Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.-Heb. iv, 14.

A FRIEND in the courts of heaven is a neverfailing inspiration to the suppliant for divine mercy. Christ is-

1. The only Mediator which the Father acknowledges.

2. The Father acknowledges Christ in virtue of his atonement.

3. The mediation of Christ is established till the end of the present dispensation.

4. Through the mediation of Christ all spiritual things are available. J. F. P.

2. The condition of Christ.- 'He made himself of no reputation,' etc.-- Phil ii. 7-8. II. The service.

1. Arduous. To put away sin.-John i. 29; Heb. xi. 26. To reconcile us to God.-2 Cor. V. 18, 19. To destroy the works of the devil. -Heb. ii. 14. To open the kingdom of heaven; all others must have failed.

2. Glorious. That we might have liberty for bondage.-Rom. viii. 21. That heaven might have an increased number of citizens.

1. Examine the personal life, and see whether the oppositions are not self-merited retributions.

2, Confess, however heinous, the personal iniquity discovered by self-examination. 3. Be ready to retrace the whole course of life if that course has been wrong.

4. Look well to all subsequent conduct, for the reason of the opposition may have its explanation in the perils of the future.

God's will in the true law for man's moral life. Opposition to God's will is not only sinful, it is also perilous. Watch well into what currents you throw your life; forsake immediately the wrong that is discovered. God is loving, forgiving, and

helpful.

Sundays of the Month.

SEED THOUGHTS.

PROVIDENTIAL OPPOSITIONS

Numbers xxii. 84.

BALAAM extorted from God permission to accede to the tempting requests of Balak so far as to accompany the embassy that was sent to solicit him. Why then, was Balaam's course disputed by an angelic ministrant? God wanted to keep before Balaam the fact that Balak's territory was not outside of His moral government. That this is the true. exhibition of the case, read the 20th and 35th verses of this chapter. The subject brings before us two main points

I. Providential opposition unjustifiable in the light of seen circumstances may be justifiable in the light of unseen circum

stances.

Balaam's journey was right, for God had permitted it; but the outcome of Balaam's journey might be wrong, therefore God opposed it. Apply these facts to the providential oppositions met in the ordinary life of ordinary men. God's government embraces the future, and should not therefore be judged by the appearances of the present. II.-Human duty in the presence of providential oppositions.

EVIDENTIAL RELIGION

1 Thess. i. 9-10.

THE grandest evidences of the divinity of religion are those which regenerated human characters exhibit. When Christ was questioned by an embassy from John the Baptist respecting his Messiahship, he pointed to the blind that had received eyesight, to the deaf that had been made to hear, and to the crippled that had been made to walk. The arguments of Paley and Butler, and all the Christian apologists put together, are light in the presence of a transformed human character. The drunkard sobered, the cruel made kindly, and the casually minded won to spiritual concerns, are to-day, as ever, the best arguments against scepticism, The text brings before us

I. The first-fruits of the regenerated life.

1. Enlarged and perfected vision. The unseen God is seen to be more real than the visible idol. Life without the form of God is more evidently apprehended in the unseen God than life where there is the form of life in the visible but lifeless idol.

2. Patient waiting for the fulfilment of the divine promises. The regenerated heart is always expectant; every blessing of Christianity points to something beyond. The Christ seen spiritually is expected to appear person.

in

II. The evidential value of the regenerated heart's experiences.

All religious men cannot be self-decep

tive. All religious men have not motives of interest sufficiently strong to produce hypocrisy. The belief that religious life confers blessing must have something to account for it, and what more reasonable than the admission that the professed experience is real? Every convert to Christianity is an argument for the reality of its Divine character.

God is the living God and the true God; and Christ, the Son of God, delivers from the wrath to come all that believe on him and obey him.

THE ISRAELITES' PERIL Deut. iv. 23,

THE dignity of man is not in his curiously wrought physical organism. In this dignity he has ten thousand equals. There is another side of man's nature, which is made only a little lower than the angels.' This is the side on which he is dignified above all terrestrial existences. The maintenance of the worthiness of this dignity is one of the solicitudes of man's Almighty Creator. God is anxious that the physical should be subservient to the spiritual; hence the appointment of himself as the object of human adoration.

1. When man includes all things in the materialism of the universe.

2. When man degrades the concepts of his spirit for the gratifications of his senses. The vision of the soul is more than the vision of the eye. The experience of the head is more than the touch of the hand; the conviction of the soul is more than the hearing of the ear.

II.-Directions for protection from this peril of humanity.

Take heed to yourselves. Scepticism of spiritual things has its first beginning from within man's self, rather than from without.

Be careful for consequences. That is not good in itself that invariably and ultimately bears ill fruitage. Certain good is only realisable by right doing. Certain evil is surely consequent upon wrong doing.

THE ELEVATING POWER OF MORAL OBEDIENCE
Deut. vi, 25.

RELIGION has its personal utilities as well as its moral obligations. Job did not serve God for nought, and neither do we obey the divine commandments without reaping personal and present benefits.

I.-Moral obedience elevates the human subject.

The true ennoblement of man is wrought from within him. Deck man with the most costly insignia of honour, and he remains as ignoble as ever. Purify his affections and

rectify his moral nature and he is elevated at once. Moral obedience produces purity of affections, necessitates rectitude of moral character, and so elevates its human subject. Love of God begets love of man.

II. The moral obedience which elevates the human subject must be rendered with peculiar features.

It

It does all God's commandments. does all God's commandments as if it were doing them under God's inspection. It does all God's commandments as God hath commanded them. There must be no compounding for one duty with another; there must be no assumption that God is off his watch; there must be no substitution of human tradition or opinion for clear divine commandment.

The path to greatness is via goodness. The goodness that leads to greatness is the goodness which God approves. Obedience is better than sacrifice; God's pleasure is more desirable than human applause. Be right with God and you are right for yourselves.

FIDELITY SOLICITED

2 Tim. i. 8-10.

THIS Epistle was written by Paul amid the gloom of a Roman prison, from which there was no deliverance only by the hand of death. Paul longed for Timothy's welfare, hence he wrote to him. He was above all things anxious that his beloved friend and helper should continue steadfast and faithful. Times of trouble and persecution were approaching-times when many would be unfaithful. The apostle was anxious that Timothy should never grow weary of the example of the Gospel of Christ. He spoke with the light of eternal judgment around him, and with his own decease in full view. In such a light and with such a view, many things he had once thought of moment would fade entirely from his sight, but not the duty of publishing the Gospel.

I.-Paul exhorts Timothy not to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, nor of him though a prisoner.

The Gospel is not a system of reasoning, or of morals, or of philosophy. It is not anything that men are to be educated into as a science, but it is a revelation from our

Lord, and hence the great mistake in endeavouring to reason out the Gospel. It is a testimony, and Christ is the faithful and true witness. The Gospel comes to us in the way of faith, and when we ascertain what God means we are to believe, it is not a matter of choice-we are to take God at his word and believe what he says.

One of the strangest things is shame of the Gospel; and yet wherever the Gospel has been proclaimed there has arisen in the minds of some a sense of shame, a feeling that what was promised would not be fulfilled.

But we should walk by faith.' Jesus says, Whosoever shall be ashamed of me,' &c. (Mark viii. 38).

The requirements of the times no less than the dangers of the times in which we live seem to echo the apostolic admonition.

Stand up for Jesus. Fear his threatenings, embrace his promises, enjoy his love,

There are many who have to suffer for Christ's sake, because they retain the obligations and duties of his Gospel. For all such we are to feel the profoundest sympathy. If a man be persecuted for righteousness' sake we are bound to feel an interest, and show that interest without fear.

The apostle exhorts Timothy to be a partaker with him of the afflictions of the Gospel. He would have him endure the reproach of the Cross with him, to help him in his afflictions by thus sharing them. It is a necessary condition of the body of Christ, that if one member suffer all the members suffer with it. And if one suffers for the Gospel's sake, all his brethren should sympathise with him.' Be ready to share his reproach, and, if necessary, even to suffer with him for the truth's sake.

But

unto holiness. We are to remember this, that we are called by his grace, and so we are bound to stand up for his testimony.

Furthermore, lest we should be spiritually proud, he adds, 'Not according to our wishes but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.' This purpose, given us in Christ Jesus, was a great mystery. Did not see it till Christ came; then the light of the world stood there, but is now made manifest by our Lord Jesus &c. ' who hath abolished death.' Death still reigns, but he is no longer the sheriff to execute God's judgment. And hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.' God has given us to understand the nature of life, Light has come to us. It is not life that is brought to light, but immortality. A. CRAVEN.

THE ALTERNATE CHOICES

Deut xxx, 19.

RELIGION or irreligion, blessing or cursing, life or death, are the only courses and consequences open to man's moral choice. Faithful preaching recognises this fact, and is made zealous and fearless.

Notice

I. The basis facts of moral responsibility. 1. Knowledge of right and wrong. 2. Freedom to choose between right and wrong.

Unavoidable ignorance of duty, or unanavoidable inability to perform it, are the only exempting reasons of moral responsi bility.

II. The terrible issues of moral responsibility.

Life and death are hinged upon human choosing. His servants ye are to whom ye yield yourselves to obey.' Man has his choice of masters, but after having made that choice, he has no control over the character of his wages. The wages of sin is death.' The rewards of patient continuance in well-doing are 'glory, honour, and immortality.'

The written law of God has great claims upon human attention. The unwritten law, which speaks through man's own spirit, has also great claims. Search the Scriptures.'

Hear Christ. Be true to your conscience. Walk according to the light that is in you, and seek earnestly the wisdom that cometh from above.

PROPAGATION OF PRINCIPLES

Phil. 6.

THE extension of Christianity is, in a large measure, committed to the hands of Christ's individual followers. Hence the importance of such statements as, 'Ye are the salt of the earth,' 'Ye are the lights of the world,' 'Let your light so shine, that others seeing your good works, may glorify your Father which is in heaven.'

I. The highest purpose of Christian service.

Not self-salvation; not personal enjoyment. Winning men from the error of their ways to the truth as it is in Jesus is the highest and grandest ambition of Christian life. In this is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit.'

II-The surest steps to this highest purpose.

1. A personal experience with faith for its basis.

2. An extensive realisation of the good things contained in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

3. A fearless acknowledgement of experienced religion.

Labour to propagate your principles, and by this propagate your experiences. This is a day of good tidings; why should the Christian sit still? Tell out the blessings that you feel, the promises you have had fulfilled, the hope that has been kindled within you, and which encompasses the blessings of eternity.

TO OUR READERS.

We shall be obliged for short outlines for our Sundays of the Month' Department (June) on the following texts:

Deut. xvi. 17; Gal. v. 1; Isaiah vi. 8; Eph iv. 1-3 Josh. iv. 14; 1 Peter i. 3, 4; Judges v. 23; 2 Peter ii. 9; 1 Samuel ii. 10; 1 Samuel iv. 22.

To ensure insertion, post outlines not later than the 12th, addressed, 'Editor Preachers' Analyst, 155 Roman Road, N. Bow, London, E.'