God. No power there to darken our faith with cloudy doubts, nor to cool the ardour of our devotions! We infer

INTERCESSORY

III. THAT THE GOOD MAN, IN HIS FUNCTIONS ON EARTH, HAS THE SPECIAL ASSISTANCE OF A

DIVINE HELPER. Whilst Satan stood up against Joshua, there was one who stood up for him; the Lord-called, also, "the angel of the Lord." Who is this? All acknowledged expositors are agreed in concluding this to be Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world.

:

And He, indeed, is man's great spiritual helper. He is our advocate-our intercessor. He helps us in our prayers, He attracts us to the throne of grace. "Seeing that we have a great high priest who has passed into the heavens," &c. His Spirit makes intercession within us, awakens in us those desires which agree with the will of God. The scene illustrates two thoughts concerning the help rendered. First it was rendered sympathetically. "Is not this a brand?" &c. Consider the suffering to which they have been subject. Christ is full of sympathy. "We have not a high priest," &c. "Him that cometh unto God through Him, he will in no wise cast out." Secondly: the help was rendered effectually. The old "filthy garment," the emblem of impurity and guilt, was taken away, and he was clothed in other garments; that is, their guilt was removed-they were restored from their degradation. And the "mitre "—the emblem of dignity was put on their head. They were raised once more to the glory of an independent nation. See

1. That if you would effectually help your race, you must appear before God as an intercessor. Other means are to be employed. Promote general knowledge, advance the arts, help on commerce, above all, diffuse the gospel of Jesus; but in connection with all, you must appear before God as Joshua did for Israel. It is in this way you will change the world's "filthy garments," ," and get for it the "raiment" of purity, and the "mitre" of honor.

2. That if you would effectually appear before God, you must have the help of Jesus Christ. What is the vision before us but an adumbration of a common fact in the spiritual history of every praying man? Ever as we attempt to approach the everlasting Father in devout thought and worship, do we not find some opposing force like this Satan, or rather, this Satan himself, "standing" "at our right hand to resist" us? What is to be done? Are we to retire ?-cease all endeavour to commune with the loving parent of our souls? God forbid! Our doom is sealed in midnight and anguish, should this be so? There is no happiness for any finite spirit but that which flows from intercourse with the eternal fountain of good. Our only hope is in getting HIM-the great mediator-with us, who shall repel our foe-drive him from our presence with the words, "The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan."

SUBJECT:-The Apostolic Gospel.

"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures," &c.-1 Cor.,

XV. 1-11.

Analysis of Homily the Ninety-sixth.

On all hands we hear persons talk about the "simple gospel." And it appears to us that, in the majority of cases, the expression means nothing more than a few crude notions which the speaker has received, or, possibly, formed, about the gospel. Some men's "simple gospel" is an offence to reason, a dishonor to God, and a curse to Christianity.

The passage under review presents to us PAUL'S "simple gospel ;" and let us look at Christianity as here indicated. We observe

I. THAT CHRISTIANITY IS BASED UPON HISTORICAL FACTS. It is not founded upon human reason-upon any of its primitive axioms, or logical conclusions. It is not founded upon human imagination; it is neither an ingenious hypothesis to account for any phenomena, nor a poetic myth to adumbrate any truth. It is based on FACTS.

First: These facts are personal. They are connected with a person, and that person is not Socrates, Plato, nor Cæsar: but one whom Paul calls CHRIST. It is founded upon the personal history of one, and but one, individual, and that is Christ.

Secondly: These facts are few. He died," he was "buried," and he "rose." These facts are compendious facts, they imply many more, and may be reduced even to less. The resurrection of Christ involves the whole : and in the subsequent verses of this chapter, Paul uses it as such.

After his re

Thirdly These facts are well attested. surrection, Paul tells us here, that "he was seen of Cephas," of "the twelve," then of "five hundred," and then of " me also." No facts on record, are better attested than these. We observe from this passage

II. THAT CHRISTIANITY IS DESIGNED FOR THE REMOVAL OF EVIL. Why did these facts take place? What is the aim of the whole? He died for our sins." The great end of Christianity is, to "put away sin from the world; to put it away from the hearts, literature, institutions, customs, and governments, of mankind. Let sin be put away, and all evil is put away; natural evil is but the effect of moral. Philosophically, there is no system on earth suited to destroy man's sinful disposition and to change his heart,

but Christianity and, historically, nothing else has ever done it.

Let the fact ring louder and louder through the world, that the grand end of Christianity is not the formation of creeds, however correct, nor the organization of societies, however scriptural, but it is to put away sins.

We observe

PREACHED WITH

III. THAT CHRISTIANITY IS ΤΟ BE THIS DESIGN. "By which also ye are saved if ye keep in memory-hold fast -what I preached unto you," &c. Paul preached that they might be SAVED; but they could only be saved as they renounced and hated sin. The passage suggests three ideas in relation to Paul's preaching with this view.

First: He preached Christianity convincingly. He says, "The gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye received." They believed his gospel: then he must have convinced them by arguments.

Christianity in preaching is

to be commended " 'to every man's conscience."

Secondly: He preached Christianity scripturally. He showed those facts in the light of the scriptures-" according to the scriptures."

Thirdly: He preached Christianity humbly. The expression "born out of due time," evidently indicates his humility, and then in the next verse, he says, "For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle," &c.

We thank God for such a system as this-a system built, not on propositions, but on facts-personal, few in number, but well attested. Such facts are most palpable and attractive; a system which cures the evils of the moral world by taking away its sins. Let it be preached, as Paul preached it, convincingly, scripturally, and humbly.

SUBJECT:-The Moral Mirror of the Good.

"God is our refuge and strength." &c.-Psalm, xlvi.

Analysis of Homily the Ninety-seventh.

THE intelligent and beautiful exposition of this Psalm, furnished by Mr. SMITH in our last number, authorizes us to regard it as a Moral Mirror of the Good.*

And we accordingly infer

I. THAT THE EARTHLY SCENE OF THE GOOD IS THAT OF TUMULT AND OPPOSITION. What agitation now surged around the Holy City. The mountains were carried into the midst of the sea; empires lost their equilibrium, and were borne away before the furious tide of passion: and what a powerful enemy now assailed it! This-all this, is but a picture of the scene in which the good are living here. All things are unsettled; the heavens and the earth are shaking. Into whatever domain we step, there is commotion; in the realms of politics, party is contending with party, and kingdom with kingdom; in the realms of commerce, what fierce competitions, every little spirit is striving for the mastery; in the realms of literature, opinions battle with opinions, and systems with systems; in the realms of religion, in the very heart of the Holy City, "the waters roar with the swellings "

of technical controversies and sectarian feuds.

The fact that we live in such turbulent scenes serves two purposes-first: To remind us of the constant presence of moral evil. Why is the world in this constant ferment? Why is it like a barque ever tossed about by conflicting winds and waves? Is this its normal state? No, "the God of peace" never sent souls to be thus agitated by inner convulsions and outward storms. It is sin that has broken the harmony of the creation, put souls into antagonism with themselves, each other, and God. Secondly: This fact serves to heighten our aspirations for a peaceful future. How * See Homilist, No. xiv. pp. 118-120.

Vol. III.

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