may be and wherever he may be, who breathes breathes out to Heaven genuine thanksgiving for all the favours he receives from all sources, is the true priest of God. His offering ascends as "an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God." As the chalice of the summer flower keeps its face turned to the sun, and all its emitting odours seem to go forth as a sacrifice to the great orb of day, so does the truly grateful heart turn itself to Heaven,

and send out in all its respirations the spirit of true praise. The true man is the true priest and none other. Another point worthy of note in these verses isII. MEN ABUNDANTLY SUPPLIED.

THE NEEDS OF CHRISTLY

"But (and) my God shall supply all your need (fulfil every need of yours) according to His riches in glory in (by) Christ Jesus." Notice

First: The source of the supply. "My God." "The expression," says Dr. Barry, "is emphatic. St. Paul had accepted the offerings as made not to himself but to the God whose servant he was, hence he adds, my God, whom ye

serve when serving me." He is the Father of lights, from whom all blessings flow; "the Giver of every perfect gift"; the primal, boundless, ever outwelling Font of all good. Notice

Secondly: The extent of the supply. "All your need." All needs of all kinds, under all circumstances, in all scenes, worlds, and ages. What will be the needs of even one soul through all the future periods of his being? Whatever they are God will supply them. Notice

Thirdly: The measure of the supply. "According to His riches in glory." "In glory." What does this mean? Does glory stand as the symbol of Himself and His immeasurable possessions? If so, what a source of supply. We read of the "unsearchable riches of Christ," &c. Notice

Fourthly: The condition of the supply. "By Christ Jesus, or "in Christ Jesus." All the supplies depend upon being in Christ Jesus, in His character, in His spirit, in His purposes and aims. He who is in this state, we are assured, will have all things. "All things are yours, and ye are Christ's, and

Christ is God's." Another point worthy of note in these verses is

III. THE OBJECT OF THE SUPREME WORSHIP OF ALL ONE AND ONLY ONE. "Now unto God (our God) and our Father be glory (the glory) for ever and ever." Or, "unto the

ages of the ages." God as a Father alone becomes intelligible to us, attractive to us, spiritually transformative to us. Transporting thought! Our Father, God, is to be worshipped by all, and to be worshipped by all "for ever and ever." Another noteworthy point is—

IV. CHRISTLY LOVE EMBRACING ALL DISCIPLES EVERY

WHERE. Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet (salute) you. All the saints salute you, chiefly (especially) they that are of Cæsar's household," In this salutation, which is short, we have no names mentioned. The apostle does not give the names of the men amongst the brethren which are with him, nor the names of those who are of "Caesar's household." Perhaps they were too numerous to catalogue. The household of

Cæsar it would seem included a multitude of persons of all ages, ranks, and occupations. But the mention of names is of little importance. Paul's language is an assurance that they all loved one another, whether old or young, rich or poor, masters or servants, bond or free. True Christian, brotherly love cares nothing for names, positions, circumstances; its regard is for man as man, as a disciple of Christ. Its language is, "Grace be with all them that love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth." The other noteworthy point in these verses is

V. THE POSSESSION OF CHRIST'S FAVOUR THE SUPREME WISH OF TRUE PHILAN

THROPY. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all (your spirit)." A mere worldly philanthropy at most seeks only the temporal and intellectual interests of man, as a citizen of time, without reference to the inner spirit and the unbounded future. But true philanthropy has a far sublimer wish, it is that the favour of Christ may be ever with the spirit.

LONDON.

DAVID THOMAS, D.D

A Picture of a Sad Life.

"I AM BECOME LIKE A BOTTLE IN

THE SMOKE."-Ps. cxix. 83.

I. Here is a SHRIVELLED life. The empty leathern bottles, hung up in the unchimneyed houses of the East, get shrivelled in the heat. Like these bottles there are human lives. (1) They become shrivelled in their thoughts. There is nothing broad or elastic in their conceptions, their whole mental natures run into a few miserable smoky dogmas. (2) They become shrivelled in their sympathies. Their sympathies get confined to self and sect, there are no shoots of living sympathy for others going forth. Narrow thinkings and selfish habits contract the soul that should expand into a seraph into a miserable grub. II. Here is an UNLOVELY life. A shrivelled leathern bottle, black with smoke, has nothing in it to admire, nothing to charm the eye or even to invite the touch. lovely lives are by no uncommon. The lives of the

Un

means

drunkard, the debauchee, the voluptuary, the pampered sensualist, are hideous enough. So are the lives of intolerant bigots and canting religionists, &c., &c.

III. Here is a USELESS life. So long as the bottle is hung up, shrivelled and black in the smoky apartment, it is of no service whatever. Alas, how many useless lives there are. What millions there are of every generation who have been of no service to the universe; nay, the universe would have shone brighter and poured forth more music had they never been. Addison says, that in the school of Pythagoras it was a point of discipline that if among the akonstikoi, or probationers, there were any who grew weary of studying to be useful, and returned to an idle life, they were to regard them as dead; and upon their departing, to perform their obsequies and raise them tombs with inscriptions to warn others of the like mortality and quicken them to refine their souls above that wretched state.

A Suggestive Question. "HOW MANY ARE THE DAYS OF THY SERVANT?"-Ps. cxix. 84. THIS question impliesI-GOD'S KNOWLEDGE OF THE LENGTH OF MAN'S LIFE.

"How He has

many are the days?" given to every man an appointed time, so many years, days, weeks, monthis. To Him there are no accidental deaths, no premature graves, all fixed. The question implies—

II.-MAN'S IGNORANCE OF THE LENGTH OF HIS LIFE. "In such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh."

First This ignorance indicates the goodness of God. Were man to know the exact time when he should quit this scene of life, it would paralyse his energies and check his enjoyments. It would mantle his days with depressing gloom.

Secondly: This ignorance indicates the duty of man. He should be always ready, awaiting his summons. Like a vessel with anchors raised and sails hoisted to catch the first breeze. The question implies

III. THE TRYING ELEMENT IN MAN'S LIFE. "How many are the days?" As if the writer had said, I am wearied. Let a man's life be ever so propitious, the time comes on when he gets tired of it. "I loathe life," said Job,

"I would not live always." The weight of years, the departure of old friends, the narrowing of the region of hope, the want of purpose, not only reconcile him to his fate, but create in him a craving for the long rest of the long, long grave. "I do not wish to die," says Cicero, "but I care not if I were dead." A man's willingness to die is no proof of his religion. "First our pleasures die—and then

Our hopes and then our fears—and when

These are dead, the debt is due, Dust claims dust-and we die too." SHELLEY.

God's Word More Settled than the Ordinances of Nature. "FOR EVER, O LORD, THY WORD IS SETTLED IN HEAVEN." —Psalm cxix. 89.

(1) The Divine Word is settled in the ordinances of nature. All things move in an unbroken order.

(2) God's Word is settled in the consciousness of intelligence. It rules them.

(3) God's Word is settled in the mind of God Himself. He is immutable, He never deviates from His Word. His Word is even more settled than the ordinances of nature.

He

I. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR GOD TO ALTER THE LAWS OF NATURE. can reverse the course of the planets, alter the movements of oceans and the law of storms. But it is not possible for Him to alter His Word. "It is impossible for God to lie."

II.-GOD HAS INTERFERED WITH THE OPERATIONS OF NATURE. He

has made planets stop, piled up the rivers, divided seas, raised the dead, &c., but has never deviated from His Word. What He has said has always come to pass. A deviation from God's Word would be more hazardous than deviations from the laws of nature. God could reverse the laws of nature without any harm to His moral universe, but were He to deviate from His Word, His moral kingdom would be rent to pieces. Trust in Him, which binds the whole in harmony, would be destroyed, and all would be anarchy and ruin.

are not the proprietors but the trustees of our existence.

Secondly: All good men are His by consecration. "Into Thine hands I commit my spirit." This surrender is man's primary duty, the one act necessary to give moral worth and acceptance to all acts in life.

II.-God the SAVIOUR of man. "Save me." Save me

First: From practically ignoring Thy claims.

Secondly: From acting inconsistently with Thy claims. Let us live as stewards who must at last give an account of ourselves.

The Only Path to the Highest Wisdom.

"I HAVE MORE UNDERSTANDING THAN ALL MY TEACHERS: FOR THY TESTIMONIES ARE MY MEDITATION. I UNDERSTAND MORE THAN THE ANCIENTS, BECAUSE I KEEP THY PRECEPTS. ."—Psalm cxix. 99, 100.

How is that wisdom to be obtained which transcends the wisdom of all the secular sages of the past or the present?

L-By MEDITATION on the Divine. "Thy testimonies are my meditation." It is characteristic of man that he has at once the meditative faculty and the meditating instinct. Thus out of his impressions he evolves thoughts and constructs systems. It is by