"A tried stone."-Isa. xxviii. 16.

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HRIST is this "tried stone." knowledged expositors admit this. Peter's quotation (1 Peter ii. 6) proves it. The grand subject of the context, including this whole verse and the following one, is a holy moral character-the character which God requires man to cultivate. Three things are taught concerning this subject. First:

That Christ is essential to such a character. He is the ". . . foundation stone, a tried stone, a precious stone, a sure foundation." He is, in truth, the model, the medium, and the main-spring of all moral excellence in the world, the foundation of all that is true in the character of man. Secondly: Faith is the builder of such a character. ... he that believeth." Man is renovated, controlled, and fashioned by motives. Motives are formed by beliefs, and the beliefs for the construction of a good character must be founded on Christ. Thirdly: God is the judge of such a character. (1.) He measures it by the law of rectitude. .. He lays judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet." (2.) He tests it by the dispensations of his

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government. "... hail shall sweep away the refuges of lies," &c.

But the point on which we shall now fasten attention, is, that He who is the essential foundation of that character which God requires man to cultivate is well tested. Christ is a "tried stone." Man's destiny depends upon his character. In it are the germs of Paradise and the clements of Tophet. Now it is our blessedness to know that He who came to give the world a new and holy character is no empirical or charlatanic reformer, but one who has been thoroughly tried in the glorious work. In illustrating this point we observe :

I. HE HAS BEEN “TRIED” BY THE MISSION HE UNDERTOOK. He came here to give such a knowledge of the nature, the love, the relations and the claims of God, as would effect a moral restoration of the world. Salvation consisteth in the knowledge of God "... this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." But, in this God-revealing mission, how was He tried? His love, the root of all excellence was tried in its two great branches of piety and philanthropy. In prosecuting his divine undertaking, He became so completely the victim of human and hellish malignity, that He seemed to be forsaken of his Father. He whose purpose He wrought out appeared to leave Him to the rage of hell and the fury of wicked men. Was not this trying to his piety? trying to his loving confidence in the everlasting Father? Yet He bore the test. He stood it well. Down in

the depths of agony we hear Him say " "... Not my will, but thine be done." What sublime faith in the Eternal is this? Let Him be preached not merely as the object of faith but as the example too. Thus Paul exhibited Him to the Hebrews when he spoke of Him as ... the author and finisher of faith." He was tried in his philanthropy also. He worked for men who "... hated Him without a cause," hated IIim so infernally that no tortures were too excruciating,

no degradation too ignominious to gratify their malignity. In all this did He not prove the disinterestedness, the force and forgivingness of his philanthropy? Disinterestedness! What had He to gain for Himself for his amazing self-sacrifices? Nothing-nothing but the cross. Force! What power was there in that love-that love which bore Him on, single handedly, to the end?". . . He trod the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with him." Forgivingness!

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When He was reviled He reviled not again." On the cross He prayed for his enemies. ". . . Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." Is it possible to conceive of a severer test being applied to his love for God and man than that which was applied to Him in the trials and sufferings connected with the work which He came to accomplish? And yet these sufferings, instead of cooling the ardour or dimming the lustre of this heavenly fire, made it more intense and more radiant. Love is the soul of goodness. Never did the world have such an exhibition of love as that which beamed forth from Christ in his sufferings. As pressure brings out aroma from the fragrant plant, and as night calls forth the stars, Christ's sufferings revealed the reality and infinitude of his love.

II. HE HAS BEEN "TRIED" BY THE RIGOROUS SCRUTINY OF HIS ENEMIES. First: The scrutiny of his contemporaneous enemies has done so. He lived his public life under a system of keen-eyed and vigilant espionage. The eye of malignant scrutiny glared on Him at every turn. The Scribes and Pharisees, were they not ever on the watch, anxious to discover some flaw in action, some defect in temper, some error in word? No less than six attempts did they make in order to convict Him of wrong. From Gethsemane He was taken to Annas, father-in-law to the high priest; from Annas He was taken before Caiaphas; from Caiaphas He was taken to the hall of the Sanhedrim; from the hall of the Sanhedrim He was taken before Pilate; from Filate He was sent to Herod, and from Herod back to