not only came out to us in the cross, and met us in our sins, but Divine goodness has also "made" that exalted Man in the glory "unto us righteousness.' So that He who knew no sin, was not only made sin for us, and was the sin-bearer for us, but we have become the righteousness of God in Him. Thus Christ in the glory is our unchanging righteousness; yes, blessed be God, He has made Him to be unto us righteousness,-even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and UPON ALL THEM THAT BELIEVE. Oh the unutterable goodness and mercy of God! The infinite efficacy of His work on the cross can never change; the eternal value of it is always before God, and the believer is always in the perfect acceptance of Christ, and an object of divine favour.

This peace becomes deepened in the soul, as the new relationships into which we are brought, and the new standing given us in Christ Jesus, are apprehended. The fact of being a child of God now, through faith in Christ Jesus,-an object of the Father's constant care and love as such,-is a relationship which is unchanging in its character, and going on to our perfect conformity to the image of the Son. When we know that we are loved by the Father as He loved Jesus, and have received the Spirit of adoption to make it known to us, it causes settled peace to occupy our hearts. We enjoy the goodness and love of God; and, it may be, are lost in wonder, love, and praise :

"Hence through all the changing seasons,-
Trouble, sorrow, sickness, woe,—
Nothing changeth God's affection,

Abba's love shall bring us through."

But if we become worldly, careless in our walk, and neglect prayer and reading of the Word of God, the Spirit dwelling in us will be grieved, and our spiritual senses will be blunted; so that our hearts, before we are aware of it, glide into that which the Lord has forbidden, and we shall not enjoy the presence of God, but become unhappy. This neglect may call too for the Father's discipline, and though the work in which our peace is founded never changes, such will not be abiding in the Saviour's love. Nothing changes His love to us, but our enjoyment of it is another thing. How can we be happy, if we are walking in a path of disobedience? Did He not say, "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you?" but did He not add to this, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love" (John xv. 9, 10).

Happy are those whose daily heartfelt utterance

is

"I hear the words of love;

I gaze upon the blood;

I see the mighty Sacrifice,

And ‘I have peace with God.””

H. H. S.

THE SOWER, THE SEED, AND
THE SOIL.

"A SOWER went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell by the way-side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundred-fold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this; The seed is the word of God. Those by the way-side are they that hear: then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

"No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed, but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have. Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the

B

press. And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it."-Luke viii. 5-18.

HERE are two things which strike one at first, in looking at this scripture, viz., that the reception in the soul of the word of God is the communicating to it something which it had not before, and which is the cause of its bearing fruit,bearing fruit is a sign of a tree having life;-and, secondly, the reception of the word of God puts the receiver into relationship with Christ.

Do you suppose that the Lord Jesus had, in any sense, a life of ease and comfort? No! there was not a city, or village, or hamlet in all that broad country in which His lot was cast, that has not had to own that it heard the Saviour's voice. And what did He carry to them? Glad tidings. And what, my reader, does the evangelist bring to you now? Glad tidings; fuller, and richer now, than when the Saviour preached; for He had not died then, and redemption was not accomplished.

Look at the earnest activity of the heart of Christ! What a life of ceaseless toil! There was one day when He did not preach. That was the day before He died. That day He spent in quiet, the day before the terrible morrow when He died for you and me. Now, though we have not heard and seen the Lord Himself, yet we can hear the Word of

God, and thus we have the opportunity of bearing fruit, and of being put into relationship with Christ.

There are three salient points in the parable which the Lord here speaks,-the sower, the seed, and the soil.

I

1. Who is the Sower? The Son of Man, who is also the Son of God; He sows the seed. If Christ then be the sower of seed, He is not going to ask something of you and me. What does the sower do? He puts something into the field, which was not there before. Now, my reader, if you get into your heart that the Lord is the sower, you will get rid of the thought that He begins by being a reaper, or that He is expecting something from you. know the thought of your heart is, Must I not bring something to God? No, you can bring nothing to Him, but you may receive something from Him, even the Word of Life. The Sower is the Son of Man, and He has come from God's side, and His hand is full of that which He bestows, and from which, if you receive it, there will be fruit unto life eternal, and you will get into relationship with the Lord Himself.

God is not now exacting. The day of law is gone by. Moses might come and tell me what I ought to be, Jesus has come to tell me what God is,-a giver, a sower. Moses could tell me how I ought to live, but Jesus has come and told me, that since my heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, God has given up seeking to get anything