I. THIS IS EMPHATICALLY A CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE. Our Lord Jesus lived a life of conscious obedience, for he came to do, not his own will, but the Will of him who sent him. And he calls his disciples to a like life of subjection to the Divine will, by his precious blood redeeming them from self-will and summoning them to recognize the will of God in their salvation.

II. THIS PRINCIPLE APPLIES TO THE OCCUPATION OF EVERY CHRISTIAN. This may not be easy for the follower of Christ at once to see and believe. He looks back upon the time when he decided upon his business or profession, and he remembers that he was guided to a large extent by his own tastes and interests and by the advice of friends. Rut reflection will assure him that Providence is discernible in very familiar and ordinary means. And the appointment of God is to be observed, not only in the life of the statesman, the reformer, the missionary, but also in the life of the lowliest of Christ's disciples. It is not the scale upon which actions are performed that associates them with the Divine will, but the motive, the moral quality, the spiritual tendency. What is your calling? Are you a servant, a mechanic, a tradesman, a lawyer, a surgeon, a magistrate? In any case, if you are a Christian, and are in the path of duty, you are what you are, not simply through circumstances or through choice, but through the will of God. This principle has an obvious reference to spiritual work, for such is manifestly assigned by heavenly wisdom. The will of God calls the Christian labourer to witness, to work, and to endurance.

III. CONSIDER WHAT THIS PRINCIPLE IMPLIES ON THE PART OF GOD. It implies that the great Creator and Lord of all is conscious of all the affairs of all his people. He is not merely interested in their affairs; he exercises his will with reference to them. His will is not arbitrary or tyrannical; it does not override our liberty, for it is in harmony with justice and with kindness. Yet it has a supreme moral authority.

IV. CONSIDER WHAT THIS PRINCIPLE IMPLIES ON OUR PART.

1. The belief that we are what and where we are by the will of God gives dignity and grandeur to our life. It exalts the Divine will, yet it places us in a position of honour, as workers together with God.

2. It requires us daily to ask, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" and then to bring our actions into harmony with the Divine will.

3. It induces a habit of cheerfulness and content. If we are not just what and where our will would choose, be it remembered that our Father has appointed our lot. What joy and strength must come to him who is convinced that his daily life is assigned and regulated by the will of the Eternal and Supreme! - T.

1. Upon present Christian holiness. It is not that we are to be saints in heaven only, but saints on earth. And we can have no well-founded expectation of being holy there unless we are holy here. It is the easiest thing in the world to be holy in the future] All are saints next year. But who is a saint now? The true child of God is - must be, or he cannot be a true child of God.

2. Upon universal Christian holiness. All real believers are real saints. Not so with the Romish Church, which canonizes a certain number, some of them very strange ones. Not as in our New Testament (erroneously continued in the Revised Version), Saint Matthew, Saint Mark, etc., as though these were saints because of their eminence in the Church. All Christians are saints. The idea of a Christian as a believer and nothing more is preposterous and utterly unscriptural. If a man believes, we want to know what his belief has done for him - what effects it produces. If it does nothing, it is nothing. Belief, says one, unites me to Christ. Very good; but Christ ridiculed the idea of a branch being united to the true Vine without bringing forth fruit. Belief, says another, alters my condition; being in Christ by faith, I am a "new creature." Excellent; but if you are a "new creature," let us see that you are, else we shall be apt to think that you are the old creature with a new name. "Faith, if it hath not works, is dead" (James 2:17). A true belief is ever followed by holiness. This, however, only suggests how much false belief there must be. True belief is something like the firing of a loaded cannon. If there be true firing the shot will be propelled. So, if we truly believe, we shall be propelled along the course of holiness. It would be but a poor thing if Christianity made us something very excellent in another world, and left us just as it found us in this. Holiness is, no doubt, progressive, But love of holiness, desire of holiness, striving after holiness, and some realization of holiness, are the possession of every true child of God.

I. HOLINESS IN HEART. Not the mere approval of holiness. Many applaud holiness who do not possess it and who do not want to possess it. It must reign in the centre of our being. A child of the devil has unholiness reigning in his heart, but a child of God has holiness upon the heart-throne. "Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom .... Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:6-10). Holiness must begin in the heart; a holiness tacked on to us goes for very little. Many commence with outward reformation, when what they need is inward. The holiness of not a few is very indifferent fruit hung on to the branches of a dead tree. It is the pushing round of the hands of a clock which has no works behind the dial-plate. Mere external holiness is of nothing worth; God looks upon the heart. External saint-ship is the most miserable of shams.

II. HOLINESS IN THOUGHT. Some pass for holy livers who are very unholy thinkers. But if the heart be pure the thoughts are likely to be. Christ attached the same guilt to evil thinking as to evil doing (Matthew 5:28). It is not what we do, but what we want to do! Moreover, evil thinking is the father of evil doing. A child of God may be overtaken by a fault, sudden temptation may carry him away; but to think evil, to plan or purpose evil, is against the genius of his life. We should watch carefully our thoughts.

III. HOLINESS IN WORD. No man could tame the tongue, so God came to tame it. The true saint is pure in speech. The true saint speaks holily, not cantingly. Whenever a man speaks after a sanctimonious, shuffling, canting fashion, he is speaking under the inspiration of the devil. Some religious talking is peculiarly unholy; it sickens and disgusts; it is enough to turn the stomach of leviathan. But those who thus talk think they are infinitely pious, imagining probably that God Almighty measures his people's faces to ascertain how much grace there is in their hearts, and accounts them holy in proportion to their ability to pour forth unmeaning, impertinent or pretentious twaddle. We should speak holily, and then we shall be as far removed as we possibly can be from speaking sanctimoniously. And we should remember the power of words.

IV. HOLINESS IN DEED. Our actions will, as a general rule, show what we are, especially our unstudied actions. The true child of God is not only holy in profession, but in practice. The good tree will bring forth good fruit. Men judge us chiefly by what we do. The saint desiring the honour of God will let his light so shine that men may see his good works, and thus be led to glorify the Father in heaven. We shall not persuade either man or God that we are saints unless we act as saints. A secret holiness is no holiness. If we alone know that we are holy, we may be quite sure that we are unholy.

V. HOLINESS IS THE SPIRIT OF THE LIFE. The child of God is to have the fragrance of holiness pervading his life. The general bent of his life will be holy. To aid in the attainment of holiness we have:

1. A Pattern. Christ. He was "without fault." We are to seek to be like him. "as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy" (1 Peter 1:15).

2. A Helper. The Holy Ghost. To

(1) dwell within us;

(2) sanctify us;

(3) aid us in every emergency.

Without holiness our prospect is dark; for "without holiness no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). - H.

I. A MAN'S HUMILIATION. It makes him nothing and God all. It sets him down among the ministries that God may use as he wills. But it brings to him a holier humiliation than that. It bows him down under the greatness of the trust he bears, oppresses him with the honour that is laid upon him, makes him feel his helplessness and unworthiness, as may be illustrated in the hesitations and humble expressions of Moses and Jeremiah when they were called of God. The healthiest humility is that wrought by a great and solemn trust.

II. A MAN'S INSPIRATION. It gives him an idea and an object in his life. It moves him with the power of a great purpose. It calls him to high endeavour. It wakens into bright activity every faculty and power of his nature. It urges him with the sense of duty. It delivers him from the weakness that ever attends a conflict of motives. It holds out before him the reward of the faithful.

III. A MAN'S STRENGTH. In the power of the conviction that he is where God would have him be, and is doing what God would have him do, a man can overcome and dare all things. St. Paul's own endurances are inconceivable save as we can feel that he had this strength. Especially illustrate from his wearying controversy with the Jewish party. They said evil things of him, but this was his strength - he knew that he was an apostle by the will of God. - R.T.

I. ITS SOURCE. God. Some seek comfort in reflecting that their case is no worse than that of others, that things will improve, that "it can't be helped;" in attempted forgetfulness; in exciting and dissipating pleasures; in unmeasured complaint and repining. But the child of God goes to his Father. God is the god of comfort; he is "the God of all comfort" (ver. 3). All mercies are of him, and this great mercy of comfort amongst others. Comfort is a mercy; it is of grace, not of right. Our sin has bred our sorrow, and we might have been left to it. But through the mercy of God we have abundant solace. As our comfort, comes through mercy, we are not surprised to find that it comes "through Christ" (ver. 5), the incarnation of the mercy of the Most High. It is of the God who is "the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. 3). It is thus associated with our redemption. It is for those who can say "our Lord Jesus Christ;" his Father is then their Father. God's children shall be comforted; for they are the children of the One who is the sole Source of all true comfort.

II. ITS BESTOWAL. It comes to us when most needed.

1. In affliction, The world's consolations, such as they are, are offered to us when we least need them. Affliction finds few friends; but it finds one Friend. In the dense darkness the Christian has light in his dwelling, like Israel in Egypt. When the child of God is sick and troubled, his Father comes to him.

2. In all our affliction. (Ver. 4.) No affliction is beyond the reach of Divine comfort. God does not desert us in any trouble. Human comfort often aggravates our sorrow. When we are sore stricken we can bear no other touch but God's. We are sinking, but "underneath are the everlasting arms." Infinite in power; infinite also in consolation.

3. In proportion to our affliction. (Ver. 5.) God weighs all our troubles. He knows our sorrows. "As thy days so shall thy strength be." He is acquainted with our need, and will he not supply it? We may reckon upon sufficient Divine consolation in all our sorrows; very especially so when those sorrows have been directly brought upon us by our steadfastness in the faith, our loyalty to Christ, our faithfulness to God. Each martyr had a martyr's portion of comfort as well as of pain. And so with Paul, whom we may regard as a long-lived martyr, dying daily, yet living through the death blows and comforted under them.

III. ITS OBJECT. We are comforted for our peace and happiness, but here we learn that we are comforted for our usefulness also. Like the apostle, we are comforted of God that we may comfort others. Divine comfort enables us to do this; for:

1. We can then speak from experience of the efficacy of Divine comfort.

2. We can direct to the Source of comfort.

3. We can testify to the Divine faithfulness in bestowing comfort.

4. The salutary influence of sorrow comforted by God will make us efficient comforters. Only those who have tasted trouble are fitted to minister to the troubled. And of these only they who have been divinely comforted can truly comfort. Such will be just unlike Job's comforters. Christ was perfected as a Comforter by his sorrows, and by the Divine consolation which kept him from sinking under them. We are brought down and then lifted up again, that we may be made meet for this service. And great will be our joy if we see those comforted by us patiently enduring (ver. 6) their tribulation.

IV. ONE OF ITS EFFECTS. Gratitude, mingled with adoration. "Blessed be the God," etc. (ver. 3). We shall thank God:

1. That he has comforted us.

2. That through this we have been enabled to comfort others. No stinted praise should we offer for such mercies. We shall all regard the first as great, but gracious spirits will regard the second as greater. - H.

I. THE SUPREME AUTHOR OF SPIRITUAL COMFORT. Instead of looking merely to the earthly streams, the apostle goes straight to the living Fountain.

1. The universal sufficiency of this Divine consolation. God is the God of all comfort, and he comforts us in all our tribulation. For he is omniscient and knows all our sorrows: "He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust." He is infinitely sympathetic: "In all our afflictions he is afflicted."

2. Divine comfort abounds by Christ. Christ is all to his people. If, then, we share his sufferings and benefit by them, the ministration of his consolatory grace is enjoyed by us who recognize him as upon the mediatorial throne.

II. THE MINISTERS OF DIVINE COMPORT TO THEIR FELLOW MEN. The apostle says of himself here what in a measure may be said of all true pastors.

1. They are qualified for this office by their participation in those sorrows which are the common lot of humanity.

2. By their experimental participation in the sufferings of the Redeemer. They know something of that pain which human sin inflicted upon Christ's heart, and something of that sympathy which showed itself in Christ's tears and sighs.

3. By their interest and affection cherished towards those for whose spiritual welfare they are concerned.

III. THE RECIPIENTS OF SPIRITUAL COMFORT.

1. In order to the enjoyment of true consolation, Christians must submit themselves with humility and resignation to the will of God.

2. If they have committed sin or neglected duty, they must not expect consolation except through contrition and repentance.

3. By whatever ministrations consolation may be administered, in order that it may be received aright, it must be. sought from the God of comfort, and it must be sought in the Name and for the sake of Christ. - T.

I. OUR AFFLICTIONS AND COMFORTINGS ARE THE SOURCES WHENCE COMES OUR FITNESS FOR INFLUENCING OTHERS. It may be a question beyond present solution, what exact share have the sorrows of our past lives had in the formation and nourishment of our present abilities for Christian work and influence? And yet surely no man can reach middle life or old age, and feel the respect in which he is held, his power to comfort and help others, and the value that is set upon his judgment and counsel, without recognizing how much of that fitness for influence has come out of his experience of sorrow. Precisely what qualities are nourished by particular forms of trouble we may not be able to decide, but the whole result we can estimate, and there is not one true Christian who would hesitate to say, "Blessed be God for the afflictions of my life; yes, even for those which bruised and almost broke my heart, because, as sanctified by God, they have fitted me to sympathize with and to comfort others' Experience brings power. But the Christian's experiences are not of griefs only; they are of griefs together with Divine comfortings, and these together bring a peculiar kind of power. This may be illustrated from any of the spheres of Christian influence.

1. Take the power of a Christian's ordinary conversation. We can discover m the very tones of the voice the holy subduedness that tells of some great woe that has put into the words and the voice that humbleness and gentleness. How often this tone of the stricken ones has had its power upon us!

2. Take the special efforts which are made, by conversation, for the conversion and instruction of others.

3. Take any endeavour to express sympathy with those who may now be suffering under God's mighty hand. How different are the consolations offered by stricken and by unstricken ones! The unstricken can find beautiful words, and be truly sincere as they utter them. But the stricken ones can express unutterable things in silence and look. Send the long-widowed woman to cheer the newly widowed. Send the mother who has children in heaven to comfort the mother who sits so still, with broken heart, beading over the baby's coffin. The plant of healing sympathies grows and blossoms and fruitens out of our very wounds and tears and deaths. Then it will but be reasonable to expect that, if God has high places of work for us, and valuable influence for us to exert, he will need to bring us through great and sore troubles, St. Paul recognizes this necessity in our text. How his life was filled with anxieties and sorrows we seldom worthily estimate. Great soul! He did not care to be always talking about himself; only once or twice does he lift the veil and show his secret history; but there - in much affliction awaiting him everywhere, and the comfortings of God abounding in all - is the explanation of his mighty and gracious influence. He was "comforted of God that he might be able to comfort them which are in any trouble." The same truth shines out even more clearly from the life and cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is able to succour because in all points tempted. Lifted up, "he draws all men unto him." Gaining his influence by his own sufferings borne in patience and faith. Winning power to save and help the world by dying an agonizing death and knowing, in the uttermost needs of a dying hour, the gracious comfortings of God.

II. OUR AFFLICTIONS AND COMFORTINGS GAIN FOR US ALL THE POWER OF A NOBLE EXAMPLE. In the previous part of the subject our conscious efforts to help and bless others have been chiefly considered; but the good man's influence is by no means to be limited to them. There is an unconscious influence, less easily calculated, but more mighty, reaching more widely, blessing as does the bracing air of the hills, or the fresh blowing of sea breezes, or the face of a long-lost friend. And this kind of power to bless belongs peculiarly to those who have come out of God's tribulations and comfortings.

1. Estimate the moral influence of those in whom afflictions have been sanctified upon men who are living with no sense of spiritual and eternal things.

2. Estimate their influence on doubting and imperfect Christians.

3. Estimate the influence of such persons on children. You may have thought that your afflictions have set you aside from your work. Nay, they have just lifted you up to the trust of some of God's highest and best work. Tribulation worketh patience, experience, and hope. It matures the finer elements of character. But it does more - it fits us for work, for higher influence on others, enabling us to set before men all the power of a noble example. Our afflictions and comfortings are really our clothing with the soldier's dress, our putting on the soldier's armour, our grasping the soldier's weapons, our drilling for the soldier's service, that we may be good soldiers of the cross. Each one of us may become a Barnabas, a son of consolation. Comforted of God, let us learn to comfort others. - R.T.

1. They are for the Lord, incurred and endured for his Name. So were the afflictions of Christ for the Name and glory of the Father. The world hated both him and his Father.

2. They are for the good of the Christian sufferer - tribulations that work patience, chastisements for his profit. So were the afflictions of Christ for his own good. "Though he were a Son, he learned obedience by the things which he suffered."

3. For the sake of his brethren, or for the good of the Church, which is edified through the self-denial and godly patience of individual believers in successive generations. So were the afflictions of Christ for the Church which he redeemed, and in which he now succours them that are tempted. The present time, then, is one of communion with our Lord in suffering. Let four advices be given to those who suffer with a good conscience - for well doing and not for evil doing.

I. HAVE A CARE ONE FOR ANOTHER. Trouble may make men sullen and self engrossed. Correct this tendency by remembering that you are not isolated persons, but parts of the body of Christ, and so members of one another. If you suffer, bear yourselves so that others may be confirmed by your faith and patience. If they suffer, suffer with them, help to bear their burdens, condole in their sorrow, minister to their necessity. "Weep with them that weep."

II. LEARN PATIENCE FROM "THE MAN OF SORROWS." It ought to cure peevishness and wilfulness to read the story of our Lord's passion, and consider the meekness of him "who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself." See how St. Peter sets before suffering saints the example of their Master (1 Peter 2:20-23).

III. LOOK FOR STRENGTH TO THE SYMPATHIZING SAVIOUR. In the present connection between Christ and Christians the Scripture marks a distinction. The saints suffer with Christ; Christ sympathizes with the saints. The word for the former is συμπασχεῖν: the word for the latter is συμπαθεῖν. The Head is raised above suffering, but sympathizes with the distressed and bruised members, and loves to supply consolation and relief. "Our consolation also aboundeth by Christ." He makes us strong, even in the hour when our hearts are jaded and our spirits faint. The crook in the lot, the thorn in the flesh, the buffeting in the world, the disappointment in the Church, - he knows it all, and he can bear us through it all.

IV. REJOICE IN THE HOPE OF HIS COMING. There is a deep wisdom of God in the long drawn affliction of Christ and the Church. Glory comes out of the dark womb of trouble. How long the travail must be God only knows. Jesus Christ suffered till he was perfected, and then God exalted him. The Church must suffer and struggle till she is perfected and God exalts her too. And the glory that awaits her is that of her Beloved. As the Church enters into his sufferings, so is she to enter into his glory. This is the day for faithful service and saintly patience. The coming day is that of honour and reward, "that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." - F.

I. A TEACHING power on others. It brings its revelations of God and brotherhood. It opens mysteries. It impresses the evil of sin.

II. AN ELEVATING power on others. It lifts men up to bear their own sufferings well, when we can show them the Christ-likeness of ours.

III. A COMFORTING power, since it shows, not only how God's grace can abound, but also how God can turn even what we think evil into gracious agency for blessing. Sufferers still can strengthen, help, and save others. - R.T.

I. THE EMERGENCIES OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD. God's children are often afflicted children. Far from escaping trial, it is frequently multiplied to them. Through much tribulation they enter the kingdom; with much tribulation they often abide in it whilst on earth. For them the furnace seems not seldom to be made "seven times hotter." Children of sorrows follow the "Man of sorrows." Like the apostle, they are sometimes "pressed out of measure," "weighed down exceedingly" (ver. 8), until their own power collapses. It is uncertain to what special exigency Paul refers, but in such straits was he that even his brave heart despaired of life. Happy are we if, like him, we do not in such tribulation despair of God. When our strength fails, his is untouched. As easy is it for him to deliver us when we are in great peril as when we are in little. God knows nothing of emergency.

II. THE LESSONS OF TRIAL AND PERIL. Very numerous - to teach us our weakness, to induce the pilgrim spirit, to bend our will to God's, to rouse us from lethargy, etc. One chief lesson noted here is to lead us to trust in God (ver. 9). He "raiseth the dead," and can do all things for us. Our perfect helplessness is demonstrated, and then faith lays hold of God's perfect helpfulness. Creatures become nothing, especially that very little creature, ourself. The soul cries out for God, and can rest upon nothing but omnipotence. This is Christian life - despairing of our own power, confident in God's. God sometimes keeps us in the fiercely hot furnace until he sees us walking therein by the side of the Son of God (Daniel 3:25). Before we felt the fire we thought we could walk alone. God shakes us until he has shaken all the self-trust out of us. Self-confidence is poison; trial is intended to destroy that poison. When everything seems to fail us but God, then we lie at his feet.

III. PROVIDENCE DOES NOT EXCLUDE PRAYER. (Ver. 11.) In our extremity we can do one thing - we can cry to God. The afflicted believer should say, "This one thing I do."

1. Our own prayer. Christians should not be dumb dogs. The command to pray is bound up with the command to trust. Prayer is proof of a trustful spirit. A confidence in God which makes us too lazy to call upon him is a confidence which will get more blows than blessings. We may be kept in the fires till we find our voice.

2. The prayers of others. The apostle evidently believed in the efficacy of intercessory prayer (ver. 11). He regarded such prayer as very real "help." Confidence in God's help which excludes confidence in spiritual help from our fellows is not so pleasing or honouring to God as some imagine. He has ever honoured "united prayer. The prayers of saints are very precious and very prevailing as they ascend from the golden altar. God was very willing to deliver Peter out of prison, but he gave to the saints at Jerusalem the great honour of praying him out(Acts 12:5). The prayers of righteous men avail much. God loves not only solo praying, but choral praying.

IV. PRAYER ANSWERED IN PROVIDENCE CALLS FOR PRAISE. (Ver. 11.) Oftentimes, alas! we are so pleased with our deliverance that we forget to thank God for it. We say Thank you" to every one except God. These things ought not so to be. When God hears us once in supplication, he should hear us once again in thanksgiving. Deliverances by God call for "songs of loudest praise." When prayer has been answered, praise should be exceedingly full and hearty. We do not prevail in prayer because we did - and were unthankful When many have prayed and have been answered many should give thanks. We must have united praise meetings as well as united prayer meetings. - H.

I. A FEELING OF SELF HELPLESSNESS. Man never feels that fully until he faces death. He knows that no resolution, no energy, no sacrifice, can ensure his "discharge from that war" He can do nothing, and that most humiliating conviction may be a part of our necessary experience. Somewhere in life we need to be brought up before a great sea, with mountains around and foes before, much as Israel was when led forth from Egypt. It is good for us to feel helpless, utterly helpless, and then to hear the voice saying, "Stand still, and see the salvation of God."

II. DELIVERANCE FROM SELF TRUST. Some sort of reliance on ourselves is necessary in order to meet the claims of life aright, and do its duties faithfully. Some measures of self-reliance blend with the Christian's trust in God all through his life of activity and service. Seldom, indeed, are full surrender to God, and entire conformity to his will, and simple reliance on his care, really won; and the experience of nearness to death alone breaks away the last bonds binding us to self, and enables us to "trust wholly." Life, after visiting the "borderland," may be wholly the "life of faith upon the Son of God."

III. FULL CONFIDENCE IN THE CONTINUING AND ABOUNDING OF DIVINE GRACE. This follows from so extreme an experience of what "almighty grace can do." Short of the experience of death, we may doubt whether "grace" can meet us at every point of our need; whether there really are no complications of circumstances which may overmaster grace. A man may say - Grace can meet many needs, but not just this condition or this particular frailty. A man brought back from the "borderland" has won an impression of God's power and mercy that enables him to look forward to life and feel that God's efficient grime can be with him everywhere and in everything. It is St. Paul, who "had the sentence of death in himself," who was a personally delivered man, and who spoke of God as being able to make all grace abound towards us, so that we, having all sufficiency in all things, might abound unto every good word and work (2 Corinthians 9:8). Death is the climax of all human woes, and he who can deliver from death can master all our troubles and "make all things work together for good." In concluding, show that the sanctified influence of his extreme experience may be seen in the tone and spirit and manner of the Christian thus brought back from the "borderland;" but that there is great danger of misusing even such Divine dealings with us, as Hezekiah seems to have done. A man restored from imperilling sickness may presume on the very mercy which has been so gloriously manifested in his case. We should take as our model such an experience as that of the Apostle Paul. - R.T.

I. FOR WHOM SHOULD INTERCESSORY PRAYER BE OFFERED? For all men doubtless, yet especially for certain classes.

1. For those who represent their brethren in devoted labour in Christ's cause.

2. Especially for all the public officers of the Church, for bishops and pastors, evangelists and teachers. They need it; for their responsibility is great and their difficulties are many, whilst their discouragements and disappointments are often sore.

II. WHO SHOULD OFFER INTERCESSORY PRAYER? The answer is emphatic and instructive: "the many," i.e. the whole Church in the person of all its members - privately, in the family, and in an especial manner in the great public and solemn assemblies upon the Lord's day and other appointed seasons. The gatherings of worshippers should be composed of "the many," and everything should be done to secure the attendance of large numbers at the services of the Church.

III. WHAT BLESSINGS SHOULD BE SOUGHT IN INTERCESSORY PRAYER? Surely that the Christian labourers, whose case is remembered, may be made devoted, efficient, and successful. That they may be diligent in toil, faithful to their trust; that they may be cheered and comforted amidst their difficulties; and that their labour may not be in vain in the Lord.

IV. WHAT ADVANTAGES MAY BE EXPECTED FROM INTERCESSORY PRAYER? The expression, "helping together," seems to point to good results widely diffused.

1. To him who labours, the strength which comes from sympathy and the strength that comes from the abundant bestowal and outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

2. To him who prays, reflected blessings, such as ever abound to those who live, not for themselves, but for others. There is a reaction, a rebound of spiritual blessing, and they who water others themselves are watered.

3. To the world, a hallowed impression, as it sees how its salvation is near to the hearts both of those who labour and of those who pray for its enlightenment.

V. WHAT ULTIMATE RESULT MAY BE ANTICIPATED AS CERTAIN TO FOLLOW INTERCESSORY PRAYER? Thanksgiving on the part of many; thanksgiving to God, who alike prompts the petition, qualifies the labourer, and gives his benediction to make all effort successful. Thanksgiving, here sincerely though imperfectly on earth, and hereafter perfectly, eternally in heaven. - T.

I. THEIR SYMPATHY IN THE TROUBLES. Very tenderly beautiful is the way in which St. Paul, while turning to God for his great consolations, yet yearns for the sympathy of those among whom he laboured. He liked to have some of them with him. He was a most brotherly and sympathetic man, and could neither suffer nor rejoice alone. In this he illustrates what is the great want of all warm natures; they yearn for sympathy, and we may render noble service who can give such sympathy in response to them. It is help and healing for stricken ones that we can "weep with those who weep."

II. THEIR PRAYERS FOR HIS PRESERVATION. A man in trouble longs for the feeling - at which men may easily scoff, but which is nevertheless a most real and helpful feeling - that he is upheld by the prayers of those that love him. None of the difficulties about prayer in relation to material changes need meet us when we speak of prayer in relation to spiritual influences. We ought to pray for the preservation of our friend's life when he is in peril from disease, but we do this with uncertainty as to what the will of God is, and so with full submission to whatever the decisions of that will may be. We pray that our suffering friends may be inwardly upheld, comforted, and strengthened, and in such prayers we know what the will of God must be. Sympathizing prayers have a really gracious influence on suffering souls, and surely bring down Divine blessings on them.

III. THEIR THANKSGIVINGS WHEN HE WAS RESTORED. The apostle could not rejoice alone. He wanted others to help him sing both of "mercy and judgment." From this subject arises, as the point of practical impression, the question - How can we help our suffering brothers and sisters? Even the Lord Jesus wanted sympathy, and the uplifting of others' prayers for him, when he was in the agony of Gethsemane; and so do his brethren. In what ways can such sympathy and help find expression? Neither utterances of sympathy nor earnest prayers can suffice instead of, and as an excuse for, not rendering practical helpings, but they will be found to inspire such practical efforts; for those whom we take on our hearts to pray for we are most likely to take into our hands to help. - R.T.

I. THE FAVOURABLE TESTIMONY OF CONSCIENCE IS A GREAT SUPPORT IN THE HOUR OF TRIAL AND SUFFERING. Affliction brought upon us directly by our own folly or sin is as wormwood for bitterness. Suffering is then greatly intensified by the reproaches of conscience. We feel that we are reaping only as we have sown. But when conscience acquits us we gain great moral support. The pressure of the heaviest burden is relieved; in the darkest day there is then some light. We may be "cast down," but we are "not destroyed" (2 Corinthians 4:9). Sometimes the approval of conscience is enough to turn our sorrow into gladness, and to lead us to rejoice when otherwise we should have greatly lamented. We may glory in this without vain glory. Paul was greatly comforted in his tribulations by a conscience which witnessed to the integrity of his conduct.

II. THE FAVOURABLE TESTIMONY OF CONSCIENCE CAN BE SECURED ONLY BY HOLY LIVING.

1. Like the apostle, we must live in:

(1) Simplicity. Singleness of purpose. Holiness: refraining from evil; walking ever before God. Though we shall not, it may be, be absolutely pure, we may abstain from all wilful transgression.

(2) Sincerity. We must be true, honest, guileless, straightforward. Godly sincerity - God-like sincerity - thorough; a sincerity which comes from God.

(3) Not in fleshly wisdom. A wisdom which has selfish aims, which is not particular about the means employed, a wisdom which ignores God.

2. This must apply to all our life. Our conversation in the world must be the same as in the Church. Some live double lives. It is no wonder that they have little peace of mind. Their conduct is ruled by place rather principle. We must be the same amongst the enemies of God as amongst his friends.

III. WE CAN LIVE SO AS TO SECURE THE FAVOURABLE TESTIMONY OF CONSCIENCE ONLY BY THE GRACE OF GOD. We may "sear" conscience, dull it, so that its voice may he scarcely heard; but if free, unfettered, it will assuredly condemn unless we are in alliance with the Eternal. We cannot live a life of which the healthy conscience will approve apart from him. We may lay down excellent plans for life, but we shall have to lay them down unless we get strength from the Strong One. The apostle had to say, "By the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10). Of ourselves we can do nothing - except sin. Our sufficiency is of him. He causes us to triumph. We cause ourselves to fail. We can walk "in the grace of God" only "by the grace of God." - H.

I. SELF APPROVAL BEFORE SELF. Treat conscience as the exercise of a man's judgment concerning the right and wrong of his own conduct - a man's self appraisement. A man may be calm amid all storms of slander or persecution who can feel that he is consciously sincere, and that he has been true to himself. Carefully distinguish this from mere self satisfaction, and from the pride that leads a man to "think of himself more highly than he ought to think." A man's moral strength depends upon his self approval when conscience makes its searching estimate of conduct and of motives. A man is only weak when his conscience upholds his accuser.

II. SELF APPROVAL BEFORE MAN.

1. A man is often compelled to take action which he knows men are likely to misconceive and misrepresent. He can only do so with the assurance that he is right.

2. Men are corruptly disposed to put a wrong construction on the actions of their fellows, and every man must take this into account who occupies prominent or public positions. He dares not waver or change to try and meet everybody's wishes. He can but fall back upon the testimony of his own conscience.

III. SELF APPROVAL BEFORE GOD. He, being the Searcher of the heart, knows the very secrets of motive and feeling, and it may seem as if there could not be any "self approval" in his presence. And yet God's Word teaches us that God looks for sincerity, expects it, and knows that we can reach it. Perfect we cannot be; sincere we can be. "It we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged." David may even speak of his integrity before God. And the height of a man's moral strength is only gained when he feels consciously sincere in the Divine presence, but is truly humble even in the consciousness and says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my ways." - R.T.

I. THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF CHRIST. He is "the same yesterday, and today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). Paul, compelled by circumstances to alter his plans, and charged with fickleness, dreaded lest inconstancy should be associated with his Master or with the doctrines of the gospel. He passes rapidly from a defence of himself to defend that which is of so much more importance. Well would it be if we were equally jealous of the honour of Christ, equally anxious that through us no shadow should fall upon his glory. Christ is unchangeable as

(1) a Saviour,

(2) a Teacher,

(3) an Example,

(4) an Advocate,

(5) a Master,

(6) a Friend.

II. THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD. Illustrated by the fulfilment of Divine promises in Christ (ver. 20). Not one jot or tittle has fallen to the ground. In Christ is the "yea" - the affirmation, the accomplishment of Divine promise. True believers acknowledge this; "through him is the Amen" (ver. 20, new version); they say "Amen" to the Divine faithfulness which they see so strikingly illustrated in Christ. This is "to the glory of God." The glory of his character is proclaimed. God is not inconstant. A promise made by him is, to all intents and purposes, a promise fulfilled. This unchangeableness applies to all Divine dealing. Threat will as certainly be fulfilled as promise. Many believe in the semi-unchangeableness of God. They think he will fulfil all that they wish to be fulfilled, and kindly dispense with the remainder. They make their own god, as the heathen do.

III. THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. Christian doctrine is certain, definite, abiding. It is not "yea" today and "nay" tomorrow (ver. 18). As there is no change in Christ, there is no room for change in statements respecting him. The apostle was assured that what he promulgated was the truth about the Truth. To change from that would have been to embrace error. If we change our utterances concerning the Saviour, we are justified only in so far as our prior statement was erroneous. The "old gospel" is the gospel for all new times. In Christianity the truest progress is to go back - to go back to what God himself revealed. As we do that, "more light will break from God's Word." But note, it will break from God's Word, not from the poor constellations of human wisdom. There, in the Word, we have the doctrine, which, like him in whom it centres, is" the same yesterday, and today, and forever." There is no development in Christian doctrine as the ages roll on. There may be much development in our knowledge of it. The same doctrine is to come from the lips of all preachers at all times. The doctrine preached by Paul was preached also by Silvanus and Timothy (ver. 19).

IV. THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF THE TRUE BELIEVER. This is relative, not absolute. But in proportion as we resemble Christ we shall become unchangeable - unchangeable in principle, in bent of mind, in love of holiness, in life purpose, etc. We are not to be fickle, but steadfast. Men are to find us ever the same in loyalty to Christ, in devotion to his service. Paul was charged with lightness, instability of purpose (ver. 17); but it was a false charge. He altered his movements that he might not be altered himself. The same principles which led him to form his plans led him to change them. Change in them was evidence of unchangeableness in him. Inconstancy and inconsistency were grievous charges in apostolic eyes. - H.

I. GOD IS GRACIOUS AND GIVES PROMISES.

1. Revelation is one long promise; it consists, not merely of commands and admonitions, but of assurances of favour and of help. Herein it proves its adaptation to the nature and to the needs of men. There were promises addressed to our first parents, to Abraham, to Moses.

2. The one promise distinctive of the old covenant was the promise of the Saviour, the Servant of the Lord, the Desire of all nations. In promising the Christ, Jehovah did indeed virtually promise all spiritual blessings to mankind.

3. The one promise of the new covenant is the promise of the Holy Spirit, in whom is grace and help for all human want and need.

4. The promises of God extend beyond this life into eternity, and include the vision of our Saviour and the possession of an immortal inheritance and home.

II. GOD IS FAITHFUL AND FULFILS HIS PROMISES.

1. Of this his unchangeableness and omnipotence are the certain pledge. What his fatherly goodness assures, his inexhaustible resources will realize.

2. The gifts of his Son and of his Spirit are the proof of his faithfulness. All his promises relating to these gifts have been already made good, and none who receives them can doubt his power and willingness to fulfil what yet remains.

3. The promises of individual guidance, protection, and aid cannot be falsified. "Ye know in all your hearts, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you."

4. Our confidence in Divine faithfulness may be tried, but cannot be disappointed. The stream sometimes disappears and flows for a space underground and unseen; but it is there, and soon emerges in beauty and power. So with the purposes of God; they may be hidden and delayed, but they shall all be accomplished. - T.

I. ALL THE PROMISES OF GOD. From the first (Genesis 3:15) which points to the Saviour's first coming, to the last (Revelation 22:20) which assures us of his second coming, these are all very good. Their range is vast, their bounty large, their comfort sweet and strong. They bring balm to our wounds, help to our infirmities, rest to our weariness, encouragement to our prayers. They are "exceeding great and precious." Scattered as the promises are over the Bible, they should be searched out and read with an intelligent regard to the time when they were given, the persons to whom they were addressed, and the nature of the dispensation under which they were issued. They are profitable in a general sense as exhibiting the Divine character and mind, and they convey individual comfort to those who, in express terms or by fair inference from the express terms, are indicated in particular promises. These comprehend assurances of

(1) temporal welfare;

(2) Free pardon;

(3) a renewed and obedient heart;

(4) the indwelling of the Holy Spirit;

(5) the return of the Lord and our gathering to him in his glory.

These are the keys to open all doors in the dungeons of Doubting Castle and set captives free. These are the strong withes that bind the holiest affections of men, or the cords and bands let down from above, which they hold as they skirt the precipices of moral danger and climb the steep places of duty. These are the stepping stones across waters of despondency, on which pilgrims may pass dry shod to the happy shore.

II. THE SECURITY OF ALL THOSE PROMISES IS IN JESUS CHRIST. No Divine promises are made to us out of Christ, and no promise in him can fail. This arises from:

1. The constitution of his mediatorial Person. He is very God and very man: God who is true and cannot lie, in union with a guileless Man who had no deceit in his mouth.

2. The nature of his mediatorial offices. As he is the Prophet, all the promises of Divine teaching and enlightenment are secure in him. As he is the Priest, all the promises of pardon, of acceptance in worship, and of salvation to the uttermost are secure in him. As he is the King, all the promises of the subdual of sin and of deliverance from spiritual adversaries are secure in him.

3. The covenant relations of Christ to his people. They are so comprehended in him or represented by him that all the promises made to him are for their help and consolation, and all the promises made to them are for his glory. So are they assured of pardon through him, eternal life in him, the Holy Spirit of him and by him, and the new heavens and new earth with him who is the Amen, faithful and true.

III. THE END IN VIEW IN THE SURENESS or THE PROMISES. "For glory to God through us." It is glorifying to him that we go to the promises for solace and live on the promises by faith. It was when Abraham believed a promise, and was strengthened in faith, that he gave glory to God. And this way of glorifying our God is open to all of us. Let us not stagger at his promises, but believe his love and rely on his faithfulness, He cannot deny himself. Glory be to the Father, who promises to be a Father to us, and to take us for his sons and daughters! Glory be to the Son, in whom all things are ours by free grace, and God himself is not ashamed to be called our God! Glory be to the Holy Ghost, for the anointing, the sealing, and the earnest in our hearts (vers. 21, 22)! The promises of God being established in Christ, we too who believe are established in Christ by the Holy Spirit, and so the promises are ours. What will you do who have no hold of the promises, no hearty faith in the Divine Promiser? For you there is no bright future; for the inheritance is by promise of free grace in Christ Jesus. Yet we do not ask you to believe a promise. Strictly speaking, there is no promise to men who are not in Christ. But Christ himself is set before you and offered to you. Believe on the Name of the only begotten Son of God, according to the tenor of the gospel. Then all things will be yours. The promises of grace and glory are for you; for they are all yea and amen in Jesus Christ our Lord. - F.

I. THE ANOINTING OF THE SPIRIT.

1. This rite received a significance from its employment under the old covenant in the designation of the prophet, the priest, and the king.

2. This significance is enhanced by the application to the Son of God of the official appellation, the Christ, i.e. the anointed One, the Being consecrated and commissioned by the Eternal.

3. The anointing claimed by the apostle is the qualification, by a supernatural and spiritual power, for holy and responsible office.

II. THE SEALING OF THE SPIRIT.

1. By this sealing the apostle was stamped with the mark which was the sign of Divine property in him.

2. And he was thus inwardly and graciously authenticated as the Lord's messenger to men. By the seal we understand the mark set upon the moral nature, the character, indicating Divine possession and Divine authority.

III. THE EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT. The other operations of the Holy Ghost relate to this present state; this refers to the future.

1. The Spirit within the heart is the earnest of a fuller indwelling; they who receive the Spirit are assured that they shall he "filled with the Spirit."

2. The earnest of a clearer revelation. The light shall brighten until the dawn shall be succeeded by the splendour of noonday.

3. The earnest of a richer, purer joy. The measure in which gladness is experienced in the present is a foretaste of the joy which is unspeakable and full of glory.

4. The earnest of an eternal inheritance. They who are possessed by the Spirit and pervaded by his gracious influences have within them both an anticipation of heaven and a preparation for heaven. To whom the Lord gives the pledge, he will give the redemption; to whom he gives the promise, he will give the glorious fulfilment and the eternal possession. - T.

I. TO BE ESTABLISHED IN CHRIST. Brought into ever closer union with him. More and more firmly settled in faith. Increased in knowledge of him and of his doctrine. Made constant to Christ. Developed in likeness to him. Perfected increasingly along all the lines of Christian character. A work continuous; so Paul uses the present tense. The Christian's course is like that of the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Not all at once is he at his best. The seed of the kingdom takes time to develop. The points of contact at first may be few; but we are to be established "into" Christ. Believers should seek closest association with their Lord. True self-interest does not prompt the question - How far may we safely keep from Christ? but - How near to him may we draw? "Abide in me... if a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered" (John 15:4-6).

II. TO BE ANOINTED. The believer is made like his Lord. Christ was the Anointed; so therefore is the believer anointed. Christ was the Anointed of God; so by God is the believer also anointed. Christ was anointed as King and great High Priest; so as king and priest is the believer anointed - "a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9). Christ was anointed for a special life and a special work; so is the believer. It is not for nought that we receive our anointing from the Holy One (1 John 2:20). We are consecrated, set apart, to carry out the Divine purposes. Christ was anointed with the Holy Ghost (Acts 10:38); so is the believer. With the anointing comes the power to realize the purpose of the anointing (1 John 2:27). Here is great privilege, but at the same time great responsibility. Are we fulfilling the design of our anointing?

III. TO BE SEALED. Believers are sealed by the reception of the Holy Ghost (Ephesians 1:13 and Ephesians 4:30). This is the Divine mark or seal put upon them. This sealing:

1. Indicates protorietorship. Believers have God's seal upon them because they are God's. He lays claim to them. They are in a most special sense for God. "Ye are not your own."

2. Authenticates. The genuineness of a believer is guaranteed by this marl If he is sealed, then he is of God, though in some things he may seem eccentric. No spurious goods pass under this brand. Yet imitations of the Divine seal are many, so that we have need to "try the spirits," to ascertain whether they are truly of the Holy Spirit. The true seal authenticates us to ourselves. "The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:16). Our assurance springs from the Divine sealing. Dreamings, frames and feelings, and fancies, even opinions of others, are as nought compared with the witness of the Spirit.

3. Invests with authority. That which bears the royal seal has weight and authority among men; and those who bear the Divine seal are intended by God to exercise large influence over their fellows. They have the weight and authority of accredited servants of God. Not lightly are they to be esteemed; not contemptuously are their words to be received. So far as they are true to their sealing, they are of God, and are to be regarded as his messengers.

4. Preserves. Safety is often ensured by the human seal, always by the Divine. If God has marked us for his own, none shall pluck us out of his hand. Though the universe should rise up against a sealed saint, it should ingloriously fail; for the Divine seal is the pledge that Omnipotence will defend the sealed. God is not mocked. What he has set apart for himself he will have, and who shall say him nay? The saints are safe, for they are sealed of God.

5. Testifies to value. We seal only that which we value. And yet there may be no intrinsic value in that which is sealed. In itself it may be of no account; but we seal it because we can use it for some important purpose. So with the believer. Of himself he is nothing and less than nothing, and vanity. The sealing is no teacher of pride. He is sealed of God, not because he is excellent or of himself of any service, but because God in his infinite grace designs to make him so. The seal praises, not us, but God, who of us can make that which will redound to his glory and accomplish his purposes.

IV. TO BE ENDOWED WITH THE EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT. The Divine Spirit with which believers are sealed is the "earnest money," the pledge of that which has yet to come. The expression refers to that part of the purchase money which was paid in advance as a security for the remainder. Of what, then, is the possession of the Divine Spirit a guarantee?

1. Of yet fuller possession of the Spirit.

2. Of complete salvation. The "firstfruits" of the Spirit a pledge of the great harvest (Romans 8:23; Ephesians 1:13, 14).

3. Of fulfilment of all Divine promises.

4. Of our enjoyment of the eternal inheritance. The heaven is begun. No great heaven above for those who have no lesser heaven below. This pledge of the future does not conflict with diligence and faithfulness in Christian walk. These are the signs of the possession of the Divine Spirit - a mirror in which alone we may see the reflection of the great privilege we claim. The holier we are in inner and outer life the more clearly shall we see what we possess. If we walk unholily the mirror will reflect only sin and condemnation. The perseverance of saints is saints persevering.

V. THE SOURCE OF THESE PRIVILEGES. God. We are debtors for these vast mercies. In them we are "enriched by him." Knowing the Source, we shall know where to seek for those things which are "more precious than rubies." - H.

I. THE CAUSES OF CHRISTIAN JOY. It is well known what the world calls joy - pleasure, mirth, exhilaration of spirits, occasioned by festivity and by prosperity. But the Scriptures represent, what Christian experience supports, that there are purer sources of nobler joy.

1. The joy of spiritual deliverance, known by those who are emancipated from the bondage of sin, ignorance, and error.

2. The joy occasioned by Divine favour. The psalmist appreciated this when he exclaimed, "Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us; thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased."

3. The joy of anticipating the gracious and final approval of God.

II. THE MANIFESTATIONS OF CHRISTIAN JOY.

1. The most natural sign of spiritual gladness consists in the abundant utterance of thanksgiving and praise. "Is any merry? Let him sing psalms."

2. Where there is inward joy there is happy and energetic labour for Christ. "The joy of the Lord is your strength." Whilst a gloomy disposition cripples the energies of the worker, gladness within expresses itself in cheerful toil. He works well who "sings at his work."

III. THE WAYS IN WHICH THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER MAY HELP HIS PEOPLE'S JOY.

1. By presenting those Divine truths which are the spring and source of joy.

2. By fortifying their minds against all that would disturb and spoil their joy.

3. By providing for them outlets, in worship and in work, for the expression of the joy that is in them.

4. By encouraging all those special exercises which will promote joy.

5. By exhibiting to them the privilege of rejoicing, as a Christian virtue, and admonishing them to spiritual gladness as a happy duty: "Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, Rejoice," - T.

I. APOSTOLIC TESTIMONY. Our religion is based on facts seen and known, abundantly verified and honestly related. Of these facts apostles were the chosen witnesses. When they spoke to their countrymen, the Jews, they showed how those facts concerning Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled Old Testament types and prophecies of the Christ. But the real foundation which they laid everywhere was one of fact. Jesus had died and God had raised him from the dead. Of these things they were absolutely sure, and on their testimony the Church was built. On this it is well to lay emphasis. From one side there comes an insidious suggestion to cease from asserting the miraculous nativity and the actual bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ as historical facts, and to content ourselves with the elevation of ideas and sweetness of culture which are associated with his Name. To this we cannot listen, because we cannot live in a house without foundations, and we do not believe that the ideas and influences of Christianity can long remain with us if we part with the historical Christ to whom the apostles bore witness. From the opposite side we encounter another danger. The facts which were testified by apostles and prophets ere overlaid with masses of theological statement and niceties of controversial distinction. Not the Redeemer is preached, but the scheme of redemption; not the death of Christ, but the doctrine of atonement; not his resurrection, but the tenets of the schools regarding the results secured by his "finished work." Now, we do not for a moment disparage theology, systematic or polemical, or forget that St. Paul put much theology into his letters to the Churches; but it is a thing taught and argued, not witnessed. We must adhere to our point, that the gospel is a proclamation of facts, and the Church rests on a foundation of facts, certified by the apostles as competent and chosen witnesses - facts, however, not dry and barren, but significant, suggestive, full of profound meaning and intense spiritual power. St. Paul was careful to assume no higher place in regard to the gospel than that of a faithful witness. He delivered it just as he had received it, "by the revelation of Jesus Christ." He told the Galatians that, if he himself should be found at any future time proclaiming any other gospel, or if an angel from heaven should do so, he was not to be listened to - he was to be accursed. Any perversion of that gospel which had been delivered from the beginning would be sufficient to discredit an apostle as a false apostle, an angel as a fallen angel.

II. APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY. The apostles had authority to "bind and loose," to direct and administer in the early Church. On fit occasions they exerted such authority, and none of them more firmly or wisely than Paul. But they forbore as much as possible to press mere authority even in matters of order and discipline, and they disclaimed any right of dominion over the faith of their fellow-Christians, The Apostle Paul in par ticular is never found demanding attention or obedience to his teaching on the ground of his official dignity. Many signs and special miracles attended his ministry and confirmed his word; but he never posed as a worker of wonders in order to awe the minds and compel the submission of his hearers. His aim was to manifest the truth to the consciences of men. In founding the Corinthian Church he had "reasoned," "persuaded," "testified," and "taught the Word of God" (see Acts 18.). His own statement is, "I declared unto you the testimony of God" (see 1 Corinthians 2:1-5). The object of St. Paul in thus refraining from any assertion of a right to dictate was to build the faith of the Church, not on apostles, but on God. He would not say, "Believe because we bid you, and whatever we tell you." He was one of a hand of witnesses to Jesus Christ the Lord; but, once those facts were believed with the heart, the disciples in every Church stood for salvation on the same ground with the apostles themselves, and had the same confirmation of the truth by the Holy Spirit.

III. LESSONS FOR THE MODERN MINISTRY OF THE WORD. For the propagation of the gospel there must still be witnesses; for the edification and peace of the Church there must be teachers, helps, governments, overseers. But none of these have a right to "lord it over God's heritage;" least of all may they lord it over the faith of their brethren. If the apostles of the Lamb disclaimed such dominion, how much more should they who have ministries to fulfil in the modern Churches of God! It is preposterous to connect apostolic dignity or the glory of apostolic succession with pomp and lordliness and the assertion of official superiority. It is apostolic to serve diligently and suffer patiently, to preach the truth in love, and to teach the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, but seeking no honour or glory from men. The object of the ministry in regard to those who are without is to bring them to repent and believe the gospel The object in regard to those who are within the household of faith is to promote their joy and health.

1. "In faith ye stand." This is not submission to a human authority, but allegiance of heart to God in Christ Jesus. In emotions, opinions, anxieties, conjectures, there is no standing. Only by faith is the heart fixed, the mind established, in this world of change and disappointment, solidity imparted to the character, and calm courage breathed into the soul. Want of faith or decay of faith accounts for restlessness, weakness, rashness and inconstancy. The heart is "tossed and not comforted." The will is yielded to selfish desires and uneasy impulses. But "we have access by faith into the grace wherein we stand."

2. Those who minister to the faith of Christians increase their joy. The apostles were intent on this (see Romans 15:13; Philippians 1:25, 26; 1 Peter 1:8; 1 John 1:4). And every true minister of Christ will find, with St. Paul, that his own spiritual life is bound up with the steadfastness and liveliness of those whom he instructs in the truth. - F.