the ordeal with the same great victory emblazoned on our banner? Ah, my brothers, I fear we should fare very differently. Why, if God requires the least sacrifice, how do we grudge to make it! When the least thing goes against us we groan, and lament, and complain. When the smallest difficulty arises, our poor, frail hearts within us, sink and fail, and we forget to look above the difficulty to Him who sent it. And yet the worst of our trials is nothing to that of Abraham. If we had only faith as a grain of mustard seed we should never know what sorrow, or grief, or difficulty meant. All these feelings would be absorbed and swallowed up in the one great ocean of trust and love welling up out of grateful hearts. Why should not this faith then belong to us? Why should we be walking along and through the world in a fog, with our eyes darkened and our affections grovelling in the darkness around us, when all might be bright, for all might trust? We are to be saved by faith, by trusting on the merits of Christ. "By Faith are ye saved." Why then do we live on day after day unsaved, unforgiven, children of the devil, when by faith we might be children of God; and sons of perdition, when you might by faith be children of light; living in darkness, misery, sorrow, evil foreboding, when by faith we might live in and shed around you a halo of light, and love, and joy? God Almighty looks down upon this globe of ours, and He sees a perishing, dying world, dying for want of faith. He hears the groans and cries of anguish ascending from the bottomless pit of hell, and that chorus of agony arises from myriads of souls who have been damned from want of faith!

On the other hand is a vast and glorified multitude. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. They cease not day nor night crying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. They are exalted, purified, ennobled, glorified. Their heads are adorned with crowns of light. The city in which they dwell has gates of gold and pavements of precious stones. Their existence is one long, long song of eternal joy, an endless dream of unfathomable bliss. No sorrow within to pain, no envy without to harrass and annoy, no death to appall and terrify. These are they who have won the battle, and obtained the approval of their God, and all by the simple exercise of FAITH. We read of heroes and heroism, we read of conquerors by sea and land. Noble their deeds, honour to their names. But the noblest victor the earth can nourish, is he who has conquered self, and sin, and the Devil, and death, and obtained the hero's crown and the robe of white, together with the approval of Almighty God. And such may be the reward of each of us! Such may be our eternal destiny, our lasting joy! How? In the same way as Abraham received his reward-by the exercise of Faith. By Faith, says St. Paul, in Heb xi., all the good men of old subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out

of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Why should not faith such as this be ours?

You may say, "My heart is so weak, my courage is so faint, there is this doubt, and that doubt, there is my own sinfulness, how can I have faith?" My brother, the heart is weak, but the only way for it to become strong is by faith. And God does not expect great things at once. He will try your faith and trust, but not so sternly as He tried that of Abraham. If you would become a mighty hero, such as he, you must become so by degrees. Try it. Put your whole trust and confidence in the hand of your loving Father. Trust Jesus for your forgiveness for your sins. Trust the Holy Spirit for His guidance, the Father for His love. If your way is dark, so was Abraham's. It is to test your devotion; do not swerve. If your troubles are many, and seem strange and hard, so were Abraham's. But he conquered his heart; so may you. And when you feel your weakness, and poverty, and misery, and doubt, put up the unceasing prayer, which the disciples of old put up to Him who is more ready to hear than we are to pray-" Lord, increase our faith," and He will grant your request.

Some Outlines of Spurgeon's Sermons.

[WE have been frequently asked our opinion of Spurgeon as a preacher. He is a mighty man of valour. In as far as he preaches the Gospel he is a power in the Christian pulpit, such as rarely has been seen. But like most human things his life and influence have been marred by human frailty. Instead of knowing only "Christ and Him crucified," he knows a great deal of worldly policy, and the venom of the fall. Most of his noblest thoughts and most touching appeals are marred by cruel insinuations against other religious denominations. Most of his grandest sermons are polluted and spoilt by flinging in disgusting political allusions. These are like spots of pitch on the petals of a rose. They defile the beauty of some of the most telling and powerful discourses which living man can utter, and the smell of the pitch mingles with that fragrance which ought to smell sweetly of love and charity, and to partake of the gentleness of Christ. No one can read or hear the unwarrantable attacks Mr. Spurgeon makes more particularly on the clergy and members of the Church of England, as well as all who differ from him on the subject of baptism, without a sigh of regret that a diamond so bright should be obscured by prejudices so strong; and without a prayer that the most powerful preacher in the world may by God's grace be brought to feel that the pulpit the place for the gospel, that politics belong to the world, and that there are many of these "ravening wolves" who belong to other. denominations (even the Church of England), who were redeemed by Christ, and are the humble and devoted servants of a loving Saviour. We purpose occasionally giving brief analyses of some of this preacher's sermons, for a higher model we could not well imagine.]

I. A SOUND SECURITY IN CHRIST.

II. Tim. i. 12" I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."

ERE is a positiveness which is most refreshing in these days of doubt. It is considered philosophic, liberal, and fashionable to doubt everything. But the Apostle knows. There is no question whether he has believed or not. Some positiveness

is disgusting. The fool will know. There is brag and bluster used to cover ignorance or fear, as a schoolboy going through a graveyard at night will whistle to keep up his courage. But Paul's confidence was the result of knowledge and consideration, and although a prisoner in a dungeon, he confronted the world with a boldness which knew no quailing. Let us speak upon—

But

I. The matter in question. This was-1.-The Apostle's deposit of all his interests and concerns into the hands of God in Christ. It was not merely his ministry, or his salvation, but all his temporal and eternal interests. These included his body. He had suffered much in that frail tabernacle-shipwrecks, perils, etc.; he expected that it would soon become the prey of the tyrant. But whatever might be the result he committed it to God, who would raise it in a joyful manner. He gave his character and reputation. A Christian minister must expect to lose his repute among men, and be willing to suffer reproach for his Master. he may be assured that the judge of the quick and the dead will vindicate His servants before the whole world. He delivered his life-work. Man would say that he had made a great mistake, that he was mad. As a Pharisee he might have been honoured. As wise he would leave it with God; He would make it plain. He delivered his soul in its jeopardy from temptations. He made over to the Divine Master his mental powers, faculties, passions, instincts, and ambitions. He gave that soul to be kept till, and in the hour of death to be strengthened, sustained, upheld, and guided. He made a deposit of all he was and had into the hands of a faithful Guardian and safe Keeper.

[In the reported sermon there are two other heads under the I. division, but as they are simply a tautological repetition (the natural result of extempore preaching) of what is included in Division II., they are omitted.]

II. The fact beyond all question. God's ability to preserve the charge. The Apostle's confidence was in this. He meant-1.-That Christ was able to preserve him from irretrievable sin. The true believer always fears lest he might turn aside. The Lord is able to keep us under every form of temptation.

2.-That Christ could preserve him from despair. He was always battling with the world. There were times when he was alone in the contest; false brethren deserted, true friends were weak. Sorrow, persecution, disappointment, weighed him down. But, mortal as he was, he rose above his fears. He believed that he would be kept, and kept he was. So will Christ make more than conquerors all who trust in Him.

3.-That Christ would preserve him from the power of death. This is a great comfort to us who shall so soon die. But to the Apostle death was a very present thing. He died daily. Yet he was well assured that death would be to him gain rather than loss. Do not let us be in bondage of the fear of death, for He who is the resurrection and the life is able to keep us, and He will.

4.-That Christ would preserve his soul in another world. Little is revealed of the future state. Imagination may be indulged, but little can be proved. We cast ourselves into an unknown, untried sea. We know not whether our soul shall be instantly with Christ, but one thing is sure, that He will keep it safely in all the dangers of its journey from this world to another. If we had to keep it ourselves we might well tremble with alarm at the prospect of the unknown region, and the gates of heaven, and the prisons of hell.

5.-That Christ would preserve his body. We must not despise this body. It is the germ of that which shall live for ever when developed from weakness to power and glory. Christ shall preserve that body amid all the incidents of decay.

III. The assurance of this fact. How did Paul attain to it? 1.By making faith the prominent point of consideration. It is twice mentioned in the text, "I have believed," and "I have committed." He knew that what he committed to Christ was precious. He does not say, I have served Christ, but that having believed he committed all things into His hands. 2.-By maintaining a personal view of Christ. He does not mention doctrines or creeds, but it is He and Him. There is no Christianity so vital as the living Redeemer. 3.-By growing knowledge. The age requires growing Christians; we want to know more of Christ Himself. I know, says the Apostle. 4.-By close consideration. I know and am persuaded; persuasion is the result of argument and of proof. The Apostle had examined the matter.

IV. The influence of this assurance. 1.-It enables us to bear all and everything in serving the Lord. The Apostle suffered obliquy, but he was not ashamed, for he knew, etc. What does it matter what mortals think or say? 2.-To go about the Master's work with ease and confidence. If you doubt and fear you cannot enter the fray, but assured of the love and protection of God you will be unfettered. Those who know that Christ is all in all will be able to give their whole manhood, exacted by gratitude, to the Master's cause. The happiness the soul knows by resting in the Lord is not to be expressed.

The Contemporary Pulpit.

THE HUNDREDTH AND THIRTIETH PSALM. (THE REV. ALEXANDER MACLAREN, D.D., MANCHESTER.) Psalm cxxx. 1, 2-"Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication."

Y text is really the whole Psalm. It presents beautifully, simply, comprehensively, the ascent of the soul from the depths to the heights. It is a "Song of Degrees," as the little heading tells us a song of goings up; and whatever that very enigmatical phrase may mean, there is a sense in which this psalm, at any rate, is distinctly a song of ascent. It starts from the very lowest point of self-abasement and consciousness of evil, and rises steadily, and though it may be slowly, rises steadily and surely up to the tranquil summit, led by the consciousness of the Divine presence and grace. falls very clearly into four portions, of a couple of verses each. The first is the cry from the depths, which I read to you. The second is included in the third and fourth verses-the second round of the ladder, as it were, which is, that the cry to God is for a moment checked by the dark thought, which, however, being overcome, issues into a blessed bright

It

assurance. The man has been crying to God; he stops, his voice is, as it were, blown back into his own throat when he thinks this, "If Thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?"

Then comes a thought not expressed in the psalm, but in the issue, "But Thou dost not so mark iniquity.' "For "- -as the little word "but" would be accurately rendered-"for there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared."

So the dark thought is overwhelmed and drowned, as it were, in the great, broad, confident thought, "There is forgiveness with Thee." After the appropriation of the great truth of God's forgiving mercy comes the third step in the ladder, also expressed in a couple of verses, "I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in His word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning-they that watch for the morning." That is to say, there we get the permanent, habitual, peaceful dependence upon God of the spirit that has tasted His forgiving mercy. And that is the third rung of the ladder.

Then the fourth, likewise expressed in a couple of verses, is the missionary spirit that surely follows a profound experience of God's forgiving mercy : "Let Israel hope in the Lord : for with the Lord there is mercy, etc. Upon the summit of that great hope for himself and for his brethren, the Psalmist stands with the sunshine about him, having climbed steadily up from that low abject condition of consciousness of his sin and his evil.

So much, then, for the outline of the course of thought that lies here. And now a word or two about each of these divisions.

I. THERE IS THE CRY FROM THE DEPTHS. Well, measured by the height of the great white throne, all human elevations are depths; but it is not that the Psalmist means. He does not merely mean, "I, in my human insignificance, poor little crawling creature that I am as compared with Thee, I venture to cry to Thee." There are deeper depths than that. Man is near God, though a man may be a pigmy and God be infinite. In so far as man's nature partakes of the Divine nature, a little spark is kindled into a fire that may flame heaven high. And man is near God in his manhood. And it is not merely the depths of outward disease and calamity and sorrow; nor is it merely the depths of a disappointed spirit and lowly nature.

Ah! there are pits so deep and profound into which we have to go that all these depressions of human minuteness and of earthly sorrow and of worldly care and depressions are but, if I may so say, dimples on the surface compared with the cavities of some volcano. The depths the Psalmist means are away down, far below these shallow surface thingsdepths into which the spirit feels itself going down, sick and giddy, when there comes the thought, "I am a sinful man, O Lord, in the presence of Thy great purity." Out of these depths does he call to God.

Now, three words are all I have time to say of this first part. 1.— The depths is the place for us all. Every man has got to go down there if he takes the place that belongs to him. 2.-Unless you have cried to Him as a penitent, sinful man, conscious of transgression, your prayers are shallow. Or, to put it into other words, the beginning of all true personal religion lies in the sense of my own sin and lost condition. Why, the difference between the tepid, superficial religion that so many have and real devotion consists a great deal more in this than in anything else, that in one man the sense of sin has been awakened, and in the other it has not. The reason why these people that call themselves Christians,