PRAYER BEFORE THE SERMON.

WE draw near to thee, our heavenly Father, as they who watch in the night draw near to the morning; for though they cannot reach the Source of light, though they know not what it is that brings forth the morning, they behold its brightness, they see how all things shine and rejoice in the light thereof, and they set their faces toward that light, to be themselves bathed with it, though they may not know its cause. How shall we ever make ourselves joyful if we wait until we understand thee? We set our faces toward the thought of divine love in infinite power, working out wisdom, and truth, and purity, and nobility. Thou sittest in the seat of everlasting power-for goodness is everlastingly powerful; and over all chaotic things, over all tumults, over all conflicts and oppositions, goodness shall yet prevail, and the kingdom of God shall be a kingdom of joy and singing. The whole universe shall resound without sadness or sorrow to the praise of God, and with the gladness of infinite hearts made worthy to be the children of God.

To this consummation our thoughts go forward. Though we are living far apart, in one chamber of thy universe, doing work the ends and issues of which we do not understand, we desire to be patient, believing that the great Husbandman knows that which we do not, and that thou art seeing throughout the growths of time, throughout all the prolongation of the seasons, as One who dwells in the whole universe; and thou art rejoicing and dost rejoice from day to day. For, though to those who are in the valley the storm shuts out the sky, yet those who are upon the mountain behold the sun above them, and in the light thereof see what is taking place in the valleys below on either side of them. And so thou, sitting upon the circle of the earth, dost see how men are beset with sorrows and troubles; and yet thou dost know that thy work is going on. Thou dost know that amidst infinite confusion there still runs the clear line of God's purpose. It is the divine tendency that every soul shall grow brighter and brighter; and the river of life is flowing stronger and deeper unto the end.

We rejoice, O God, that we may rise into the faith of that, and so into the faith of time, and into some comfort and courage of our own selves, that we may join those who seek purity, and elevation, and spirituality, and that we may have that confidence which outruns the senses, and takes hold of the great invisible treasury of truths.

We pray that we may be lifted up on this day of rejoicing all the world around. We pray that we may be joined in the universal acclaim and glądness, and that we may bring our hearts and praises to Him who hath brought life and immortality to light

O Lord Jesus! thou art on this side our brother, and on that side our God. Thou art to us the interpretation of that which we cannot find out by reasoning or research. Thou dost bring down to us such a sense of what is going on in the spirit-life, that through that we have approach unto God; and by thee we are able to stand before him. We rejoice in the tenderness, in the personal sympathy, and in

the love which couples thee with ourselves. We rejoice that it is a love which springs not from our excelencies but from thy compassion. Thou seest our toil, thou seest with what labor-throes we are being born; thou seest how we are straitened on every side, and are as children who have not cast off their childhood, and cannot cast it off, struggling for growth and for strength in growing; and thou hast been as a merciful high-priest touched with our infirmities, and tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin, that thou mightest be our Deliverer; and when we are naked and open unto thee with whom we have to do, thou criest still: "Come boldly unto the throne of grace," that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help us in time of need.

We ask, O Lord Jesus! for the mercy of God, not as they who are without it, but as they who recognize the supply, and still desire its continuance. We pray for the strength which we need day by day; for the renewal of hope in its very foundation; for patience; for entire submission to the divine will.

Grant, we pray thee, that we may never give over our faith in a God over-ruling all things for good, in mercy toward us in proportion to our need. We pray that this day we may draw near to thee with thanksgiving and rejoicing, and with renewed hopefulness, and that this may be a day full of divine blessings to every waiting soul.

Wilt thou especially draw near to every one that hath come hither seeking, in the sanctuary of God, strength and light that shall help him in his struggle of life. Draw near to every one according to his need. As thou didst address thyself on earth to all according to their several necessities, so again, and evermore, bring thyself to us as we need thee-to the poor in their poverty; to those who are feeble in weakness; to those who are disappointed and cast down, in their desolateness; to all who are uncertain, in their want of confirmation, in their perplexity, and in their over-turnings from day to day; to all that are suffering by reason of their faults and by reason of the faults of others round about them; to all whose hearts are sore with blighted affections; to all who are afflicted with bitter bereavements; to all from whom thou hast taken the light and the staff of strength; to all who remember the sorrows of days gone by.

Grant, we pray thee, that all may be able, this morning, to bear witness, that thou hast been present to them, and that thou hast given the strength and light of consolation to every one in due season.

We pray that thou wilt grant that all who have come up hither this morning, to bring their joy and their hope and their courage and their prospects of life before thee for thy blessing, may be able to offer themselves, in their gladness, to God, as an acceptable offering. may they never forget thanksgiving in the midst of sorrow. May they rather remember how much more reason there is for thanksgiving than for bitterness.

Grant that every day we may bring to thee, not our unceasing complaint, not our daily mourning: may we be the children of light, and bring something of love, and something of gladness, and something of courage, and something of aspiration, and something of hope, that we may please thee.

Grant that our faces may reflect thine, and be full of brightness.

Change even our night to day, or send stars to minister therein. We pray that thy blessing may fill us all with a sense of our own blessings, and with a sense of that better life and that better land which lie just beyond this world.

We pray, O God, that thou wilt grant thy blessing to-day upon all that gather together in the great congregations of these contiguous cities. May all who preach be able to do it with simplicity, with an inward understanding of thy truth, out of hearts that have been melted by that truth, and with power sent down by the Holy Ghost from on high. And we pray that thou wilt grant more and more that the truth may be efficacious in turning men from darkness to light, and from sin to holiness.

We pray that thy blessing may rest upon all those who devise morality; upon all those who work for the purification of morals; upon all those who seek to build up our times in justice, and temperance, and fidelity, and honesty.

Wilt thou bless this whole land? Remember the President of these United States, and all those who are joined with him in authority; and grant that thy blessing evermore may guide them into the things which shall be for the stability of our times, and for the welfare of this great people. Bless the Congress assembled, and all the legislatures of our several States, and the courts, and their officers, and all the citizens of this great land. May the poor and the needy be ministered unto. May the ignorant have light and knowledge brought unto them. May those who are drawn away from thee by prosperity be brought again to their Lord and their God. Spare this great people. Save them from judgments vindicating thy justice. Grant that they may walk in the ways of truth and righteousness into fidelity, and that they may become a people raised up of God to rain the light of liberty and true piety on all the nations of the earth. Make haste to fulfill thy promises, to bring in Jew and Gentile as one family, without divisions, without hatreds, without bickerings and contentions. May the whole earth at last rest in peace, in the salvation of its God.

And to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit shall be praises everlasting. Amen.

PRAYER AFTER THE SERMON.

OUR Father, we beseech of thee that thou wilt bless the word spoken, that it may be a word of instruction, of incitement, and of comfort. Be with those who need thee most; those who are under temptation; those who are grievously burdened; those who are discouraged by the greatness of the way. Be as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land to those who are faint in the wilderness of their life. O Lord, we pray that thou wilt be bread to those who are starving, whether of heart hunger or hunger of body. Draw near to those who are blind so that they cannot see the way, and be eyes to them.

Be near to those who are sitting desolate as captives in a prison. Grant that they may have deliverance in thee. Be with all thy servants of every name. More and more fill them with thy spirit. Take away their sins and their temptations, and exalt them into the beauty of holiness.

Lead thy flock like a shepherd through the wilderness; and bring it at last, with exceeding joy and glory, into thine own presence in the world to come. And to the Father, the Son, and the Spirit shall be the praise evermore. Amen.

SUMMER IN THE SOUL.

"Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you."-LUKE xvii., 21.

This same declaration runs through the New Testament. Under different forms, the truth was known in the Old Testament that the power of life lay, not in external things, but in the internal nature and dispositions of men; yet there was great emphasis put upon it by the Saviour and his apostles. You will find, for instance, Paul, in the 14th of Romans, saying, “The kingdom of God is not meat and drink." Now "meat and drink" refers unquestionably to the sacrificial elements, or to the most solemn and significant part of the symbolic worship of the Temple-that, therefore, to which the Jews attached a very precious significance. The apostle says, "The kingdom of God is not these instruments of worship, these symbols of truth: it is righteousness, right-living -that is, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." And then, as if he had an eye to the thousand and one sects which prevail, each one claiming everybody, and each one, with more or less uncharitableness, holding it to be very uncertain whether any would be saved that did not belong to their church, he adds, "He that in these things [that is, in righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost] serveth Christ, is acceptable to God, and approved of men."

He that has these right inward dispositions, then, is orthodox, put him in any sect you please. You may set a diamond in pewter, or in lead, or in copper or brass, or in silver or gold, and it is a diamond still. It is a diamond in all settings. So you may put a man who

SUNDAY MORNING, April 12, 1874. LESSON: Rom. xiil. HYMNS (Plymouth Collection): Nos. 255, 604, 1263.