Our subject is human life in the light of Christ's appearing; the light in which Simeon saw it. These words were uttered when Simeon saw the Christ: That sight only could satisfy him and give him rest. The parents were presenting the child. Simeon "a just and devout man, &c."-no matter, therefore, what else he wasgreets him. He comes before us here as a man who has discovered the great problem of life, and has solved it: he offers devout praise for the salvation he has found: he can now depart in peace and joy. There is in him, therefore, all that there needs be in us to make life bright and cheerful: its experiences plain, its close a peaceful departure.

I. WHAT THE GREAT PURPOSE OF LIFE. Simeon waited for the Saviour. His pious soul looked to him as to his highest good. Apart from him life was empty, purposeless and vain. The purpose of his being could be reached only by

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knowing the Saviour. waited for his appearing, therefore, with holy lingering, especially as it was revealed to him that he should see Christ before he died. One would not judge that this was the purpose of life to look at many about us, who think and act as the children of the moment, with no lofty well-defined object before them. This life the vestibule to the eternal life we are here to secure that eternal life, though so many live for the perishing. This life not in us: sin has corrupted us: it is the gift of God. Christ the fountain of purity and health. To win Christ, therefore, the purpose of life. Our joy in time and eternity depends on our knowing Him and becoming like Him. Life has been wasted, and worse, if Christ is not

ours.

II. The purpose of life being reached, THE EXPERIENCES OF LIFE AWAKEN GRATITUDE. Simeon's hope fulfilled. Our text; heartier words of praise then ever before escaped his lips. He held in his arms and pressed to his heart the Saviour. The mysteries of the past were rolled away. This the feeling of the new7. born Christian in looking back on the past. The past dark to some; awakens doubt and rebellion in others; in the Christian heart it awakens gratitude. There is a point in ascending a ascending a mountain when

you see the skill of the engineer in the strangely constructed path. Simeon was at that point; a halo of light was about the past; what a flood of light the cross throws

on life! Though Simeon's hopes and prayers were answered, yet the answer was very unlike what he expected. God's answer to our prayers are widely different from what we expect. A fresh tie yonder is often his call to heavenlymindedness-disappointment, his call to us to trust in Him.

disappointment,

III. THE CLOSE OF SUCH A LIFE, A DEPARTURE. Simeon saw his hope in that child, and all the fetters that bound him to the earth were snapped. We have a clearer light than Simeon had. Death peaceful to many to whom it is not a departure. To the Christian it is a loosing the cable and gliding peacefully into the haven of rest-a going home.

R. V. PRICE, M.A., LL.B.

THE PROGRESSIVE MARCH OF

DEATH'S CONQUEROR. "He will swallow up death in victory."-Isa. xxv. 8.

IN nature God is constantly "swallowing up death in victory." In spring He opens a million graves, and floods the world with life. Indeed everywhere He makes death the minister of life. Death generates, nurtures, and develops life. But the text points us to his victory over the mortality

of man, and let us trace the march of the triumphant conqueror in this direction.

I. WE SEE HIS FIRST CONQUEST IN THE RESURRECTION OF

CHRIST. The strongest victim death ever had was Christ. In slaying Him, he slayed the world, he slayed humanity. The Jewish Sanhedrim cooperated with the Roman power and did all they could to keep his victim in the grave. But the Conqueror of death appeared, invaded the territory of mortality, broke open the prison doors, snapped the fetters, and led the prisoner out into a new and triumphant life.

II. WE SEE HIS NEXT CONQUEST IN DESTROYING IN HUMANITY THE FEAR OF DEATH.

The essence, the sting, the venom, the power of death, are not in the mere article of dissolution of soul and body, but in the thoughts and feelings of men regarding the event. To overcome, therefore, in the human mind all terrible thoughts and apprehensive feelings concerning death, is the most ef fective way to triumph over it. This is to bruise the very head of the serpent. This the Great Conqueror has done in millions of instances, is doing now, and I will do till the end of time. "Forasmuch then as children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also Himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that hath the power of death,

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nor companions. Fourthly. "I will arise," &c., just as I am. God clothes only the naked, and feeds only the hungry. Self-righteousness will avail men nothing before God's throne. Fifthly. I will arise," &c., because He will be glad to see me. God will never disown returning, and repenting prodigals: though clothed in rags, and the face altered, the family likeness still remains, and the Father is ready to embrace him, and to rejoice at his return.

CYMRO.

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THE PRODIGAL'S DETERMINATION. "I will arise and go to my father."-Luke xv. 18. FIRST: "I will arise and go my Father," having been far from home. God is nearer to everything than to sin. The land of Sin is at an extreme distance from the Father's house. Second. "I will arise," &c., having been a long time from home. A day without God is long; because it is a day spent in pain-in soul hunger. What must be a life spent in the service of sin! Thirdly. "I will arise," &c., having endeavoured in vain to satisfy my wants in this country. Satan provides badly for his followers and when in trouble he cannot assist them. Evil doers cannot expect sympathy and support, neither from their

MORAL INVASIONS. "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him."-Isa. lix. 19.

THOUGH it seems very probable, these words are not the best rendering of the original and may convey an idea not agreeable to the primary text. Still, they do, as they stand detached from their context and their original, suggest truths for universal application. They suggest—

I. THE MORAL INVASION OF HUMAN SOULS. First The soul has an arch "enemy." This enemy is called by different names. The old serpent, the devil, Satan, roaring lion, &c. He is characterised by great power, malignity, craft. He has mighty armies under his power. Principality and powers, &c. Secondly:

This arch "enemy" sometimes makes a tremendous onslaught. "Cometh in like a flood." There are times in the human soul when evil seems to rush on it as an overwhelming torrent. Who is not conscious of such seasons? Seasons when every avenue of the soul seems assailed, and evil thoughts and suggestions seem rushing in. Of all invasions in history this moral invasion, this invasion of souls, is the most terrible. The invading host surrounds us as an atmosphere. Though unseen, real, close, and active.

of the enemy is from Him, and he can move without his permission and support. Secondly: The Spirit of the Lord is wiser than the "enemy." The spirit of the Lord has an intellect, that overrules, battles, subordinates all the workings of the foe. He makes his hellish discord swell the harmonies of the universe. Thirdly: The Spirit of the Lord is nearer to the soul than the enemy. The soul does not live in the devil, but the soul lives in the Spirit, the soul can live without the devil, the soul cannot live without the Spirit. (1.) How great is man! The objects both of hellish and of heavenly interests and efforts. (2.) How critical is destiny! We are in an enemy's territory. The tide of invasion rolls around us and its billows dash evermore against the gates of the soul, &c.

(No. CLIII.)

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THOUGHTS. "Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established."Prov. xvi. 3.

WHAT are the "thoughts" referred to in the text? The thoughts of the soul are a large generation made up of various families. Some are

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worthless and some are valuable. Some cannot be "established," they are airy speculations, day dreams, they are phantasmagoria passing before usy, ielding us amusement for the minute. There are thoughts which ought not to be "established." Such are selfish, malicious, impious thoughts. The permanent estab

lishment of such thoughts would ruin the universe. There are thoughts that should be "established." Those are the grand purposes of life-those thoughts into which we throw our hearts and which govern our activities. The text implies two things concerning such thoughts.

I. THAT THEIR ESTABLISHMENT IS A MATTER OF VITAL MOMENT TO MAN.

This is implied; it is the grand motive held forth to induce us to commit our "works unto the Lord." The non-establishment of a man's practical thoughts or purposes involves at least two great evils. First: Disappointment. What a man purposes, he desires, he struggles after, it is the hope of his soul. The failure of his purpose is always felt to be one of the sorest of his calamities. The disappointment in some cases breaks the heart. The man who has all the purposes of his life broken is of all men most miserable. It involves, Secondly: Loss. A man's purposes Occupy his attention, his sympathies, his activities, his time, and when they are frustrated, all these are lost, and they are the most precious things. It may be said of all ungodly men when they die in that "very day all their thoughts perish." It is therefore of vast importance to man to have his thoughts established. To have his thoughts established is to have his desires gratified, his hopes realized, his activities rewarded.

II. THAT GODLY WORKS ARE ESSENTIAL TO THEIR ESTABLISHMENT.

"Commit thy works unto the Lord." Men always work to carry out their purposes, but none of their works can truly succeed that are not of a godly sort. "What is meant by committing thy works unto the Lord?" It may include two things. First: Submit them to his approval when they are in embryo. A thought is work in embryo. We should lay our works before the Lord when they exist in this thought-state. Invoke Him if

(No. CLIV.)

UNIVERSAL EXISTENCE.

"The Lord hath made all things for himself; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil."-Prov. xvi. 4.

The verse teaches two things.

I. That all existence has ONE AUTHOR. "The Lord hath made all things for himself." This statement stands opposed (1.) To the eternity of the universe. That the universe had a beginning is clear from the fact that it is dependent, contingency is its essential law. (2.) To the chance production of nature. That the universe rose from a fortuitous concourse of atoms is an absurdity. (3.) To the plurality of creators. There is one Being who has made all. "The Lord." That all existence has one author is a fact. First: That agrees with all sound philosophy. Secondly: Is inculcated in Holy Scripture. The Bible is full of it. "In the begin

ning the Lord created the heavens. and the earth," &c. "Of him, and through him, and to him are all things," &c., &c. footprint," says Hugh Miller, "of the savage traced in the sand is

"The