Pride ofri?hes, pride of rank, ~ow vain, bow foolish they are! Riches may bri~g with them bodily comforts and enjoyments. But if health goes or troubles come, what comfort can they bring us? Can they give us any satisfaction or peace of min<l? Can they banish care or sickness? Can they arrest the skinny hand of Death? Yet this is a common danger to those who are prosperous in worldly things-to be puffed up with this empty and unreasonable pride. How much we all need, in any time of prosperity, to pray for humility I If our business prospers, let us ask God to keep us humble. li our Chureh prospers, let our sincere utterance ever be "Not unto us, 0 Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name be all the praise." 2. Prosperity leads to pre- sumption. It is a step further than pride. Uzziah's pride was bad enough, but when it led him to trample on the Law of God and to violate the sacredness of God's holy place, his presumption was a bad example to others. Yet how many there are whose prosperity or whose wealth leads them to violate the laws of God! '.rhey think any- thing becomes them. '.rbey have become inflated with success, and the Law of God is a very small matter indeed in their eyes. Look at Claverhouse, inflated with his triumphs over the Scottish Covenanters, as with his dragoons he surrounded the cottage of John Brown of Priesthill. Touched by the prayers of John Brown, and the sight of his wife and helpless children gathered round him, the dragoons, with moistened eyes, refused to do their deadly work, Snatching a pistol from his belt, Claverhouse himself shot the good man through the head. Turning to the wife whom he had widowed, he said," What do you think of your husband now?" "I always thought much of him, sir," replied the brave woman; "but never so much as I do this day. But how are you to answer for this morning's work 1" "To men," he replied, "I can be answerable, and as for God, I will take him in my own hands." Four years after- wards, in the Pass of Killiecrankie, Claverhouse died by an unknown hand. How many think as Claverhouse did I Because they have rank, or wealth, or power, there- fore they imagine they can trample on God's laws, or trample on morality. Napo- leon the Great thought that when he divorced his innocent and faithful wife; and he afterwards testified that that false and guilty step was the beginning of his downfall and disgrace. Because, by their wealth or their position, men think they can defy public opinion, therefore they imagine they can also disregard the commands of God. But it is a great mistake. No prosperity, no riches, no position in life, can ever lift us above the Law of God. "In the corrupted currents of this world, Offences' gilded baud mo.y shove by justice, And oft 'tis seen the wicked prize itself Buys out the law. But 'tie not so above. There is no shuffling; there the action lies In bis true nature; and we oursel vee compelled, Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults, To give in evidence." Ah I yes; that is the one message for rich and poor alike. "For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." Such, then, are the dangers which prosperity brings with it. 'l'here is a strong temptation to presumption and to pride. If we have much prosperity, then we need to be much in prayer. H riches increase, the responsibility to use them well increases also. If we look at worldly prosperity in relation to eternity, on the one hand it will seem very poor ancl insignificant. What are all the riches of this world compared with the "inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, that fadeth not away"? What are all the honours and privileges that worldly rank and prosperity bring with them, compared to the privilege of being one of God's children 1 What is all the society of earth in comparison with the fellowship of Jesus? If you are making worldly prosperity the be-al~ and end-all of your existence, sacrificing for it, as many do, health and conscience and your spiritual life, pause and think I ls it worth it 1 Put the two worlds in the balance. To an unsaved soul, with a dark and hopeless eternity, earthly prosperity is only a mockery. But, on the other hand, worldly prosperity, won by ClHistian efforts, guided by a Christian heart, and used by a Christian hand, what c, blessing it may become! Let 308 THE SECOND DOOK OF THE KINGS. [en. xv. 1-38.
Jesus be in Y?ur heart first. Let him abide there-his love your motive power his Word your guide-and then there will be no danger in prosperity.-0, H. I. '