supreme sympathy with the supremely good. This is essential to quicken, harmoniously develop, and truly beautify all the powers and faculties of human nature. The loss of this was man's fall; the restoration of this is his recovery.

Secondly: From the urgent demands of Christ. It was the burden of our Saviour's ministry, "Except ye repent, ye must all perish." "Marvel not that I say unto you, you must be born again." The rich man in hell felt that this repentance was necessary. This, then, is the cardinal want of humanity the world over-the one great need of all its needs. The text leads us to consider

II. A PERVERSITY THE MOST LAMENTABLE. What is the perversity implied here? Such a craving for what we have not that leads to the neglect of what we have. Though the rich man did not crave a messenger from the dead for his own sake, but for his brethren, yet his demand expresses a sentiment that animates depraved humanity everywhere. Men are neglecting those means of improvement which they possess from a depraved craving for something they have not. The ordinary is undervalued and unemployed, because the extraordinary is desiderated. It was so with the Jews in our Saviour's time. Their constant craving for more signs and wonders led them to neglect the study of the Scriptures and

the incomparable ministry of Jesus Christ. We see this principle operating in many

ways.

First: To the neglect of natural talents. How often do we hear men say, "We would accomplish so and so, had we natural endowments of a higher order. Had we lofty genius, great force of intellect, mighty power of oratory, we would make an impression on the world for good; but as we have not these, it is no use to try;" and thus the man hides his one talent in a napkin, because he has not five or ten.

Secondly: To the neglect of existing opportunities. The leisure that is possessed to study and to pray is neglected by a craving for something more. Men say, "Could we

be more free from the din and bustle of business, and settle ourselves down in the quiet of nature, we would be religious," &c. The leisure they have is neglected because they crave for more. The ministry that is possessed is neglected on the same principle: "Had we a more talented, enlightened, and inspiring minister, we would grow better;" and thus they lose the efficacy of the discourses they listen to. The

books that are possessed are neglected on the same principle: "Had we a larger and a better-selected library, we would improve;" and the books they have lie undusted on shelves. Thus "Moses and the

the prophets' are neglected from the perverse craving for some extraordinary revelation. The text leads us to consider

III. A CERTAINTY THE MOST SOLEMN. The certainty is this, -that a man who neglects what he has would not improve by what he craves for if he possessed it. "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead." Observe two things

First: The sufficiency of Moses and the prophets to bring men to repentance. In "Moses and the prophets," we have motives the most mighty to

persuade" men to repent of their ways, and to return unto the Lord: motives gathered from the incalculable value of the soul; from the joys of heaven and the miseries of hell; from the beauties of holiness and the hideousness of vice; from the Infinite perfection of God and the depth, tenderness, and boundlessness of His love to man. The writings of Moses and the prophets did as a fact effect the conversion of millions before Christ came into the world.

Secondly: The ineficiency of other means, where Moses and the Prophets have been neglected. "If they hear not Moses," &c. We offer here two remarks. (1.) It is highly improbable that were Christ to send messengers from the dead to those who had rejected

VOL. XXVII.

Moses and the prophets that they would repent. Suppose a messenger from the dead were sent to those possessing Moses and the prophets: we ask two questions. (a.) Could he give stronger credentials as to the divinity of his mission than were furnished by Moses and the prophets? How could he prove that he came from God? Graveyards and cemeteries con tain the dust of the bad as well as of the good. Hades is crowded with the souls of those who were deceivers while on earth, and who are still unreformed. By what test then could we determine that the messenger was divine? By his words? Words are deceptive. By his works? If he performed wonders how could you ascertain the extent of power that departed spirits, though wicked, have over the laws of nature? (b.) Could he give more vital truths than those furnished by Moses and the prophets? Supposing you are satisfied that he came from God, he must either say in substance what Moses and the prophets said, or something different. If he only say the same in substance, what gain have you? If he said different, how could you believe him? If he said there was no immortal spirit in man, no heaven, no hell, no future state, could you believe him? If he said these things, Moses and the prophets said the same. What advantage then would his mission be?

I

(c.) Could he come to you in a more faith-inspiring way ? Any form that is supernatural has ever been terrible to man. Would not the appearance of a dead man strike the inner heart with such panic as would drive the soul into utter confusion rather than draw it into faith? It has ever done so. (2.) It is morally certain that were Christ to send messengers from the dead to those who had rejected Moses and the prophets that they would not repent. (a.) Christendom at one time believed with a strong faith in the visits of spirits from another world. Dead men were believed to haunt not only every village and lane, but almost every house. Did men grow religious under that faith? No, but superstitious and cruel. (b.) Men have come from their graves and mingled again with the living. The widow's son of Nain and Lazarus no doubt spoke to their contemporaries, but we have no account that their communications led to

faith. (c.) The miraculous cannot convert. It has tried.

that are gone.-Moses and the prophets, &c. We have not only all that is necessary, but all we shall ever have. The great God, of course, could send from the dead a host of messengers to this generation, but inasmuch as they would be useless, such messengers will never

come.

GOD'S VOICE TO SINNERS. "Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry." - Isa. xlvi. 12, 13.

IN these words we have three things

I. A WRETCHED CONDITION. What is the condition? First: Insensibility to the the good. "Stout hearted." The word "stout hearted" does not mean courageous, intrepid, morally brave; it means hardness, obduracy, spiritual stubborness. It represents a soul dead to all that is spiritually true and good.. Secondly: Alienation from the good. "That are far from righteousness." To be 66 'far from righteousness" is to be far from all that is noble, Godlike, and happy; it is to be in the kingdom of darkness, and in regions under the ban of Heaven. We have here

II. A GLORIOUS PROMISE. "I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry.' "Righteousness and salvation" are in morals convertible terms.

The promise is, Divine deliverance to men in this wretched condition. This deliverance God brings "near to the sinner. "Near"-(1.) In the Gospel of Christ. (2.) In the ministry of the good. (3.) In the suggestions of conscience. (4.) In the spiritual influence of events. Here we have

III. AN URGENT DUTY. "Hearken unto me." First: "Hearken unto me" earnestly. Withdraw thine ear from the din of worldliness, sinful thoughts, and carnal passions, and open it to me when I speak. Adjust yourself in a listening attitude. Secondly: "Hearken unto me" constantly. I am constantly speaking in nature, in conscience, in history, as well as in the Gospel. All my voices are one in significance and aim. I am calling you to my "righteousness" and "salvation." Thirdly: "Hearken unto me" practically. What I say attend to. Don't let my voice pass away in mere impressions. Act on my counsels, obey my behests.

FAITH'S APPROACH TO CHRIST.

"For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole."-Matt. ix. 21.

LET us seek to reach this incident, and consider what it teaches.

I. Faith comes with a deep despair of all other helps but Christ. The woman had tried many means for many years.

All that she possessed she had given: all that man will do for health she had done. Hope had departed. Thus God will let the sinner wander on, and try all other ways of cures not to tantalize him with fears, but to lead him through all. Thus he let the prodigal go, &c.

II. Faith has a Divine power to discover Christ. We cannot tell what brought the woman to him. There was something in His looks, His words, His whole personality, that drew the woman to Him. She could not tell why. Faith often goes thus to Christ: straight to the mark like a driven arrow, with grounds that it cannot tell to others, or even tell well to itself. There is an intuition that has reasons in its heart, and that will be able to bring them out full and clear one day. Can you tell why the needle trembles to the pole, the birds feel their way to spring, the flowers to see light? They are made for it, and souls are made for Christ.

III. Faith comes with an implicit trust to Christ. There were many things wanting and wrong in this woman: but her faith was very full and absolute in a perfect cure, not better, but "whole," and also in His ability. "If I may but touch his garment." A touch, a word, a thought from Christ can cure all. For cures come from Him as waters from a fountain, light from the Sun, life from the Great God. They

are the natural emanations that come from Him, hindered only by the obstructions which we interpose.

IV. Faith seeks for its comfort by close contact with Christ. "If I may touch his garment." There is a trait of nature in this which gives us a sense of kinship. The heart seeks to press close to the Healer, as a sick child to its mother's breast. It is the instinct of suffering which Christ himself has sanctioned. He took by the hand her who was sick of the fever. He touched the blind man's eyes, and put his fingers in the dead man's ears. The sufferer and the Saviour must be felt to be in contact, as necessary to our power to lay hold, if not to his ability to help. It is in accordance with this that God weaves His attributes, the token of His presence, to all the works of His hands. The incorporation of God in nature is a step to His incarnation in human nature. He put on the garment of humanity, and drew near in person that we might clasp Him in our arms, and feel the Infinite One to be our

own.

V. Faith, with all its imperfections, is accepted by Christ. How imperfect this woman's faith was you can see. She thought she could be cured, and He not know. She imagined He healed by a sort of nature, not by a conscious

act of will. What an encouragement to come to Christ truly? "He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax." This gives us the hope that if a man trust in Christ for one thing, he will be led on for more from body to soul, from time to eternity. "Be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole."

VI. Faith feels a change from the touch of Christ. "And she felt in her body she was healed." (Mark v. 29.) There was an inward sense which could not be mistaken, of return to wholeness-the stanching of a wound through which life, for long years, had been slowly ebbing, and the rising of a tide of new existence which made her feel she could yet be, and do something, in God's world. It is almost worth years of weary wasting, to have an hour of the blessed consciousness when faith, under a sense of its need, touches Christ, the virtue that comes from Him gives such a refreshing feeling to the soul. There is a crisis of this kind in every spiritual history: if the new life is to begin, some turning point when it sees in to health and hope. There are men in whose presence you feel strength and comfort, whose looks and words are like a reinforcement to turn the battle from the gate.

JOHN KER, D.D.