sorrow.

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And directly in your course are sunken rocks and dangerous reefs; and all around are the sad remains of former shipwrecks, If you have not Jesus at the helm you will surely be lost in some unlooked-for storm; for none can get safe to port without Him.

"I saw a wreck upon the ocean flood,—

How sad and desolate! No man was there;
No living thing was on it. There it stood,

Its sails all gone, its masts were standing bare ;
Tossed on the wide, the boundless, howling sea!
The very sea-birds screamed, and passed it by.
And as I looked, the ocean seemed to be

A sign and figure of eternity.

The wreck an emblem seemed of those that sail
Without the Pilot JESUS, on its tide.
Thus, thought I, when the final storms prevail,

Shall rope and sail and mast be scattered wide,
And they, with helm and anchor lost, be driven,

In endless exile sad, far from the port of heaven ! "

But with Jesus at the helm none of you can founder. You shall outride the most terrible storms the Prince of the power of the air can raise against you. You shall plough your way triumphantly through the weltering seas, and sail straight into the "fair haven" of immortality, amidst a thousand welcomes from the Shining Ones who line the happy shores.

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At the point of death, Vara, a converted native of the island Aimeo, received a visit from his missionary. "Well, Vara, my brother, are you afraid to die?" No, dear missionary, I am not afraid! The canoe is on the sea; the sails are spread; I am ready for the gale. I have a good PILOT to guide me, and a good haven to receive me; I am not afraid." Thus spake the converted islander, Vara, concerning his late-found GUIDE. How different from the false god "Eatooa," in whom his forefathers had gloried! That God under whose wings he had now learned to put his trust, was the "Light which lightens the Gentiles and the GLORY OF HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL."

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GLORY OF HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL. Luke ii. 32. Glory' means something weighty, precious, well worth having. That which constitutes the glory of an individual or a nation, is the possession of something excellent which others have not. The bride might say to her attendants, "You have your ornaments, your embroidery, your jewels, but I have the bridegroom,-this is my glory!" The son might say to the servants, "You have your liberal wages, your plentiful supplies of food, but it is my glory to have a claim to the inheritance, the mansion, and the paternal domain." The people of Ephesus gloried in their "great goddess Diana;" for no other city, they thought, could show an idol so magnificent or a temple so gorgeous. Great in their estimation was "Diana of the Ephesians whom all Asia and the world wor

shipped." While the glory of Athens were its beautiful marble structures, its unrivalled sculptures, its poets, orators, and philosophers.

But the people of Israel had something to glory in far better than any of these. Was it that they had Abraham for their father, who was the friend of God? Was it that they had a magnificent temple which no city in the world could rival? Was it that their law came from heaven, their prophets were divinely inspired, and their priests divinely appointed? Was it that the fire on their altar was originally kindled from on high, or that the light of God's actual presence shined over their ark? To them indeed pertained all those glorious things; and no other people in the world was so highly favoured. Yet none of these was the GLORY OF ISRAEL. But the Angel of the Covenant, who spake to them from the cloudy pillar, and was their Saviour in every time of trouble, their Messiah King whose goings forth were from everlasting, and of whose dominion there shall be no end-He was the GLORY OF HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL. It is true they were constantly prone to glory in something far inferior, but were as constantly reminded by the bitter failure of every other hope, that "he that glorieth must glory only in the Lord."

And the GLORY OF ISRAEL is the Christian's GLORY. And if you are a Christian and Christ is in you, then here is the proof of it— you make Him your GLORY. But how, you ask, may one be said to make Christ his GLORY? I will show you by briefly adverting to the Titles brought forward in this Reading.

1. You rejoice in Jesus Christ as the TRUE GOD. You would not give up this for the world. If it could suddenly come to pass that you were convinced that Jesus Christ is not God, you would feel as though the sun were blotted out of the firmament. Darkness and gloom would settle on your heart for ever. You could not trust Him with your eternal interests any longer. "Oh," you would say with the perplexed disciples at Emmaus, "we trusted that it had been He Who should have redeemed us; but this is another Jesus' (2 Cor. xi. 4), not the One in Whom we had believed." The admiration you have cherished for Him would give place to suspicion and distrust. You could no longer regard Him as a Faithful Witness, for He certainly did, as the Jews said, "make Himself Equal with God." But away with the hateful insinuation! Jesus Christ is GOD.

"Should all the forms that men devise,
Assault my faith with treacherous art;
I'll call them vanity and lies,

And bind the gospel to my heart."

"Oh," said good Mr. Venn on his death-bed, "in what a state should I be now if I had only the Socinian's god to trust to!" And Dr. Owen writes in the same strain-"Take heed of them who would rob you of the Deity of Christ. If there were no more

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grace for me than what can be treasured up in a mere man, I should rejoice if my portion might be under rocks and mountains."

There were two sisters who were brought up in the Socinian faith. One of them was seized with dangerous sickness. Her minister offered her such consolation as he thought would meet her case. Did he speak to her of the "blood which cleanseth from all sin"? or exhort her to trust in Jesus as the "Lord her Righteousness"? No, but he reminded her that she had lived a virtuous life, and that as to the little she could have to repent of, God was merciful, and on these grounds assured her that she had nothing to fear. But, as might have been expected, such considerations failed to dissipate the gloom which had settled on her mind. And as there was no one at hand acquainted with a better ground of hope, in this sad comfortless state the poor young lady died. When the first shock was past, and the survivor was sufficiently composed to reflect, she was so struck with the melancholy cloud which had hung over her sister's dying pillow, and so convinced that Socianism was inadequate to secure any well-grounded hope for eternity, that she determined to search the Bible afresh. She soon saw good reason for renouncing her former belief, and having received the atonement, united herself with those who glory in Jesus Christ as the TRUE GOD and Eternal Life." Again, if you are a Christian,

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2. You glory in this TRUE GOD as your GUEST. Some natives of South America, after having heard the statements of the missionaries concerning the attributes of the Christian's God, made the following answer:- "We do not like the God you describe: you say He is everywhere present, and sees all that is done. Your God is too sharp-sighted for us! We do many things we do not wish to have known, and like to live in our woods unrestrained, without the inconvenience of having a perpetual observer over our heads." Those ignorant men did but speak the natural language of every guilty conscience. You meet with crowds in this country who are precisely of the same way of thinking. The thought that God's eve is always upon them is irksome. They therefore try to persuade themselves that He is too August and Magnificent a Being to take such special notice of poor insignificant man. But it is that very point which gives the Christian such satisfaction. If, therefore, you feel as you ought, you do indeed revere Him as the High and Lofty One that dwells in the High and Holy Place, but you also love to think of Him as willing to make a temple of your spirit ;—

"He to the lowly soul

Doth still Himself impart,

And for His dwelling and His throne,
Chooseth the humble heart."

You are not shy of Him as though He were an unwelcome intruder. But as a man throws open every part of his house to some beloved and honoured Guest, so you desire that He should have access to your inmost soul. You know that there is very much

there to offend Him; but all that is burdensome to you also, and you wish Him to see and know it all, in order that He may help you to get rid of it. It is then your cherished hope that Christ has thus entered your heart, and you tremble whenever you suspect the contrary.

3. You glory in this Heavenly GUEST as your GOVERNOR. First, to rule over you spiritually. You love His service; you keep His statutes; to be a subject of His kingdom is the highest honour you aspire to. Some of His precepts are indeed very difficult, and much there is within your heart that struggles against His authority. But you know this DIVINE GOVERNOR can subdue your iniquity, and therefore you go to Him with the prayer, "Let these Thy foes be made Thy footstool." Then, again, you glory in Him as your GOVERNOR providentially. You would not have the control of the events which concern you, even if you might. And when things fall not out as you desire, you comfort yourself with the thought that nothing happens by chance, but that Jesus Christ is managing everything. In the reign of that cruel bigot Queen Mary, a minister named Gilpin was seized, in order to be conveyed to London and tried before the Popish authorities. While on the journey he broke his leg by a fall, which caused him much suffering and put a stop to his progress for some time. The guards who had the custody of him, took occasion from this circumstance to retort upon him an observation he was often accustomed to make, "That nothing happens to the people of God but what is intended for their good,' asking him whether he thought his broken leg was so? He told them he "made no question but it was." And so it proved, for before he was able to travel Queen Mary died, and he was released, and returned to his parish through crowds of people, congratulating him and blessing God for his deliverance.

"God nothing does, or suffers to be done,

But thou wouldst do thyself, if thou couldst see
The end of all events as well as He."

4. You glory in Him once more as your GUIDE-a GUIDE by His Word, by His Spirit, by His Providence. Oh, how much sometimes depends on a single step! One dark night, a poor woman, in trying to reach her home, missed her way. She became bewildered and wandered about, till all at once it was strongly impressed on her mind to sit down and wait the return of morning. She did so, and in extending her feet to relieve her weary limbs they splashed in some water. Imagine her feelings when, after sitting there all night, the dawn of day showed her that if she had but taken one more step she would have plunged into a deep river, the Ouse! on the very brink of which she had seated herself, she scarce knew why. Thus it often happens in the path of life. We are led, we hardly know how, to adopt some course to which it plainly appears afterwards, we are led by an over-ruling providence; for by it we have escaped some great danger, or been led to the enjoyment of

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some great blessing. Happy are you if you have chosen Jesus Christ for your GUIDE. Blessed shalt thou be and it shall be well with thee. In every time of difficulty and doubt thou canst repair to Him with the prayer of faith; and "thou shalt hear a voice behind thee saying, This is the way-walk therein."

Such a GOD as the Lord Jesus, such a GUEST, such a GOVERNOR, such a GUIDE may well be your GLORY. As you follow Him, "sing in the ways of the Lord," and let your song be

"This God is the God we adore,

Our Faithful Unchangeable Friend,
Whose love is as great as His power,
And neither knows measure nor end.

'Tis Jesus the First and the Last,

Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home.
We'll praise Him for all that is past,

And trust Him for all that's to come."

Twenty-second Sunday.

HIGHEST. HEAD OF ALL PRINCIPALITY AND POWER. HOLY ONE. HUSBAND. HEIR OF ALL THINGS.

WHENEVER in a thoughtful mood we contemplate that which is either vast or high, or mysteriously inaccessible, or of profound depth, we are conscious of a mental sensation stealing over us, compounded of fear and reverence. This emotion we term awe. The desert or the ocean across which the eye sweeps without finding any limit, the cataract descending with stupendous roar from amidst towering rocks overhead, and shaking the ground on which we stand, the terrible precipice over whose verge we peep with swimming heads and aching nerves-the mighty mountain with its unexplored gorges and dizzy untrodden peaks,

"On whose barren breast The fleecy clouds do often rest,"

There is, for instance,

all these impress us with the feeling of awe. Mont Blanc in Switzerland, of which no traveller ever gets a near view for the first time without being forced to yield to indefinable emotions of this sort. It lifts its hoary head and looks as though it leaned against the blue vault of heaven. There it rests in solemn grandeur, its huge sides covered with a white mantle of snow, its prodigious breadth glittering in the sun. And as men gaze on the great mountain, they feel their own littleness and are humbled. But