of the serpent. (2) What necessity was there that the Son of Man should be thus lifted up? (a) Without it He could not fulfil the Scriptures; (b) His sufferings and death were necessary to the completion of His great and gracious work. II. To show what particulars, &c. (a) In order to be saved we must look to Christ; (b) This way of saving sinners is a way altogether of God's providing; (c) This way of salvation by Christ is the only way; (d) This way of salvation by faith in Christ is free and open to all, What blessed news is this. How ought every heart to leap for joy, for we are all sinners. But remember this saving faith is sanctifying faith. EDWD. COOPER. Or Consider the excellency-(1) Of the Gospel of Christ; (2) Of Christ Himself, See alsoJOHN HORNE. SIMEON, C. Works 13, 250. MANTON, S. Works 4, 745.-URJOHN, W.-Parables, 3, 361 TEXTS AND TOPICS. THE CALL OF ABRAM. Gen. xii. 1, 2. 1. God speaks to men, "The Lord had said unto Abram." II. God's commands are not always easy to obey, "Get thee out," etc. III. In our attempts at obedience He does not leave us unguided, but Himself directs us, "into a land I will show thee." IV. There are great blessings united with the Divine commands, "and I will make of thee," etc., or-I. The command given. II. The promise united therewith. Or-I. God calls unlikely people to serve Him. II. He calls them to peculiar service, III, None are ever losers by obeying God. We may give up something, v. 1; we gain more, V. 2. Matt. xix. 29. IV. Blessing and prosperity are in the hands of God. V. He bestows them, not on those who seek them directly, but on those who observe His commands. See also BOSSUET, S. Benoit. Ser. 14, 234. GIBBES, C., D.D. Sermons 449 WILBERFORCE, Bp. Ser. on occasions, 165. KITTO. Daily Bible Illustrations, 1, 183. A WORLDLY SPIRIT IN THE MASTER'S DISCIPLES. He asked them, What was it ye disputed among yourselves by the way ?-Mark ix. 83. 1. The questioner. 2. The question. It was (a) Very pointed; (b) Strangely searching; (c) Marvellously suggestive; so are all Christ's questions. Or-See how wonderful is Christ's knowledge of us and our ways. It would seem Christ was not with them when this dispute arose, yet He knew it. Ah, yes He is with us when we see Him not, when we think it not. (1) Let the transgressor remember this; (2) the poor and afflicted; (3) The weak and struggling in the Christian life; (4) Those whose whole lives are being spent in His service; (5) Those who have it in their hearts to do a great work for Christ, but are hindered by circumstances over which they have no control from carrying out this desire; (6) Those whose hearts are true and loyal to the Master, but are misunderstood by men. Or-(I) How strangely but eagerly men seek pre-eminence, yea, how even great and good men are exposed to this temptation; (2) We cannot hide such desires from Christ; (3) What He thinks of them and to whom He assigns preeminence. Or-(1) Men's thoughts of greatness; (2) Christ's thoughts of greatness. See also HENRY, M. Disputes reviewed. Works 774. FARRINGDON, A. The greatest in the kingdom of God. Ser. 3, 528. PENN, J. Affected Greatness. Ser. 1, 195. PRECIOUS PROMISES. And behold I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee till I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.-Gen. xxviii. 15. WHAT an array of brightness have we here! Each sentence is a promise, each promise is as applicable to you as to him to whom it was first given. Let us examine them in order. Here is promised-(1) The divine presence. How wonderful! How gracious! How blessed! How solemn. (2) Divine protection. Protection going everywhere. Protection extending to all events. (3) Divine restoration, Whatever may befall by the way God will bring His people to the land of promise at last. His promises are firmer than the hills. His presence secures them and ensures their fulfilment. Or-(1) How grand and glorious are the promises of God. 2. To what strange and unworthy beings often given. Or-1. God may be very near to us when we think it not. (2) He may reveal gracious purposes to us when we least expect them. (3) A man, though poor in himself and his surroundings, may speedily be enriched by the mercies of God. (4) How little we know what an hour may bring forth. (5) What a vast difference there may be between our present and our future. See also participle it has the causative sense to these ; he not only was, but caused to be all these. II. The cause of this. The divine presence; God was with him. In conclusion: (1) There is no position when you do not need God's presence. Most of all is it needed in trial and desertion. (2) There is no position in which you may not seek and obtain this presence. This presence will right all wrong, over-rule all evil, turn injury into blessing. Above all, then, seek this presence. Or-Men may rob us of most of life's blessings, health, wealth, good name, etc. It is sad to think to what an extent these are in the hands of others. But (1) They cannot, when they have done their worst, rob us of the greatest of all blessings, God's presence. (2) That being left, all wrong will be righted. Friends and foes, injury and blessing, cloud and sunshine, will all tend to our good and to God's glory in that good. In conclusion, how sad to think many are regardless of this presence, and allow Satan to rob them. Or-The divine presence. 1. The benefits and advantages thereof. 2. The possibility of possessing it everywhere. 3. The means to be used in order to such possession. And, 4. The things to be avoided, Or-1. In Joseph's brethren consider prosperity and apparent temporary success without God. 2. In Joseph consider adversity, oppression, and trial with God. Whatever your life be, let God be in it, but especially if that life be full of care and trial. Then, more than ever, do you need a strong, true friend. God himself, through His Son, is willing to be such to you. None else can help you as He can. See also Dr. FRANKLIN. Ser. 1, 3. CONYBEARE, Bp. Ser. 1, 137. HUNTER, T., M.A. Moral reflections on the history of Joseph. Moral disc, 2, 235, HAWKINS, E. D.D. The history of Providence, &c. Discourses 81. GERMAN PREACHERS. NEW YEAR, OR CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST. Luke ii. 21. THIS day we consider the feast of circumcision. It closes the Christmas festival. Christmas shows us the sacred person of the new-born Jesus, and we adore the great mystery, God manifest in the flesh. It is the child in the manger that is to redeem the world, being Mediator between God and mankind. That He is truly the one whom faith recognised on the day of His birth, the day of His circumcision confirms in part, both as to the office and work for which He became man. By circumcision the Lord is put under the law, and He assumes its obligations; yea, He may well assume its obligations, for He is enabled to keep the entire law. Of this His heavenly conception and birth are a guaranty, also the wonderful union of the divine and human in His nature. At His circumcision He begins already this task. We see Him in the difficult path of obedience. "He was obedient unto death, even," etc. In the circumcision we behold Jesus entering upon His vocation, beginning His usefulness. He is an example to us. In Him only can we become like him. In Him is our hope, our future on earth, our eternity. He is our Saviour, our Jesus; and may the blessedness of His name fill our soul. From the significance of circumcision as a covenant, learn: I. To be assured of all the promises of God through the precious name of Jesus. II. The necessity of the new birth signified by circumcision. REV. KAPFF. bearer of the divine promises, stands the priestly Melchizedek, the friend of the living God. At the side of Joshua stand the heathen women. Rahab and Ruth, whose names have been preserved in the very genealogy of the Saviour, At the side of David stands the heathen king of Tyre, Hiram, who knew and praised the name of Jehovah (1 Kings v. 7). At the side of Solomon stands the Queen of Sheba, of whom the Lord says (Matt. xii. 42) "She came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon." Let us ask the question, what moves the Church to missionary work? I. The divine command (Isaiah xlix. 6). II. The divine promises touching the success of such labours (John x. 16). REV. WM. ZIETHE, Berlin. MY FATHER'S BUSINESS. Know ye not that I must be about my Father's business? -Luke ii. 41-52. In this question is declared: I. The consciousness that He is the Son of God. II. His love for the Father and for God's house. III. A mild reprimand of those who take offence at a love which forgets all things beside. 1. Whether He now for the first time was conscious, or whether He now for the first time expressed that consciousness, we cannot decide; but here He does declare it, and here we observe in Him a glory like unto that of the lightning's flash. He is in truth the light of the world Matt. xxiv. 27) It hid itself again beneath the lowliness of obedience, the lowliness of a trade, rebuking you who think yourselves too good to engage for a living in manual service. When the time was come He declared that consciousness plainly (John xiv. 7-10). 2. He who is ready to serve God in a selfdenying spirit is capable of service for his brethren. 3. Those who feel little or no attraction for the place where the Lord has established a memorial for His name cannot comprehend the devoted love of God's servants. Oh, if we, too, could likewise reprimand in the mild and gentle manner of Christ! REV. DR. KAHLE, Pastor at Caymen, East Prussia. FAITH PROVED. Rom. xii. 7-16. -THE apostle shows the Christian life to be a reasonable service. The sun in the heavens would not be a sun if it did not shine with vivi fying rays; so, if there be a Christian life, it will show itself by its works. Faith is a gift of the grace of God; works are the spontaneous manifestations of faith. Faith constitutes the Christian; works prove the Christian. How does the Christian prove that he has faith? I. In the right use of the talents intrusted to him; in the proper fulfilment of this vocation. II. In the hearty hatred of all evil, and because it is evil. III. In being true under all circumstances to his convictions as to duty. IV. In the exercise of a love which cheerfully bears with wrong done him, and which carries the burden of others as if they were his own. \ V. In an endless seeking for the realisation of a higher ideal, even that which is in Christ Jesus. REV. WM. ENGELHARDI, – City Vicar in Nuremberg. Second Treatment. I. The faith which is conquered. 1. Its na ture. (a) A false faith; either superstition, which believes what it ought not to believe, or unbelief, which does not trust what it ought to trust. (b) A blind faith, which does not see with its own eyes, but only reflects what it hears others say. (c) A dead faith, a faith that does not work. 2. It has no power to overcome, because it is not born of God, II. The faith which conquers. True, intelligent, living, strong. This faith overcomes the world; for He that is in you is greater than he that is in the world (1 John iv. 4). (a) It overcomes the external world (John xvi. 33; Rom. viii. 37); its opposition (enmity, injuries), its allurements (temptation), its afflictions. (b) It overcomes the internal world (love of the world, worldly sorrow). Rev. i. 7, REV. R. NESSELMANN, Licent. Theol. and Pastor at Elbing. Beneath the sceptre of the Prince of Peace is every safety. Here we have three tried remedies against discord. I. To live as Christ lived. II. To bear as Christ bore. REV. WM. ZIETHE, Berlin. THE PREACHER'S VOICE. By Rev. E. P. THWING, Professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Elocution. SOME general directions have been requested. 1. Respect your personality. Your voice is a part of it. A tenor cannot make a bass singer, nor can a thin voice by nature become a sonorous orotund. Perfect the voice you have, but do not imitate another. We 2. Do not confound nature with habit. are not natural by nature. It takes one a long time to " come to himself." It may be the habit of a person to talk through his nose, or read in a sing-song tone. This is not nature. True art leads to nature, not to artifice. 3. Vocal culture is largely a moral training. The preacher, for example, who feels the truth as a fire in his bones, cannot be slovenly in speech, dull, drowsy, and pointless in delivery. To be frigid and dead is more than a rhetorical defect. It is a sin. Genuine emotion gives mellowness and flexibility to the voice. The didactic and intellectual tone may answer for the multiplication table, or for similar prosy utterances, but in prayer, in hymn or Bible reading, and in all true persuasive speech, the soul speaks. A holy heart and a sanctified imagination are requisites of the highest style of sacred oratory. II. Specific directions: (a) health. If the digestive and respiratory organs are in order, there may be expected good, clear tones. Flatulent food, icy or scalding drinks, pastry, confections, strong tea, tobacco and other poisons spoil the voice. Sleeping on the back with the mouth open causes snoring, which rasps the throat. Ligatures about the throat and waist are suicidal. (b) Attidue affects the voice. An average pair of lungs measures 335 cubic inches. Sitting you diminish the cavity by five inches, by a full meal fifteen or twenty, and by lying down thirty inches. Therefore an erect posture and a free opening of the mouth are needed; also a proper location of the focus of sound and a projection of tone to a distant point. Here is seen the physical advantages of speaking without a manu harder to remember. Parentheses are generally a nuisance. By crowding in too much the impression is lost and the voice is hampered. Introduce the interrogative frequently in place of the affirmatory or dogmatic assertion. It enlivens the style wonderfully, and so gets the speaker out of monotonous cadences. Illustrative and colloquial material thus bring a double benefit, Word pictures are pleasant to the ear as well as to the imagination, for they are usually spoken in a natural voice. Lastly, avoid hobbies and the conceits of specialists. Do not baby and coddle the voice, and get in the way of doctoring it continually. Bring your voice under law, and do not allow it to call for a sip of water every few minutes while speaking. This and trochee eating, and a score of other habits, are easily formed, but are hard to break. Forget yourself, be lost in your theme, aud you may expect that the entire sermo corporis will truthfully reflect the soul that inspires it. HINTS AT THE MEANING OF TEXTS. The happiness of the Christian independent of all earthly conditions. (Ps. xlvi. 3, 4).-All his hopes are based on confidence in a God who is a father with heart infinitely more tender than heart of any earthly mother-a God of infinite resources. (1) No physical force-heat, gravity, electricity, or disease-is superior, so cannot harm. (2) No moral force in earth or the regions beyond is comparable to God's. (3) God has infinite wisdom, hence cannot be surprised by the lesser forces. (4) Now, this infinite power, directed by infinite wisdom, is under the control of infinite love for the Christian. What, then, can work us harm? "Neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities," etc. Christian everywhere feels the throbbing of a heart of illimitable love. There is a smile behind the darkest frown, and that smile is ever a "feast of the soul." The The awakened sinner-Jesus the only hope.Blind Bartimeus-anguish, unconcern, sympathy. (1) Bartimeus' anguish a full realisation of his affliction and helplessness, (2) The unconcern of the multitude, (a) they would pass him by aud silence him. (b) The world cannot help a sin-sick soul. (c) It has not the ability, if the willingness. (3) The sympathy of Christ, While the blind man is groping to find Him, Jesus so plans that he does find Him. No one who truly seeks Christ fails. No man has ever died seeking without finding. "Seek and ye shall find." Christ saw every motion of Bartimeus. The certainty of the cure. The tears of Christ over the impenitent. Weeping over Jerusalem. (Matt. xxiii. 37). (1) He knew the terrible nature of sin, hence came from heaven to destroy it. The Omnipotent' alone could successfully contend with it. It forced bloody sweat from Him in the garden | God forgiving the sinner.-"For thou, Lord, The feast in the storm.-Paul on the wrecked The contradiction.-The way to solve religious What the impenitent sinner rejects.-The two Now. He who learns to rightly appreciate Action more than thought.-The end of man The man alone can harm himself.-Be bravely Christ, not morality, saves.-Men who neglect All excellency from God.-As the rays come merely a poor, weak image and reflection of Him, The swelling of an outward fortune can -Quarles. -Thomas. "Every good act," says Mahommed, "is cha- Believer's Confidence Faith, Two Kinds of Jesus, the Saviour Jesus in the Midst Paul's Art of Contentment Promises, Precious Book. Verse. 1 Sam. vii. 19 TEXTUAL INDEX. John iii. 11, 12 56 53 53 iii, 13 53 57 vii. 17 .. 58 " xix. 18 cxxxviii, 8 55 li. 9, 10 Phil, iii. 8 |