_. A man may
possess all the resources for enjoyment which this world can afford, and
yet feel that "all is vanity and vexation of spirit," and that he is
supremely wretched. Another, may be in want of all things, and yet
possess that living spring of benevolence, faith, and hope, which will
make an Eden of the darkest prison.

In order to be perfectly happy, man must attain that character, which
Christ exhibited; and the nearer he approaches it, the more will
happiness reign in his breast.

But what was the grand peculiarity of the character of Christ? It was
_self-denying benevolence_. He came not to "seek His own;" He "went
about doing good," and this was His "meat and drink;" that is, it was
this which sustained the health and life of His mind, as food and drink
sustain the health and life of the body. Now, the mind of man is so
made, that it can gradually be transformed into the same likeness. A
selfish being, who, for a whole life, has been nourishing habits of
indolent self-indulgence, can, by taking Christ as his example, by
communion with Him, and by daily striving to imitate His character and
conduct, form such a temper of mind, that "doing good" will become the
chief and highest source of enjoyment. And this heavenly principle will
grow stronger and stronger, until self-denial loses the more painful
part of its character, and then, _living to make happiness_, will be so
delightful and absorbing a pursuit, that all exertions, regarded as the
means to this end, will be like the joyous efforts of men, when they
strive for a prize or a crown, with the full hope of success.

In this view of the subject, efforts and self-denial, for the good of
others, are to be regarded, not merely as duties enjoined for the
benefit of others, but as the moral training indispensable to the
formation of that character, on which depends our own happiness. This
view, exhibits the full meaning of the Saviour's declaration, "how
hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!" He
had before taught, that the kingdom of Heaven consisted, not in such
enjoyments as the worldly seek, but, in the temper of self-denying
benevolence, like His own; and, as the rich have far greater temptations
to indolent self-indulgence, they are far less likely to acquire this
temper, than those, who, by limited means, are inured to some degree of
self-denial.

But, on this point, one important distinction needs to be made; and that
is,