We are told that coral reefs are not to be looked upon as simple stationary structures, but as living, moving things, ever changing their form and aspect. Vessels are constantly being lost upon coral reefs in different parts of the world, owing to the inaccuracy of their charts. There is abundant evidence to show that charts of coral reefs made one year are almost valueless twenty years afterwards. Much the same is true of the moral dangers of life. Ancient in character, they constantly emerge in special forms and original disguises, giving no place for presumption, calling for habitual awareness, lest we make shipwreck of faith, conscience, character, and hope.

II

THE MINISTRY OF INFIRMITY'

And Moses said unto the Lord, O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant: for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt speak.-EXOD. iv. 10-12.

And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man blind from his birth. And His disciples asked Him saying, Rabbi, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered, Neither did this man sin, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.-JOHN ix. 1-3.

THE explicit teaching in both cases is identical, namely, that God is glorified through human infirmity. We are justified in believing that He is, on the whole, best served by the more perfect creation; but it is evident that a place is found in His government for the infirm, and that upon occasion the defective instrument is the more effective for the divine purpose.

Preached at St. Albans on behalf of the North London Homes for Aged Christian Blind Men and Women.

An African proverb declares that 'A lame man is the porter at the gate of the gods.' How a saying of this kind originated in that quarter we do not know, yet it serves to show that the African has perceived that in the economy of the universe a place and ministry are reserved for infirmity. The Christian revelation makes this cheering truth entirely clear. Both passages before us are at one upon that. Again, both passages teach that infirmity is not to be regarded as an evidence of the peculiar and personal sinfulness of the afflicted. The incident in Exodus describes God as man's Creator, and the omnipotent Author of all his gifts and defects. 'And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I the Lord?' He determines the kind, the measure, and the number of our talents, and He holds Himself responsible for their incompleteness. The passage in the New Testament is equally explicit : 'Neither did this man sin, nor his parents.' Our Lord at once dismisses the notion that physical imperfection is explained by special personal sinfulness, or that it is designed as a punishment for such sin. He declines to inquire into the mystery of its dark origin in the general sinfulness of mankind, but at once fastens our eye upon the end contemplated in the

affliction, viz. the glory of God in the higher welfare of the sufferer and spectators. But that the works of God should be made manifest in him.'

All the evil, physical and moral, that is in the world is permitted for good ends, and will produce eventually a better state of things than could have otherwise existed. This is virtually the argument of St. Paul. 'Where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly that, as sin reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord' (Rom. v. 20, 21). Through the divine grace realized in Christ Jesus, suffering is overruled to ends of infinite advantage; out of sin and the calamities it involves issue consequences of glory to God and gain to humanity altogether beyond the measure of the suffering of the present time. This is the argument of the New Testament concerning suffering at large; and blindness, deafness, dumbness, with similar deprivations, are to be included in the same category with the general maladies to which the race is subject. The end of all affliction, of which end God never loses sight, is the purification of the individual soul and the establishment of righteousness in the earth. Therefore we no longer regard the misfortunes of our fellows as marks of obloquy,

but rather as indications of special superiority and privilege. Since New Testament times there has been a total change in the view with which these afflicted ones are regarded. 'Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.' No one spends much time about purifying iron, but the assayer is prodigal of patience and trouble when he has gold in the crucible. This premised:

I. Let us note how the glory of God is revealed in the afflicted themselves.-At the first glance it might be thought that only the severity of God is seen in the children of infirmity. They seem to present only a dark problem, difficult, perhaps impossible, to solve. But a closer view of the matter will show that the equity and grace of God are manifest in them, and manifest in a manner most impressive and affecting. The rainbow of mercy shines all the more vividly against the blackest clouds which darken our lot. We see this conspicuously in the law of compensation softening the severity of universal deprivation and suffering. Mark how this alleviating law tells to the advantage of the sightless and of their brothers in tribulation. Physically it serves them in a remarkable manner. Science tells us of the 'substitutional senses' which badly situated animals develop. As to ants, who spend the greater part of their existence