perity, as well as for such as are in poverty and distress. Take men in any condition of life, rich or poor, sick or well, sorrowful or glad, and it would be easy to shew that a great and particular benefit, calculated in every case for their individual good, has this day been provided for them by the birth of a Saviour.

But I must not enter upon this now. I would only, before concluding, mention the common benefits to mankind that result from His coming into the world.

To all alike, then, Christ has come with a message of reconciliation. For all He brings peace. To all, as many as will receive Him, He gives power to break the bond of their sins, to become the sons of God. He is the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. From every eye, that is not obstinately closed against Him, He takes away the film, and enables us to see God aright, and to love God, and to walk before Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness, all the days of our life. For all, He has introduced a new law, which, if it were followed, would make all happy, and turn this world of sin into a second Eden.

These are common benefits, and call for common acknowledgment. Let us render it now. Let us bless God on our knees this day for shewing us His great Salvation that Salvation which He has prepared before the face of all people, in which mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace kiss one another!

Let us bless God for sending us His Son, His onlybegotten Son, to take our nature upon Him. Nor let us stop with the mere uttering of thanks and praise. Let us put the seal of our lives upon these. Men whom Christ

has redeemed, men who in Him are again partakers of the Divine nature, men whose sins are forgiven them, to whose faith heaven has been opened, O, see that ye walk in some sort answerable to such priceless blessings! Be it yours not only to look upon the Saviour-as we have done to-day-in His cradle, but to follow in all things the blessed footsteps of His after life; to go with Him where He leads, to take His cross upon you, and to learn of Him; to do all you can to set forward in the world, in that small field of it especially, in which your lot is cast, the great end and object of His comingGlory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men!

SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS.

THE VALUE OF LIFE.

ISAIAH XXXVIII. 18, 19,

The grave cannot praise Thee, death cannot celebrate Thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise Thee.

THESE words occur in one of the first lessons appointed by our Church for this Sunday. They form part of the writing of Hezekiah when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness.

The whole thanksgiving is very beautiful, and suggests much matter fit for our consideration at this time.

And first let me recall to you some particulars in Hezekiah's history. His character stands out, in the Scripture record, in most favourable contrast with the great majority of the Kings of Judah. He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places and cast down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it, and he called it Nehushter. He

trusted in the Lord God of Israel: so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from Him, but kept His commandments, as the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him, and prospered him whithersoever he went forth.

Such is the account we have in the Bible of this good king-a zealous purifier of religion, one who trusted in God with all his heart, and walked faithfully in the way of His commandments.

Now it came to pass that Hezekiah was visited with sickness, and the sickness was so sore upon him that he was at the point of death. Nay, he was told by God's own messenger, the prophet Isaiah, that he should not recover, and bid to prepare for his end. Thus saith the Lord God, set thine house in order, for thou shalt die and not live.

And now mark, brethren, what Hezekiah did in this extremity. He turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord. The words of his prayer are given us, and we have read them to-day. Moreover, we are told how earnest he was in his entreaty-he wept sore.

Nor did he pray in vain. No earnest prayer ever is in vain. God lent a willing ear to Hezekiah; and the same messenger who had before brought such heavy tidings, is now sent to comfort him, to promise him recovery, and the addition of fifteen years to his life.

Such mercy called forth from the king that famous song of praise and thanksgiving, from whence my text is taken.

In a strain of the tenderest and deepest piety he returns his thanks to his Preserver. To God he owes it that the pit has not closed upon him, that his sins have been forgiven him, and a longer stay granted him among men. He feels that for such favours public acknowledgment is due. He will make that acknowledgment. He will go into the courts of the Lord's house, and there, in the presence of his people, he will render thanks, and make his prayer unto the God of his life-The Lord was ready to save me, therefore will we sing my song to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.

And here, before going further, let me ask you to admire, and, when need is, to imitate the piety of the good king. Two lessons there surely are for us all from the conduct of Hezekiah under sickness. The first is, to have recourse to God for aid when overtaken by illness, to turn our face to the wall and pray.

The second is to give God thanks on our recovery—to think of Him as our Deliverer, our Healer, the God in whom we live-who has added to our life a longer span of days. To think, why He has added them-even for this, that we may serve Him more faithfully, and walk before Him henceforth with a more perfect, less divided heart.

These are the lessons-lessons often dwelt upon in sermons, but, alas, all too little regarded!

Few of us, I fear, pray heartily to God when visited by sickness. If we pray at all, we pray languidly, unbelievingly, not in that effectual, fervent way, not with