Witsii, de œconomica fæderum. Lib. III. cap. xii. p. 478-81,

of promise; that bore the three worthies of Babylon to the burning fiery furnace, and that led the Apostles and martyrs to glory in tribulation. It has borne the test of ridicule and reproach; stood undaunted before the scourge and the prison; triumphed amidst the light of the faggot, and smiled at the point of the sword. This is the spirit which shone with such signal lustre in the sufferings and death of our Blessed Lord. It was eminently the characteristic of this Divine Personage, that in all He did and suffered, He pleased not Himself. He sought not His own glory, but the glory of the Father who sent Him. Though He was rich, yet for OUR SAKES He became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich. He often anticipated the day of His death, and in itself considered, earnestly desired to be delivered from that fatal hour. He knew the malice of His enemies, and expected to feel the weight of it in His last sufferings. He foresaw all the circumstances that would add poignancy to his anguish, and foresaw them with distress and agony. But does He shrink from the dreadful undertaking? You see Him steadfastly setting His face to go to Jerusalem; you hear Him telling His disciples that He must go; He must suffer; he must be killed; but do you hear Him complain? Go to Gethsemane, and

there behold the Son of God under the most clear and awful view of His approaching crucifixion, and learn what it is to deny yourself for the sake of advancing the Father's glory. Listen to the language of a heart already broken with grief: "I am poured out like water, all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. This body sweats as it were great drops of blood. The hidings of my Father's face are enough to bury me in eternal darkness. The guilt of this falling world will sink my feeble frame to the grave. O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me! But now is my soul troubled. The hour is come, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour! But for this cause came I to this hour. Father, GLORIFY THY NAME !" This was carrying self-denial to its highest pitch. So pure was the disinterestedness of the Saviour, that the sweetest feelings of His heart would have remained for ever ungratified, without the privi lege of expiring on the cross.

This too is the spirit which is no less strongly enforced by precept than example. How often are believers exhorted, NOT to seek THEIR OWN; NOT to live unto THEMSELVES; and whether they live,