written in this prophecy," (Rev. i. 3), who have given no special attention to the Apocalypse. They have pondered in their hearts the opening and closing chapters, and have made other parts the constant theme of devout meditation; but they have made no diligent inquiry into the things which are coming on the earth. They have been made wise unto salvation by attention to the didactic portion of prophecy, though they have given little heed to the predictions.

I am disposed to think that the blessing promised to those who hear and read the words of this prophecy, appertains to all who are engaged in expounding and enforcing any portion of Holy Writ, quite as much as to those who endeavour to throw light on the obscurer predictions of Daniel, Ezekiel, or the Apocalyptic seer. The sure word of prophecy committed to our trust is always didactic; the moral element is fundamental; the predictive is subsidiary. Zacharias is termed a prophet; and he was filled with the Holy Ghost; but if we except the reference to the work of John the Baptist, there is not a word of prediction in his glowing song (Luke i. 68—79). Our Lord exercised his prophetical office as truly when He delivered the Sermon on the Mount, as when He foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the end of the world. Erroneous ideas as to the meaning of the words, "prophet," "prophecy," lead many pastors and teachers into serious mistakes. They thus transform the liberty of prophesying into the temerity of predictiveness.

Scripture and Science.

(No. V.)

"Ye are the light of the world."-Matt. v. 14.

SUBJECT: The Analogies of Light.*

III. CHRISTIAN LIFE, LIKE THE LIGHT, IS LIFE-GIVING. Our Saviour here does not compare His disciples to any light, but to the light of the sun. By using the singular form "light," and not lights," He seems to teach also the unity of all Christian influences. Like rays from the sun, all Christian people when living and acting up to their principles, work in harmony with each other.

*Continued from page 38.

The life-giving power of light is well known to all. How sickly is the plant which grows in a room where the light is feeble, and how it seems to grow in the direction of the light. Plants at the cottage window grow toward the light, as all vegetables grow upward toward the sun; and those whose stems are too frail and feeble to rise above the ground, seek ever to entwine themselves around some object that is stronger, that they may climb upwards, like the ivy, towards the light.

While the light fosters and feeds the growing vegetation, it is to be observed, that it only acts as an instrument in the hand of God. God does the work by the operation of His will, but does it through the light, thus it is in regard to Christian life. God is Himself the source of moral power, but makes use of those who possess Christian life as the channels of its operation. The Christian Church is destined, instrumentally, to convert the world. If sin, be ever banished from the earth, if Satan's kingdom be ever overthrown, if the love of Jesus ever fill every heart, and if thus, the day of millennial rest ever dawn upon the human race, the work will be effected by God's blessing on the efforts of his people. They must fight the battle, if the enemy is ever banished from the field, but God will give the victory.

IV. CHRISTIAN LIFE, LIKE THE LIGHT, IS SILENT IN ITS MODE OF OPERATIONS.-You have probably spent some early hours in watching the sun rise. The first sight of the great orb, when the air was still, and the world was dark, was very grand. He met your admiring gaze with a blush upon his countenance. The valleys, at the time, were filled with gloom, though the peaks of highest mountains were gilded in the glorious heaven. But the sun rose, higher, and without a whisper or a sound, the darkness was chased away.

While the processes of death and destruction in the storm, the hurricane and the earthquake are terribly boisterous, all the processes of life are silent. Did you ever gaze upon a tree while it was growing in early spring? It was full of active life. The leaves were coming into sight, and later on, the buds opened into blooming flowers, and ended in pendent fruit; but yet how quiet! The noise of a growing forest would not disturb an infant's sleep. All work of life and healing is calm and quiet in its nature.

Thus, too, I am persuaded more and more, God carries on his work of grace. The greatest bustlers are, as a rule, the poorest workers. A quiet and a steady hand does the work most effectively. I do not expect any great hurricane to revive religion, or to save the world. I have no faith in noisy meetings. He who weeps the loudest does not feel the deepest, and he who

is ever talking of his work, will never kill himself with labour. The analogies of nature lead me to think that the disciples of Christ should aim at silent, quiet working-scatter blessings on every hand, like the light, without either sound or show. Noisy revival, and Hallelujah meetings have been, and still are the curse of religion; they lower its tone where it is, and substitute a counterfeit excitement for the true coin, sympathy of nature with God-where good might have been effected.

V. CHRISTIAN LIFE, LIKE THE LIGHT, HAS VARIOUS FORMS. Light has colours and an immense variety of shades, and yet is every shade of colour truly "light." This is a very important point in the analogy.

It is the fault of some men that they will not recognise as religion, anything which does not shape itself according to the form which religion has taken in themselves. I have known men who expected a pious child to appear like an antiquated man: as if religion had had power to destroy childhood, or convert it into decrepit age. A child is no less a child, because he is a Christian, nor a man the less a man. Each one retains the type of his own nature. You have still the man, the woman, and the child. You have still the timid Melancthon as well as the bold Luther. Some believe all true, till they find that some things are false, and others assume that all things are false, till they find that some are true. These are different aspects of life, like the reed and the oak; different forms of colour, like those presented by a rainbow.

Preston.

EVAN LEWIS, B.A., F.R.G.S., F.E.S.

The Preacher's Finger-Post.

CHRIST REJECTING POPULARITY

AND SEEKING SOLITUDE. "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone."-John vi. 15.

THERE are two things in the text concerning Christ remarkably significant.

I. HIS REJECTION OF POPULARITY. The popularity of Christ was now at its zenith. The feeding of the five thousand by the miracle He had just wrought struck the populace, for the hour, with an enthusiastic admiration. "They would take him by force to make him a king." They