soul shall be evaporated; not a vestige of any resisting force shall be left untouched. Viewing the perfect character of this Divine operation, an inspired apostle could confidently exclaim, "For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

5. The fire descended in answer to Elijah's prayer. Observe with what earnestness he offered up his petition, "Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their hearts back again." The law of the Old Testament was, "Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." The injunction of the New Testament is, "Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." God's favours are worth asking for. You would not think it too much to ask a friend for a favour which you need. How much more God! Do you want some special temporal blessing? Then ask for it. Do you want spiritual mercies? Ask for them. Are you anxious for the conversion and spiritual welfare of a child or a friend? Ask for it. Do you earnestly desire the outpouring of God's Spirit to accompany the preaching of the Gospel at home and abroad? Ask for it. God has promised to answer your fervent prayers, and He cannot lie. As in the case of Elijah, the answer is sure. It has been said that " prayer is the hand that moves the hand that moves the world." It may be asked, what influence can there be in prayer to actuate an unchangeable Being? We answer, God commands it; this is sufficient for us. We are not to question His motives. When He commands, let us obey.

6. Elijah's prayer was offered in conjunction with his active operations. He not only prayed, but he also worked. He

The altar

erected the altar, put the wood in order, dug the trench, prepared the sacrifice and laid it on the wood. Prayers are necessary, but there must be something more. must be prepared, and the offering laid upon it. God works by means which He has placed at our disposal. He expects us to employ the means. When the Israelites were in a strait between the Egyptians and the sea Moses prayed unto God. The answer was, "Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward; but lift up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea and divide it." It was right that he should cry, but prayer alone was not sufficient under the circumstances; it was necessary to stretch out his rod over the sea, and the people must go forward Our prayers for spiritual and temporal blessings are acceptable, but then they must be offered in connection with personal effort. The improvement of our spiritual graces will not be promoted-the progress of Divine truth will not. be furthered in the world by mere prayer. Erect the altar, prepare the sacrifice, employ the means; then pray for a blessing, and success will be certain.

In conclusion, we may remark that when great purposes are to be effected in furthering the welfare of men, both God and man are to co-operate in the object. God has His part, man has his duty: if man will do his duty, God will do His part. Without God man can do nothing, without man God will not act. To attend to the altar and sacrifice is ours; to send down the fire to consume the sacrifice, and to impart conviction, is God's. The means must be used before we can consistently expect a blessing, but without the Divine blessing no means can be effectual. A gorgeous altar may be erected, a sumptuous sacrifice may be laid upon it, but unless the fire descends from heaven all will be worthless, lifeless and vain. "Paul may plant, and Apollos water, but God giveth the increase." Therefore, whilst we neglect not the appointed means, let us pray and expect, then we may feel confident as to the result.

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The Ninth Sunday after Trinity.

EVENING SERVICE.-Second Lesson: Heb. i.

Verse 3.-"Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."

THERE is no brightness like the brightness of Christ, consequently there is no revelation like the revelation made by Him. The object of the apostle throughout the whole of this Epistle, is to contrast Christ, and the revelation made by Him, with others to whom revelations were made, and through whom revelations were transmitted to the world. In the onset he declared in what all revelations agree, which is in their being received from God. Whether we regard the revelations given through Adam and Enoch, and Noah, before the flood, or those given through Abraham and Jacob, and Moses, and the prophets after the flood, or those given by Christ "in these last days," they all derived their origin from the same source, and in this they were all alike. There was, however, a great difference in the manner, as well as in the nature of the communications. In times past He spake unto the fathers by the prophets at sundry times, and divers manners. At sundry times, or by littles as they were able to receive the revelations, adding a little more light at each time to what they previously possessed. The information given to Noah was an enlargement on that given before the flood; the communications to Abraham were of a still more lucid character; whereas the revelations furnished to Moses and the prophets excelled all antecedents. They were also spoken to them in divers manners. Sometimes by an articulate voice, sometimes by dreams and visions, some

times by silent inspiration, sometimes by Urim and Thummim, sometimes by signs from heaven; but He has spoken to us at one time, in an uniform manner, so there can be no diversity in the teaching of the gospel. To the fathers He spake by the prophets; to us he has spoken by His Son. The gospel, therefore, is the most perfect revelation which was made, or will be made to the sons of men; a further discovery of His mind for the salvation of man is not to be expected, it is the last effort which the Divine mercy and goodness will make upon mankind, in order to eternal happiness. The superior dignity of the Son is expressed by His being "appointed the heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds." He possesses unlimited dominion, all things in the kingdoms of nature and grace being produced and supported by him. By Him, not as a subordinate instrument, but as a primary and principal agent, "Who being the brightness of his (the Father's) glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."

The text teaches us First, the character of Christ; Secondly, the work of Christ; and Thirdly, the position of Christ.

I. We have the character of Christ, which is presented to us by the emblems of brightness and express image.

1. He is the brightness, or the effulgence of the Father's glory. This expression evidently denotes the divine nature of Christ as being substantially the same with the Father. Thus He is "God of God, Light of Light," receiving as the Son His nature and substance from the Father, so fully and absolutely that He is in every way the same with Him in respect to His essence, and in every way like Him in respect to His person. It is by Him God is revealed to the world. "No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him." Even Moses, who was admitted into intimate acquaintance and communion with God, when he presumed to ask the

favour, "I beseech thee show me thy glory," was answered, "Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live." In Christ, however, we can see the lustre of His glory, which is of the same nature and of the same continuation as the glory itself. By this means we can see God. As the natural sun can be perceived and felt only by the aid of his own beams, so all that can be seen and known of God is through the medium of the effulgence of His glory. God is in Himself infinite and incomprehensible; when we contemplate His excellencies we are overpowered with their glory and majesty, but in Christ, the Son incarnate, He has contemporated all his infinite perfections with our faith, and love, and contemplation; they all shine forth in Him, and are eminently expressed in His mediatorial offices of King, Priest, and Prophet. He is the brightness of His glory.

2. He is the express image of his person. "As is the Father, so is the Son." "The Father," he declares, "is in me, and I in him." The same essential nature and properties being in each person, by virtue of which, though distinct, they are said to be in each other. When Christ is declared to be in the form of God, it means that He is essentially God, for there is no form of the Deity but what is essential to Himself. He was absolutely God antecedently to His incarnation, and continued to be so when and after He became flesh, the whole nature of God being embodied in Him, consequently He "thought it not robbery to be equal with God," the express image of His person.

There is another meaning in which this sentence may be taken, that is, He is the manifestation of God unto us; because in Him as partaker of the Divine nature do the power, the justice, the holiness, the goodness, the grace, the love, and all the glorious properties of God shine forth in their utmost glory and beauty, and are declared unto us. The allusion is generally supposed to be to the engraving on rings, or seals, or stones, by which operation the exact image of one object is transferred to another. It may be also that the apostle refers to some representation of the glory of God by