2. The second sentence is this-' the people were astonished at His doctrine:' words denoting the effectiveness of His speech. The people were astonished,' not at Him, but at His doctrine.' Their admiration ran out, not in the direction of the Speaker, but in the direction of the sermon-an incidental but infallible proof of the exquisite perfection of His oratory. When the sun shines in his

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meridian splendour and covers hill and dale with his golden radiance, men exclaim, "How beautiful the earth looks! How fine the landscape in front of us! They mutter not a syllable about the sun; they forget him in the intensity of their admiration for the earth which he illuminates. But when the moon shines and only half enlightens the globe, men cry out. what a fair, fine, full moon! They positively stop in the street and gaze rapturously at her. They say not a word about the earth; they forget her in the intensity of their admiration for the moon. It is precisely the same in the world of human kind. great man, like the sun, makes people forget him in his subject; a little man, like the moon, makes people forget his subject in him. A first rate preacher sinks himself in his sermon; a second rate preacher sinks his sermon in himself. This, says an ancient historian, incontrovertibly demonstrates the superiority of Demosthenes as an orator over Cicero. People listening to Cicero admired Cicero. After a grand oratorical display, every tongue in Rome would be set going to magnify the rare abilities of Cicero. The soundness or sophistry of the argument was overlookedall the praise went to the credit of Cicero. But people, listening to Demosthenes, forgot DEMOSTHENES. They returned home, firmly knitting their brows, convulsively clenching their fists, and ominously hastening their tread, saying, Let us go and fight PHILIP.' Not a word about the matchless eloquence of the orator; they forget him in the eagerness of their desire to go and hurl back the ruthless tyrant. And it is noteworthy that at the

conclusion of this discourse of Jesus Christ it is recorded that the people's admiration was directed not towards the Preacher but towards the sermon. The time was to come it is true, when he was to direct special atten

tion to Himself, but not as yet. His special aim now was to lead their thoughts to the fundamental principles of the kingdom He came to establish, and in this He succeeded admirably. He was doubtless the most masterly speaker that ever addressed an assembly. The people were astonished,' not at Him, but at his doctrine.'

II. JESUS CHRIST SPEAKING WITH AUTHORITY.

'For He taught them as One having authority and not as the scribes.' The scribes were practically the philosophers, poets, and commentators of Jewry; we are, therefore, quite justified in taking them to represent these three classes of men.

1. He taught them as one having authority, and not as the Philosophers. How did the philosophers speak? They spoke hesitatingly, had recourse to long and torturous arguments, and arrived by means of logical deduction at what they dimly supposed to be the Truth. They did not know the Truth-they only sought it.

Hence their investigations, prolonged and intense though they were, are viewed in the Bible as mere gropings.

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they might seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him and find Him.' If haply. There was a good deal of 'hap' in the teaching of the philosophers, but there was no hap in the teaching of Jesus Christ. He never spoke at a venture; His feet were planted on the rock of eternal truth; His tread was firm and vigorous. The philosophers were great reasoners; but Jesus Christ never reasoned. He never arrived at truth by way of argument, because truth was already present to his mind. What is reasoning? The mind feeling its way from the known to the unknown, proceeding warily from a near and manifest truth to a truth more remote and obscure. Reasoning is only a search after truth, and they only have to search who do not already possess. Jesus Christ, therefore, had not to search, for He was already in possession. And Jesus Christ was not a speculator or a theorizer-not a seeker after truth, but the witness of the truth. He spoke with the directness of an eye and ear witness.

2. He taught as one having authority' and not as the Poets. How do they teach? They imagine, guess, teach by happy conjecture. But Jesus Christ never imaginedHe knew; and inasmuch as he knew, why should he again imagine? The great wordpoetry is the word 'perhaps'- always understood if not expressed. Men are not very certain of their ground, and therefore they

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say perhaps Perhaps like this' Perhaps like that.' We say perhaps' a hundred times a day. But the word perhaps' found no place in the vocabulary of the Saviour. He never said the word 'perhaps'. Read the Gospels, and I defy you to find it from beginning to end. A great doctrine in the education of men is the doctrine of probabilities. Only a few months ago one of the greatest living statesmen wrote a learned and elaborate article to one of the leading London journals on this important subject. Men are not quite sure of the truth; we therefore pile probability on the top of probability to form what is called a cumulative argument,' and conclude by saying, Probably it is like that.' But the doctrine of probabilities found no place in the metaphysics of the Saviour. He never uttered the word 'probability' 'Perhaps' and 'Probably' are the great words of poetry; but they are not the great words of Jesus Christ. What then are His great words? That is one-the word verily. Verily, verily—indeed, indeed—amen, amen'-assurance doubly sure. He takes His solemn oath that what he says is the pure unadulterated truth. Men build castles; the majority, however, build their castles in the air; but as for that we are thankful for a place to build them anywhere. Jesus Christ built castles too, magnificent and grand; but never built one in the air. He founded all His castles on the immovable rock of eternal Truth. Some years ago a very able book was published, by two brothers of considerable repute, entitled Guesses at Truth.' A very appropriate title for all books of human composition- Guesses at Truth.' But when you read the Gospels beware of labelling them 'Guesses at Truth.' They contain not a single guess from beginning to end-they are The Truth. Jesus Christ, somewhere calls John the Baptist a lamp.' John was a burning and a shining lamp.' Like John the Baptist, all other writers and thinkers are lamps; but lamps, however multiplied, will never make a day. Plant thousands of lamps in a town, and the thousands together will not make a day. Jesus Christ, however, was not a lamp but a Sun; and one Sun suffices to make a day in ten planets the same moment. I am the Light of the World.' Not Holman Hunt's Light of the World,' who is obliged to carry a lantern in his hand to show him the way but One whose own person is filled with the infinite plentitude of Divine Light and who scatters it broadcast upon the

Universe. Lamps have to borrow their light but Suns make their own.

3. He taught them as one having authority, and not as the Commentators. The scribes were commentators by profession. They dissected truth and dissecting it, killed it. The scribes killed living truths; but Christ quickened dead truths, My words, they are spirit and they are life.' Commentators take the truths of the Bible and mercilessly analyze them and thereby rob them of their vitality. but the Saviour did with truths as He did with men- He healed all their sicknesses and diseases.' Many a lame truth He made to leap again. Many a truth struck with palsy He restored to strength. And many a dead truth He raised again from the grave. The general resurrection of truths is already passed. But I am afraid that we as preachers are in danger in the present day of following the scribes too much, and of Jesus Christ too little. We become critics in the pulpit and not preachers. We have taken the grand verities of Divine Revelation, minutely dissected them in the study, embalmed their bones in what we are pleased to call 'Bodies of Divinity.' And on Sundays we take these skeletons with us to the pulpit and rattle their joints in the hearing of the congregations. No wonder that many timid souls are scared away. What then should we do? Imitate Christ; put flesh on the bones, and infuse life in the whole. A Body of Divinity is all. very well, but the Spirit of Divinity is better. We have taken the Tree of Life into our workshops, stripped it of its foliage, lopped off its branches, split up the trunk, and tied up the chips in well assorted bundles. And on Sundays we take these bundles with us to the pulpit, and hold up one after another to. the people. saying-See here: this is the Tree of Life; its leaves will heal the sick! its fruits will quicken the dead.' But the men who know how God makes trees answer'No; God never male a tree like that; He is not the author of chips, for God is not the God of the dead but of the living.'

Commentators generally discuss the minor truths; but Jesus Christ directed attention to the great truths,-truths of eternal and paramount interest to universal humanity. The scribes tithed the mint, the anise, and the cummin' of theology. They wrangled and quibbled about trifles. But the Saviour spoke of weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith.' The doctrines He expounded were of supreme importance to every human being. Speaking world truths

me.' A system like that was not destined to live, and Hegelianism is already dead. But Jesus Christ made every truth shine; and herein consisted his greatness. Some fondly imagine that the great is dark. No: the great is clear. The sun, the greatest world in our system, is clear. God, the greatest being in the universe, is light,' and in Him is no darkness at all.' Jesus Christ was the 'Light of the world,'-He made every truth shine. A model preacher!

3. But he further urged them to do what they heard. We often conclude our sermons by appealing to the emotions; but Christ concluded the Sermon on the Mount by appealing to actions. Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them.' He taught no purely speculative truths, that is truths which have no relation to practice. This shows the marvellous energy and the comprehensive grasp of His mind. In the history of truths we behold two stages. The first when the truth exists merely in the region of speculation. The mind has discovered it, but does not perceive its manifold relationships, and is not consequently able to apply it to the practical purposes of life. It may remain in that nebulous state of theory for a century or two. Then comes a mind who converts the truth to some practical end; and thenceforward it will enter as an appreciable actor into the history of civilisation. apply a truth often evinces as great intellectual power as to discover it. Thus, almost every truth requires two minds to introduce it from the domain of speculation to the region of life-one to discover it the other to apply it. But in Jesus Christ the two go together. Not only He revealed truth, but He also applied it. He shows its bearing upon the daily practice of the world. He left no truth in the dim and cloudy air of speculation-He invariably incarnated it, brought it down from the sky and made it walk the earth.

And to

Not only the truths He taught were capable of being realized in daily life, but He further inspired His hearers to attempt their realization. Many of the most beautiful and striking sayings contained in the Sermon on the Mount are supposed to have found utterarce before, more or less perfect, in the maxims of the Jewish Rabbis and heathen philosophers. But they were only utteredthey were not done. Men's power of conceiving was incomparably greater than their power of accomplishing. It is the distinguishing merit of Christianity, however, that it enables the humblest peasant to do what the

noblest philosopher could only intermitently think. The ordinary actions of Christians are on a level with the sublimest ideas of philosophy. We do not only think-we live great things,' said an ancient father of the Church. Christianity, therefore, in its ultimate form is not theory but life, not speculation but practice. Each of us can do the sayings of Christ. We can practice the Sermon on the Mount. It is a beautiful sermon to read-it makes our hearts throb and our eyes glisten; but infinitely more beautiful to live. Imagine this brilliant discourse lived in our town! Imagine every verse of the New Testament translated into corresponding deeds in the Drama of the world! The New Testament as written and printed is only a book of ideas, and a most precious book it is even in this respect. No book like it. But the New Testament ideas are to be construed into New Testament lives. Live Christianity. Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and DOETH them.' You hear them, you understand them. but do you do them? I know the religion you like. like the religion of the understanding; you like the religion of feeling; but what about the religion of doing? And DOETH them.'

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Enoch walked with God. He did not understand much-the Bible was not given. He did not feel much-sentiment was not born. But what for that-'he walked with God.' True religion must enter the head, go down. through the head to the heart, sink down through the heart to the very feet. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who bringeth good tidings.' The ideas? No. The emotions? No; the feet. How beautiful the feet! Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. A lamp unto the head? Yes. lamp unto the heart? Yes; but above all a lamp unto the feet! You have the religion of the head, you have the religion of the heart; what about the religion of the feet?

POSSESSED OF DEVILS

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Luke ix. 1.-He gave them power and authority over all devils.

DEVILS were cast out. The devil is a LIVING power. Foul spirits still make their abodes on earth and in man. Greed, licentiousness, unbelief, hate, in an inordinate degree mark his special presence. The prince of this world came in conflict with Christ and was beaten. The power to cast out the evil spirit is with Christ to-day. He alone can restore man to his right mind, to himself, and cast out the devils by whom he is possessed.

II. ST. ANDREW.

JOHN the Baptist preached in the wilderness. He preached not himself but another. I am not He. "There cometh one after me the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose." The Baptist had not entered upon his mission for more than six months when Jesus, now being thirty years of age, came forth from his retirement at Nazareth and travelled to Jordan. Here He presented himself to be baptized. There seems at first sight something unaccountable in this act; that he who knew no sin should "arise and wash away his sins," that he who needed no repentance should accept the rite of initiation into His own Kingdom, seems extraordinary. So John felt. The explanation is that although Christ was without sin, He "bore our sins," and was "made sin" for us. The day after his bap tism John and two of his disciples stood and saw Jesus as he walked. The Holy Spirit came upon the Apostle, and he exclaimed "Behold the Lamb of God." Then the two disciples of John left their Master and followed Jesus.

One of these men was Andrew-the subject of this sketch. From that time he became one of our Lord's most devoted apostles. We can

gather from the accounts given that he must have been an ardent seeker after truth. This is shown first by the very fact of his being one of John's disciples, and in the second by the joy with which he followed Christ when once He was proclaimed as the Son of God. The first act he did manifests what he felt. He hastened off to his brother Simon Peter, and in the fulness of his heart exclaimed "We have found the Messiah." Thus he was the means of bringing another whom he loved, to the gospel light.

We have introduced Andrew as second in order among the twelve, because he is so mentioned in the two catalogues of the Apostles (Matt. v. 2, Luke vi. 14), but this is probably not the true position he occupied. In Mark iii., 16, and Acts i, 14, his name is mentioned fourth, and there is little doubt that this was his real place of dignity among the others. It is scarcely likely that one, respecting whom so little is recorded, occupied so high a position, either in the favour of our Lord or in the work of the ministry as to be ranked almost the chief of them all. Still if we reckon from the date of his call and do not adjudge him his position from his capacities or work to justly stand foremost in the list. Hence we are justified in thus early introducing the short story of his life.

Short indeed it is, for little is recorded, and consequently little known, respecting Andrew's life or death. It is strange how the authors of a vast and mighty movement like that of Christian. ity, which revolutionized the world, should have almost entirely dropped out of notice, and that so little respecting them should have been recorded. It would have been a subject of intense interest, for we should like to have known what

denied us.

Andrew was the son of Jonas and brother to Peter. It is supposed that he was partially of Greek extraction, both from his name and from the fact that when certain Greeks wanted to see Jesus they applied to Andrew, who introduced them to his Master. There are only two other occasions upon which he is mentioned, viz., when he enquired of our Lord respecting His coming, and in the miracle of feeding the five thousand when he pointed out the little lad who had the five barley loaves and the two fishes.

acter.

Of course we can gather but little of his char We know, however, that He who is acquainted with the hearts of men would not have selected him for the work had he not been specially adapted. Whether he was the elder or brother of Peter we do not know. As to younger the latter part of his life we have only tradition to guide us, and these traditions differ among themselves.

We can, however, gather these facts: That he preached the gospel in various places in Scythia, Greece, Asia Minor, and Thrace. In some or all of these spots he laboured in the work of his Lord, till having glorified him in life he glorified Him by a martyr's death. The enemies of the Cross of Christ persecuted him wherever he went, and their enmity was only satiated when his voice was silenced for ever. He was crucified like his Master, but upon a cross in the shape of an X, and on this account this cross is always known as the Cross of St. Andrew. Poor, despised, unlearned by the might of the Holy Spirit he was mighty in pulling down the strong. holds of Satan, and building up the Kingdom of Christ.

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