of God." The armour hitherto mentioned is defensive. Here is the offensive weapon, "the sword of the Spirit." God's Word is the weapon by which all victories over error and wrong, over sin and misery, may be achieved. This sword has already won wondrous victories, and its triumphs have only just begun.

HOMILETICS :-The subject of these words is Soul Militancy, and they bring under our notice the soul's foes, the soul's strength, and the soul's weapons.

I. THE SOUL'S FOES. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood," &c.

(To be continued.)

Germs of Thought.

Subject: CHRISTIAN VIEWS OF DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY.

"At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes."-Matt. xi. 25.

THIS

HIS is an ascription of praise to the Eternal by the human nature of the Son of God, and points out one of the ways by which the purified spirit of man may commune with the Infinite Spirit, namely, the public avowal of His prerogatives with regard to nature and grace. The mental act which the text expresses, and the views of God which led to it are worthy of our adoption and imitation. What are they?

I. THE ASCRIPTION OF PRAISE TO GOD. The Greek word for which "I thank Thee" stands, expresses a conception rather than a feeling, and implies admiration and approval of what is referred to, namely, the agency of God in universal being, and in the administration of the kingdom of grace. To admire and adore God for what He does is becoming in man and pleasing to God (Psa. 1. 23; xxxiii. 1). Conception is the

guide of volition, and volition is the immediate source of experience; and, when these are all in unison with the will of God, the Divine glory and human bliss are identical and real. Because of sin, to us, that unison is possible only through the mediation of the Son of God.

First: His

II. VIEWS OF GOD WHICH EXCITE ADMIRATION. sovereign rule. Jesus looked at the Divine government in two aspects (1.) In its origin: (a.) From creation. "Father"originator. (b.) From ownership. "Lord "-proprietor. (2.) In its extent. "Of heaven and earth." The rule of God embraces all things: matter, mind, and morals in all their varieties, relations, activities, and issues. How glorious, proper, and blessed is this! And how certain it makes it that good will be to all who fall in, and evil to all who fall out with God in creation, providence, and redemption! Secondly: His sovereign operations. "Because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." (1.) Correlative facts. "These things." Whatever else is here referred to, "these" includes the distribution of blessing and woe, more especially in connexion with the mediation of Christ, as is intimated in fore and aftergoing verses of the text. (2.) Affected parties. These are of two classes. (1.) "The wise and prudent." Generally applied, "the wise" are those who judge Christianity by a worldly standard—who look at it in the light of natural facts and natural truths, instead of the truths and facts pertaining to itself, intended for itself, and justifying itself, as a Divine system of cure for human ills. "The prudent" are those who treat Christianity on the principles of profit and loss, considered in relation to their immediate personal interests rather than the interests of truth and righteousness, in which the best and highest interests of all are really bound up. These are the time-servers and calculating go-betweens of all systems and of all movements, in all ages and countries-tho lukewarm confessors of Christ, whom He will at last " spue out of His mouth." (2.) "Babes." This denotes persons who know they are ignorant, and desire to be taught. Very

young children observe that they may learn, and learn that they may act so as acquire and enjoy. These are essential elements in Christian discipleship, and are always accompanied with inward satisfaction and Divine enjoyment. “I have been a seeker of truth all my life, but I never found it till I went to Christ as a little child, knowing nothing, that He might teach and bless me; then I saw the truth of Christianity, gave myself to the Lord, and was filled with joy and peace," said the late Dr. Gordon to me on his dying bed.

(3.) Realized effects. The operation is one and the same, but the results are diverse and twain, and are determined by the conduct preferred by each of two classes in reference to the Gospel of Christ. The same exercise of Divine prerogatives, the same manifestation of Divine perfections opens heaven to the teachable and obedient, and shuts it to the self-sufficient and self-confident.

Preston.

W. J. STUART.

Subject: REASONS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF THE WICKED ON

D

EARTH.

"Wherefore do the wicked live."-Job xxi. 7.

O they not live ?—

I. AS WITNESSES TO ATTEST.-The wicked, by the mere act of living, are witnesses who every hour of every day emphatically speak to us some of the most important truths concerning man and God. The fact that they are permitted to live here witnesses to

1st. The amount of freedom with which man is endowed. How free is man compared to everything about him. We look round on men and we see them trampling on every law of God, indulging in the most rebellious thoughts, and living the most rebellious life.

2nd. The wonderful forbearance of God. Here are men whom God made to bless each other, and all to glorify Him, continually cursing each other, and daily dishonouring Him. Though every day He is grieved at their guilt, He continues

their life. He is breathing into them every breath, giving power to the hand they use in the service of sin, to the tongue with which they lie and blaspheme, to the mind with which they conceive dark, treacherous thoughts. God has only to withhold some of the blessings He so freely grants, and they must wither away. But no; on and on they live, many to enjoy great earthly prosperity, many to reach old age. Here is the explanation. "The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

3rd. The existence of an extraordinary element in the Divine government of this world. We know that in heaven beings live and are happy because they are holy; we are taught that in hell there is inexpressible misery because there is such awful sin. But here are men living often to a good old age, often possessing all they can wish of earthly comfort, often filled with mirth, and yet rebels against God, without repentance, without faith, without love, and we wonder why this world is thus an exception. As far as we know in other worlds, holiness and joy are twin angels that clasp inseparable hands ; wherever the one visits the other follows. And sinfulness and misery are twin demons, bound together in chains that will not break; so that where one is the other must be. Why is it not so here? Earth is under a mediatorial government. This great mystery of Christ's suffering for man, and prolonging His probation, can alone explain the other great mystery, that men of debased spirit and godless life are permitted to live here instead of being banished to hell.

II. AS INSTRUMENTS TO DISCIPLINE.

1st. In calling out resistance. The Bible seems to teach that a man is all the better for temptation, for it says, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; when he is tried he shall receive a crown of life." The wicked are often as the chisel by which God carves out the good man's character, the fires by which it is purified.

2nd. By calling out the Christian's benevolence. Our compas

sion, our prayers, our self-sacrifice, our work, are all called forth by the existence of the wicked.

III. AS BEACONS TO WARN. By their very existence they

warn us.

1st. As to the progress of sin. Is sin a disease? We see around us those who are in every stage of the disease.

2nd. As to the effects of sin. Hell will be an eternal warning against evil. Its flames will be the perpetual beacon fires to warn the universe against sin.

IV. AS CRIMINALS TO REFORM. And this is, we believe, the grand end of their prolonged life. Through Christ's mediation death is delayed that they may be converted to God. The world is a great reformatory. Here are those who, though they deserve nothing but punishment, are, through mercy, enjoying opportunities of reformation. Every reason is here held forth for reforming. On the one hand are those who have sunk so low in vice, that they live to warn against its terrible effects; on the other hand are those who, by yielding to God's Spirit, and daily following Christ's example, are pointing and helping to better things. Here are held forth the inducements of a hell to avoid, and a heaven to gain, and all depending upon our life now. Every means, too, is here at work to reform the wicked who are thus permitted to live. All that is beautiful in nature, all that is holy in pious friendship, all the events of God's providence, all the lessons of His Bible, all the influence of Christ's life, and all the workings of the Holy Spirit.

Bristol.

URIJAH R. THOMAS.