cheaper means of illumining the city streets than the machinery of men. The finer and enduring revelation he discards; the vulgar one he accepts. To all spiritual suggestion he is insensible and dead. He has a sharp understanding for the things that are practical, yet, with pitiful irony, he values power only in its outward semblance, and wealth only in its perishable forms. Yet until the time comes when graves shall be found into which passions, and thoughts, and memories, hopes, inspirations, love, shall be shovelled like so much earth, the unseen benediction will be the noblest, and the gift of a profounder insight, of a larger and tenderer sympathy, of a clearer perception of the truth, of a more constant power of sacrifice and self-denial, of a love of holiness more passionate and more deep,-the gift, in short, of faith and the Holy Ghost will be the most real and sacred and practical and blessed of all the gifts that God bestows upon mankind. Again, we say, that without this no life can be said to succeed, and with it none can be said to fail.

This secret of success may be owned of all: none can miss it who sincerely desires and seeks it. In the external departments of our life success is only awarded to the few. The world has only a few great leaders, statesmen, artists, poets, but in this larger kingdom of God, which deals with what we are rather than with what we have, even the lowliest and most diffident may gain a great reward. Here the man of humble life, who earns in obscurity his daily bread by the sweat of his brow, may rank with the greatest as a son of God.

Whether you have this secret is known to God and yourselves alone. If you have you know something of the joy of those who are one with Christ-of the peace which Paul says "passeth all understanding "-the peace which is beyond the power of your mind to describe, though not beyond the power of your heart to feel. If you have it not, may the appeal which comes to you through the words of this prisoner at Rome, receive the answer which alone is worthy to be given by one who is involved in the purposes of God-the answer of acceptance, of glad and eager consecration to Christ and to His work. Then, when at last you enter the haven into which He will lead you,

whether you enter quietly and peacefully, or, as Paul entered it, beaten and battered by unmerited sorrows and unexpected trials, you will be able like him to say with the calm, strong confidence of a heart that cannot be moved,-" I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give to me at that day." GLOUCESTER.

HENRY SHAW.

The Desire of All Nations.

(An Advent Meditation.)

"AND THE DESIRE OF ALL NATIONS SHALL COME: AND I WILL FILL THIS HOUSE WITH GLORY, SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS."Haggai ii. 7.

THE special mission of Haggai was to encourage the Jews in the rebuilding of the Temple. The seventy years of captivity in Babylon had passed away, and the Holy Land was again possessed by God's chosen people. Among the many things to discourage the builders of the second Temple was the fact that it fell far short of the glory of the first; yet the erection was to go on, and the topstone placed with rejoicing, because into it “the desire of all nations" would come, and it would be filled with the glory of the Lord of hosts. The shekinah had been withdrawn, but it would again appear, and the glory of the second house would ultimately excel that of the first. The Jews, doubtless, felt disappointed at the absence of external manifestations of the Divine presence, but the prophecy of our text would awaken and sustain expectation of manifestation that would fulfil the ardent longing of the universal heart of man. Progress and development mark the natural and moral government of God. In the plan of redemption, God always had "some better thing" in store for the world, till the desire of all nations came, and the second Temple

was filled with "the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of His person." Let us enquire—

I-WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE PROPHECY CONTAINED IN THE TEXT? Obviously the prophecy points to the advent of the great Messiah who had been foreshadowed in types and ceremonies of Levitical economy, predicted in glowing utterances of Hebrew prophets before and during the captivity. Haggai was permitted to announce that Jehovah had not departed from His Divine purpose to come in very deed and dwell with man on the earth. The desire of all nations had been to have

(a) An Incarnate God. All heathen religions have been the feeling of the human heart after God, the desire for the presencelocal and visible—of the Almighty One. Hence the heathen have erected their temples, fashioned their gods, and, to satisfy the desires of their hearts, have bowed down before them. The soul of man cannot be satisfied with the abstract and metaphysical, it must have something tangible as basis and inspiration to worship. Man wants not "a stream of tendency that makes for righteousness," "an inexorable, universal law," "an inexhaustible and irresistable force," but a personal, living, loving, ever-present God. The desire of all nations has been to have

(b) An Almighty Saviour. There is in every human breast a sense of guilt, as there is an inner consciousness of a Supreme Being. Men feel-taught by conscience, by the darkness or light of nature that they need to propitiate the offended Deity, to whom they are amenable, in whom they live and move and have their being. The sacrifices offered on pagan altars, the cries of devotees to their gods, indicated the need for One who would be able and willing to save to the uttermost all who would come unto God by Him. The desire of all nations has been to have— (c) A revelation of the future state. Apprehensions of a future life seem natural to the soul; probabilities of it are suggested by analogies in nature; glimpses of it were afforded under the Hebrew economy; but it was reserved for Christ to fulfil the desire of nations, and bring life and immortality to light by His Gospel. In these three respects it may fairly be concluded that the text points to the advent of Incarnate God.

This consummation, so devoutly to be wished, was to be accompanied by extraordinary social and moral phenomena. At the coming of Christ, Judea was to be shaken to its centre, and the enfeebled world moved at its base. Just when all human systems had failed to meet the desires of the human soul, Christ came, in whom all the nations of the earth are to be blessed. God had already filled the heavens with His glory, and all His works were vocal with His praise. He had descended at Sinai, and displayed His glory in the lightnings that covered the sky with flame. He filled the Temple of Solomon with the cloud of His presence, whose ineffable brightness overwhelmed the assembled worshippers with awe. But a brighter glory was in store for the Hebrew Church and the world. God's greatest glory is His love, and in Christ we have incarnate love, the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God. God's glory is nowhere so fully seen as in saving man. The great desire of all nations was to be satisfied, the moral needs of the world met. Man's longing for a Redeemer who would reveal the Divine Father, immortal life, and the way of peace, was not to be mocked. God's gracious purposes towards our race were to be accomplished in His own time and according to His own good pleasure.

He came to the Temple,

II. HAS THE PROPHECY OF OUR TEXT BEEN FULFILLED IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. In the fulness of time, according to predictions uttered, by not only Haggai but other prophets, the Messiah came, and at a time when the event could be indelibly registered in the annals of the world. He came and lived a real life. He was not a phantom or a myth. was presented in the arms of Simeon; sat in the midst of the doctors and amazed them with His wisdom; frequented it during His public ministry, and by His matchless words and mighty deeds filled it with Divine glory. He met the desire of all nations in that He atoned for the sins of the whole world; opened the way for pardon, purity, and peace; revealed Himself as "the way, the truth, and the life." This shows the transcendent excellence of Christianity and the Deity of Christ, that all the moral cravings of humanity are satisfied in the Gospel. Man desires not only reconciliation with his Creator, to feel that God is his

A 2

loving Father, but to have peace, goodwill, and unity in society. Prophecy, and its exact fulfilment, an indisputable evidence of the truth of Christianity: the law, Psalms, and prophets bear witness to Christ. History bears witness to the Redeemer; the years of the Christian era echo as they pass, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in the days of Herod the king." The desire of all nations has come, for Christ was in Himself all that the heart of man can desire to make it happy now and hereafter. All the revelations of God centre and find their completion in Him. In the Gospel we have God's final declarations concerning sin, righteousness, judgment, the soul, salvation, eternity. The revelation of God, in the person of His Son, is sufficient to meet all the spiritual wants of every human soul, and the evidences of the divinity of the Gospel ought, therefore, to be satisfactory to every

The desire of all nations came to the Temple, has come to our world; has He come into our hearts? He seeks living temples as His permanent abode. To human hearts He comes, and condescends to knock for admission. He delights to fill the human soul with the glory of His presence and love. His religion exalts and ennobles every faculty of human nature, for He not only comes to us, but dwells in us. In Christ the desire of all nations is met, for He answers every question upon holiness and happiness that can reasonably be asked. In Christianity we see the brightest glory of God, for it is perfectly adapted to save, sanctify, and glorify the souls of men.

It is thus that Christ, in His person and work, stands out in bold and unique relief among all the teachers and systems of religion ever presented to the world. He is the Sun of Righteousness, and all mere earth-born lights are eclipsed by His celestial radiance. He is the Great Physician of souls, mighty to save; all who have ever competed with Him have been miserable impostors. He meets the moral desires of all nations with appropriate and satisfying supplies; human philosophies only mock the cravings with serpents and stones. Does intellectual culture ask for "luminosity," "lucidity," &c.? they can be found in the perfect "light and sweetness" that centre in Christ. Does sinful, suffering, dying humanity cry for pardon, succour, sympathy, and