Who maketh thee to differ from another? and what baft thou that thou didst not receive?

IT is not to be fuppofed, that any perfon en

dowed with reafon can be in fufpenfe for a moment about an answer to thefe queftions. I am confident, that there is not one in this affembly who is not ready to reply,—It is God alone who maketh me to differ from any other; and I have nothing which I did not receive from his bountiful hand. No man who believes that God is, will hefitate to confefs, with the Apoftle James, that "every good gift, and every perfect gift, is "from above, and cometh down from the Father "of lights." Yet fo little attention is paid by the bulk of mankind to the confequences of this commonly acknowledged truth, that I shall make no apology for employing the first part of my difcourfe in reminding you of the evidence by which it is fupported:-I fhall then lay before you fome of those practical leffons, equally ob

vious

• Preached before the Managers of the Orphan Hofpital of Edinburgh, August 7, 1775.

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vious and important, which with cafe and certainty may be deduced from it:-And conclude with that improvement of the subject which hath a more immediate reference to the occafion of our prefent meeting together at this time.

First, I begin with reminding you, that every bleffing we poffefs is the gift of God, and that we have nothing which we did not receive from him.

That this is the cafe with refpect to natural endowments, will readily be admitted. Men are apt enough to boast of the improvement of their faculties; but the faculties themselves are univerfally acknowledged to be the gifts of God. "There is a spirit in man, faid Elihu in the book of Job, "and the infpiration of the Almigh

ty giveth him understanding." A quick apprehenfion, a retentive memory, a lively imagination, and other mental powers, these are favours which the great Author of our being difpenfeth to whom, and in what measure, it pleaseth him; and never was any man fo arrogant as to pretend, that he bestowed these qualities upon himself.

It is no less evident, that the light of divine - revelation is an additional bleffing, which flows immediately from the fame fountain of beneficence; according to that grateful acknowledgment of the Pfalmift, "He fheweth his word "unto Jacob, his ftatutes and his judgments "unto Ifrael: he hath not dealt fo with any "nation." And we must be sensible, that it is purely owing to "the tender mercy of our God,. "that

"that the day-spring from on high hath visited us, to give light to us, whofe fathers fat in "darkness and in the fhadow of death, to guide 66 our feet into the way of peace."

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Nay, we are taught, that the virtue and efficacy of this external light muft be wholly attributed to the bleffing of God. This is plainly and ftrongly afferted at the 6th and 7th verfes of the preceding chapter: "I have planted, Apollos "watered, but God gave the increase. So then, "neither is he that planteth any thing, neither "he that watereth; but God that giveth_the "increafe."- "It pleafed God," faith our Apoftle, fpeaking of himself, Gal. i. 15." who "feparated me from my mother's womb, and "called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me." And in another part of his writings, "By the 66 grace of God I am what I am." Nor did thefe expreffions of humility take their rife from the peculiar circumftances of his own converfion; for he applies the fame principle to the Chriftians at Corinth, and urgeth it as an argument against every degree of boafting or felf-attribution, I Cor. i. 26. &c. "For ye fee your calling, brethren, "how that not many wife men after the flesh, "not many mighty, not many noble, are called. "But God hath chofen the foolish things of the "world, to confound the wife; and God hath "chofen the weak things of the world, to con"found the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are defpifed, hath God chofen, yea, and things which "are not, to bring to nought things that are: VOL. II. A a

"that

"that no flesh fhould glory in his prefence." And then adds, "But of him are ye in Christ "Jefus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and 66 righteoufnefs, and fanctification, and redemp"tion: that, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

Were it neceffary to defcend to other particulars that might be named, it would be easy to fhew, that all our advantages, of what kind foever, whether they belong to the body or outward eftate, are equally derived from God, and dependent upon him. Hear what God faid to Mofes, Exod. iv. II. "Who hath made man's "mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the feeing, or blind? have not I the Lord ?" How fublime and how juft, were the sentiments which Hannah expreffed! 1 Sam. ii. 3. &c. "Talk "no more fo exceeding proudly, and let not arrogancy proceed out of your mouth: for the "Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him ac

tions are weighed.-The Lord killeth, and "maketh alive: He bringeth down to the grave, "and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, "and maketh rich he bringeth low, and lift"eth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the duft, and lifteth up the beggar from the dung"hill, to fet them among princes, and to make

them inherit the throne of glory: for the pil"lars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath "fet the world upon them." And with what humble, but elevated devotion did David, in the height of his profperity, afcribe all that he poffeffed to the free bounty of God, when he bleffed the Lord, and faid before all the congregation

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of the children of Ifrael," Thine, O Lord, is the greatnefs, and the power, and the glory, and "the victory, and the majefty; for all that is in "the heaven, and in the earth, is thine; thine "is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted "as head above all. Both riches and honour "come of thee, and thou reigneft over all, and "in thine hand is power and might, and in "thine hand it is to make great, and to give

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ftrength unto all. Now therefore, our God,

we thank thee, and praife thy glorious name. "But who am I, and what is my people, that "we should be able to offer fo willingly after "this fort? for all things come of thee, and of "thine own have we given thee.-O Lord our "God, all this flore that we have prepared to "build thee an houfe for thy name, cometh of "thine hand, and is all thine own."

I might quote many other paffages to the fame purpofe; but you have heard enough to fatisfy you, that I am fupported by the highest authority when I fay, that all the bleffings we poffefs are the gifts of God, the effects of his free and unmerited liberality.

This doctrine, as I obferved in the entrance, hath none of the charms of novelty to recommend it. But is it on that account lefs needful to be infifted upon? Moft affuredly it is not. I believe we fhall find, upon inquiry, that the most obvious truths are univerfally the leaft regarded, and therefore have most need to be frequently brought in view, that men may be conftrained to bestow some attention upon them, and to confider the influence they ought to have upon their A a 2 temper