the most important? Must not the heart of our Father in heaven rejoice with exceeding joy when he sees those whom He loves so well, and whose eternal destinies are to Him of such priceless value, quietly and calmly content to sit still, and not to do, seeking in His holy presence to learn their lesson well, and to please Him who takes them aside by the still waters" to rest awhile?

66

It is thus God teaches us, and well it is for us if we are

able to say

"I am not eager, strong, or bold

All that is past!

And I am learning not to do,

At last, at last!

My half-day's work is almost done

'Tis all my part;

Now I would bring my patient God

A patient heart."

Truly we have a patient God, and we need continually to echo the prayer of the apostle in 2 Thess. iii. 5, "The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ." Our poor impatient hearts need to be guided into that love which can alone bring forth in us the patience of which Christ is the example, and of which James writes," Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." How often we need to be reminded of those words of Psalm xlvi.— "Be still and know that I am God!" It is not till we are still, content not to do, when He so appoints, that we can realize the precious truth that He is GOD. There is often more pride in our restless inability to be still than we are aware of; and our loving Father has often to use hard means to break the neck of our pride, and to lay our stubborn self-importance low in the dust. The tempest, the shakings and swellings, indicated in the Psalm, add force to the injunction to "be still.”

May the Lord in His infinite mercy give to all His loved ones whom He has for a season taken aside, such an appreciation of their golden opportunity, that the deep and precious teaching of their "still" lesson may be well learned, and yield a rich present joy as well as a precious eternal reward. H. G.

"I WILL GUIDE THEE WITH MINE EYE.'

Without a fear, without a care-
Thus would I wait, my Lord,
Watching Thy gracious eyes until
My heart, prepared to do Thy will,
Springs forward at Thy word;
Then would I run unweariedly,
To do the work Thou biddest me.

Thus would I-but my coward soul
Does aye elude my will,

And, trembling, shrinks from pain and grief,
And quails in anxious unbelief

From faintest touch of ill!

My Lord, I mourn in shame and tears

These unbelieving cares and fears.

Cast out the terror from my heart,
Keep me from vain alarm,

Ever consenting, Lord, to all

Thy will for me in great, and small,
Fearless of loss and harm;

Instruct me, rule me by Thy Word,
And use me as Thou wilt, my Lord.

Thus shall I ready be to run,

Thus willing, Lord, to wait;

My lightened heart shall learn to sing,
With thanks accepting everything

Thy will doth dedicate

To train my soul for coming days

Of everlasting love and praise.

E. S. W

"THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT."

MATT. V.-VII.

THE sixth chapter of Luke's Gospel is evidently a brief counterpart of Matt. v.-vii.; for it begins and ends as the "Sermon on the Mount" does, and is almost wholly composed of portions of it. Other portions lie here and there in Luke's Gospel, from which it would seem that Matthew gives in these chapters a summary of our Lord's Galilean teachings, as he gives in chapters viii. and ix. a summary of His Galilean miracles; for these also are found in different parts of Luke.

We may therefore regard Matt. v.-vii. as an announcement and a declaration by the Lord, of the holiness and heavenly-mindedness of that "kingdom of the heavens*" which had already, in His own blessed Person, come down on a visit to earth. This "kingdom of the heavens" is the same as the "kingdom of God" in the other Gospels. Kingdom of the heavens" points to the place above from whence the King had already come in grace, and would hereafter come in glory. Compare our Lord's words to Pilate in John xviii. 36, "My kingdom is not of this world. . . . now is My kingdom not from hence." Most justly, therefore, does He call it "The kingdom of the heavens." Compare also God's message to Nebuchadnezzar in Dan. iv. 26, "They shall drive thee from men

thou know

till

that the heavens do rule." The expression, "kingdom of God" points to God Himself as the one only source of power or authority in the heavenly kingdom.

* This comprehensive expression gives the exact meaning of the original, as Mr. Newberry's Bible rightly shows.

Very opposite in every way are earth's kingdoms, even if the heart of the king is under the power of the truth of God. Nimrod, the first monarch of earth, was in God's view, or "before the Lord," only a "mighty hunter ”— making prey of men, that is to say, as the hunter does of animals; yet was he necessary when men by sin had become as beasts for violence. When the great Gentile empires were presented in vision to Daniel, it was under the figure of four beasts—see chapter vii. And even the God-given kingdom of Israel had debased itself more and worse than the Gentile kingdoms, and had so abused the law which had been given to teach them the blessed "fear of the Lord," that it was employed for worldly and hypocritical purposes.

It was after this manifestation of earth's kings and kingdoms that our Lord gave His divine announcement of the "kingdom of the heavens," and set forth, through its laws and statutes, the highest spirituality, in utmost possible contrast with the vain religious worldliness of His own nation.

The "Sermon on the Mount" is full of such contrasts; and it also shows that all the spirituality it inculcates was hidden in the law given by God at Sinai, though only a measure of this had ever been pressed on the people (see Matt. xix. 7, 8); and even that small measure had been rejected.

Having briefly glanced at the "Sermon on the Mount," as a whole, we may look a little at its internal structure, and for this purpose may divide it into three parts.

1. The introduction.

2. The excellence of a God-wrought holiness, and its vast superiority over mere national Jewish religion

3. Concluding exhortations and warnings.

Space will only allow of a few remarks under each of these heads.

(1) The introduction consists of what are called the Beatitudes." With them we have only to compare the promises under the law in Deut. xxviii. to see the vast superiority of these spiritual blessings compared with Israel's temporal ones. Earthly blessings and prosperity in this life are God's prerogative to give, and His only; and it pleased Him under the Old Testament to connect them, as a rule, with faith and obedience. But in the "kingdom of the heavens" it is quite otherwise. In the blessings uttered by our Lord there is a marked absence of earthly advantage. Both the internal and external characteristics of the subjects of the heavenly kingdom are those of the Spirit, not those of the flesh.

It is instructive to notice that in these chapters the blessings precede any mention of precepts or duties. The word used, makarios, means "happy" as well as "blessed," and points to the joys of Christ's disciples rather than to the gain or profit of His service. Indeed, the same word is used by Paul in the expressions "the blessed God," and "the blessed and only Potentate," in 1 Tim. i. 11; vi. 15. God rejoices in all His works, and declares that this characteristic happiness belongs to His children who are serving Him here below. This bright and joyful introduction to all the subsequent precepts reminds us of Neh. viii. 10, "The joy of the Lord is your strength."

(2) The excellence of a divine holiness as inwrought in the believer is the theme of the second and larger part of our Lord's discourse; from chap. v. 13 to vii. 12. The divisions under this head are in beautiful order.

The practical character, amongst men, of the "blessed" ones is given in chap. v. 13-20. So distinct from the world are they, that they are described as

the salt of the