sufficient to attest the presence of man to the atheist who will not recognise God, whose hand is impressed upon the entire universe."

II. That all existence has ONE MASTER. "The Lord hath made all things for himself." He is not only the author, but the end of the universe. All stream from Him, and run to Him. This is right, for there is no higher end; this is joyous, for He is love. He made the universe to gratify his benevolence, his desire Ito impart his blessedness to others. But the text says that "even the wicked for the day of evil," He has made for Himself. What does this mean? It does not meanFirst: That God ever made a wicked creature. Nor, Secondly: That He ever made a holy creature wicked. Nor, Thirdly: That He ever made a creature to be miserable. All these thoughts are repugnant to the teachings of the universe, the doctrines of inspiration, and the intuitions of the human soul. All it means is that He makes the wicked subserve his own glory. Were there

no wickedness in the world there are certain attributes of God which would never have come out to view, such as patience, compassion, forgiving love. "I will get me honour upon Pharaoh," said He of old. And as He might say of every wicked spirit, "He maketh the wrath of man to praise him, and restraineth the remainder of wrath." How great is God! He is the cause, the means, and the end of all things in the universe but sin, and even sin He subordinates to his own high ends. Let us endeavour to reach after worthy ideas of God. "It were better," says Lord Bacon, "to have no opinion of God at all, than such an opinion as is unworthy of Him, for the one is unbelief, and the other is contumely and certainly superstition is the reproach of the Deity."

(No. CLV.)

EVIL.

"Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished. By mercy and truth iniquity is purged; and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil."-Prov. xvi. 5, 6.

"PRIDE," says an old writer, "had her beginning among the angels that fell, her continuance on earth, her end in hell."

The Bible says much against pride, and authors have dealt largely with the hideous theme. It not unfrequently stands in the Bible to represent sin in general, and in some of its forms it is in truth the quintessence of evil. Notice two things concerning evil which are contained in the text.

I. ITS ESSENTIAL ODIOUSNESS, AND NECESSARY PUNISHABILITY.

First: Its essential odiousness. "Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination unto the Lord. "God resisteth the proud." "Pride in all its forms-pride of selfrighteousness—pride of wisdom, station, as well as the pride of rebellion, is abhorrent to Him. "God," says old Henry Smith,

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was wroth with Saul, and though he was the first king that ever was anointed, yet God made his own hand his executioner." condly: Its necessary punishability. Though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished. Evil must be punished; the moral constitution of the soul, the justice of the universe, the Almightiness of God, render all human efforts to avoid it futile. "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker; let the potsherd strive with the potsherd of the earth." (Isa. xlv. 9.) Though the

heathen rage, he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh.'

II. ITS DIVINE CORRECTIVES, AND THEIR MORAL OPERATION. First: Its divine correctives. What are they? "Mercy and truth." By them iniquity is purged. These are the two great divine elements to destroy sin. They came into the world in their perfect form by Christ. Grace and truth came into the world by Jesus Christ. They constitute the Gospel, which is the fountain to wash away sin, the fire to burn up its corruptions. Secondly: Its moral operation. How do they operate in the soul so as to remove sin. "By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil." These two elements, mercy and truth, generate in the soul that supreme, loving reverence for God which leads men to depart from evil.

Wherever there is a true godly love in the soul, there is a departure from evil. Step by step man walks out of it, until at length he leaves it entirely behind. A man is not safe until he gets rid of sin. One sin is the "dead fly in the ointment," the one leak that sinks the ship.

(No. CLVI.)

PLEASING GOD.

"When a man's ways please the Lord, he mak th even his enemies to be at peace with him."-Prov. xvi. 7.

THE text directs us to the greatest of all subjects, the subject of pleasing Him who is the Author of the universe, and whose will decides the destiny of all. This subject is here presented in two aspects.

I. AS A GLORIOUS POSSIBILITY OF BEING. "When a man's ways please the Lord," then there are ways in which a man can please the Lord. What are those ways ? Not by any merely external service. Some people imagine that they can please God by good psalmody, by fine prayers, by flattering addresses, by monetary contributions, by gorgeous ritualism, but all this is an

abomination to Him, if the heart is not in love with his character, and in sympathy with his will. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burntofferings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons, and Sabbaths, and calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hateth; they are a trouble unto me: I am weary to bear them. when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear your hands are full of blood." The way to please Him is by a loving obedience to his will. The outward service to please Him must be the effect and expression of supreme love. Man can possess this love, and thus he can please his Maker as a child may please a man who is the master of empireshumble man may please the Infinite. To please Him is the summum bonum of existence, by so doing we alone can,

And

First: Please ourselves. Man will never be pleased with himself till he feels that he has pleased his Maker. We alone can, Secondly: Please the spiritual universe. spirit in the universe can be pleased with us if our conduct pleaseth not the Eternal Father. Paul felt this to be the grand end of his existence. "Wherefore we labour, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him." (2 Cor. iv. 9.) This subject is here presented

II. AS WINNING THE GOODWILL OF ENEMIES. "When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." First: A good man has enemies. "The world hateth me, said

Christ, before it hated you." Secondly: The overcoming of their enmity is a desirable thing. It is not well to have enmity in any heart towards us. Thirdly: Pleasing the Lord is the surest way to overcome it. Our reconciliation to God is the best way to get our enemies reconciled to us. If we please Him, our enemies will not be allowed to harm us, our enemies will respect us with their consciences, our enemies may be transformed by our spirit and example. Brothers, let our grand object be to please God. "As we are allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel, even so we speak not as pleasing men, but God which trieth our hearts." (1 Thess. ii. 4.)

:

(No. CLVII.)

THE GOOD MAN AND HIS WORLDLY CIRCUMSTANCES.

"Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues without right."Prov. xvi. 8.

THE text suggests two facts.

I. GOOD MEN MAY HAVE BUT LITTLE OF THE WORLD. "Better is a little," &c. The great bulk of good men in all ages have been poor. This fact which has been, through all time, a perplexity to all saints, can be accounted for in various ways. First: The acquisition of wealth is not the grand purpose of a godly man's life. The men who give their energies, their very being to the accumulation of property, are those who of course become the largest inheritors of earthly good. The godly man does not go in for this, he has other and far higher ainis, the culture of his soul, the extension of truth, the raising of humanity. Secondly: The principles of a godly man's life preclude him from obeying the conditions by which wealth is generally obtained. Reckless speculation, dishonourable tricks, avaricious over-reachings, greed rioting over conscience, are often the most successful means of gaining large possessions.

II. BAD MEN MAY HAVE MUCH OF THE WORLD. "Great revenues." "Their eyes stand out with fatness, they have more than heart could wish." (Psa. lxiii. 7.) The ground of the rich brought forth plentously. Who are your millionaires? What is the character of the men who hold the great prizes of the world in their grasp ? Not such as a rule, I trow, that will bear the test of God's holy law. They are not men, who do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God.

III. GOOD MEN WITH THEIR LITTLE ARE BETTER OFF THAN BAD

MEN WITH THEIR MUCH. "Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues without right." First: His condition is a more enjoyable one. His happiness is spiritual, the happiness of the other is sensational, his happiness is generous, the happiness of the other is selfish. Secondly: His condition is a more honourable one. He is honoured for what he is, the other for what he has. He is honoured in proportion to people's intelligence, the other is honoured in proportion to people's ignorance. He is honoured yonder by angels and by God, thy the other is honoured only here be the depraved. The good man then may well be contented with his lot. "The nature of true content, says an old writer, is to fill all the chinks of our desires, as the wax does the seal. Content is the poor man's riches, and desire is the rich man's poverty. Riches and poverty are more in the heart than in the hand, he is wealthy that is contented, he is poor that wants it. O poor Ahab, that carest not for thine own large possessions, because thou mayest not have another's. Orich Naboth, that carest not for all the dominions of Ahab, so thou mayest enjoy thine own."

* See HOMILIST, third series, vol. x., p. 350.

(No. CLVIII.)

THE PLAN OF MAN, AND THE PLAN OF GOD IN HUMAN LIFE.

"A man's heart deviseth his way; but the Lord directeth his steps."-Prov. xvi, 9.

THERE are many passages parallel in meaning with this, such as, Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." (Jer. x. 23.) "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way." (Psa. xxxvii. 23.) Man's goings are of the Lord: how can a man then understand his own way?" (Prov. xx. 24.)

Every man's life is ruled by two plans, the one formulated by his own mind, the other by the mind of God. These two plans are referred to in the text.

I. MAN'S OWN PLAN. "A man's heart deviseth his way." Every man forms a programme of his daily life. He "deviseth his way." He sets before him an object, he adapts the means, and he arranges the time and effort for attaining his purpose. When he moves rationally, he does not move by blind impulse, nor does he even feel himself the creature of grim fate. That man's history is selforiginated and self-arranged is manifested from three things. First: Society holds every man responsible for his actions. All the laws of society recognise man's freedom of action recognise the fact that he is the sole author of his conduct. Society does not treat him either as a brute or as a machine, but as a free agent, as one "whose heart deviseth his way." Secondly: The Bible appeals to every man as having a personal sovereignty. The Holy Word everywhere recognises man as having a power to abandon or modify his old course of conduct and adopt another. It appeals to his will. Thirdly: Every man's conscience attests his freedom of action. If the sinner felt himself the mere creature of forces

VOL. XXII.

he could not control, he could experience no remorse. If the saint felt that the good deed he wrought was forced from him, he could enjoy no self-commendation. Man feels that his life is fashioned by his own plan, that he is the undisputed monarch of his own inner world. "The

II. GOD'S OWN PLAN. Lord directeth his steps." God has a plan concerning every man's life. A plan which, though it compasses and controls every activity, leaves the man in undisturbed freedom. This is the great problem of the world's history, man's freedom, and God's control. "Experience," says Mr. Bridges, "gives a demonstrable stamp of evidence even in all the minutiæ of circumstances which form the parts and pieces of the Divine plan. A matter of common business, the indulgence of curiosity, the supply of necessary want, a journey from home, all are connected with infinitely important results. And often when our purpose seemed as clearly fixed, and as sure of accomplishment as a journey to London, this way of our own devising has been blocked up by unexpected difficulties, and unexpected facilities have opened an opposite way, with the ultimate acknowledgment, "He led me forth in the right way." (Psa. cxii. 7; Isa. xlii. 16.) The Divine control of the apostles' movements, apparently thwarting their present usefulness, turned out rather to the furtherance of the Gospel. Philip was transferred from an important sphere in Samaria, from preaching to thousands, into desert. But the Ethiopian eunuch was his noble convert, and through him the Gospel was doubtless widely circulated. (Acts viii. 3739.) Paul was turned aside from a wide field of labour to a more contracted ministry. A few women and a family were his only church. Yet how did these small beginnings issue in the planting of flourishing churches ? After all, however, we

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need much discipline to wean us from our own devices, that we may seek the Lord's direction in the first place. The fruit of this discipline will be a dread of being left to our own devices, as before we were eager to follow them. (Psa. cxliii. 10.) So truly do we find our happiness and security in

yielding up our will to our Heavenly Guide! He knows the whole way, every step of the way: "The end from the beginning." And never shall we miss either the way or the end, if only we resign ourselves with unreserved confidence to his keeping and direction of our steps."

MATERIALS FOR A SCIENCE OF

RELIGION.

DURING the last fifty years the accumulation of new and authentic materials for the study of the religions of the world has been most extraordinary; but such are the difficulties in mastering these materials that I doubt whether the time has yet come for attempting to trace, after the model of the Science of Language, the definite outlines of the Science of Religion. By a succession of the most fortunate circumstances, the canonical books of three of the principal religions of the ancient world have lately been recovered, the Veda, the Zend-Avesta, and the Tripitaka. But not only have we thus gained access to the most authentic documents from which to study the ancient religion of the Brahmans, the Zoroastrians, and the Buddhists, but by discovering the real origin of Greek, Roman, and likewise of Teutonic, Slavonic, and Celtic mythology, it has become possible to separate the truly religious elements in the sacred traditions of these nations from the mythological crust by which they are surrounded, and thus to gain a clearer insight into the real faith of the ancient Aryan world.

If we turn to the Semitic world, we find that although no new materials have been discovered from which to study the ancient religion of the Jews, yet a new spirit of inquiry has brought new life into the study of the sacred records of Abraham, Moses, and the prophets; and the recent researches of Biblical scholars, though starting from the most opposite points, have all helped to bring out the historical interest of the Old Testament, in a manner not dreamt of by former theologians. The same may be said of another Semitic religion, the religion of Mohammed, since the Koran and the literature connected with it were submitted to the searching criticism of real scholars and historians. Some new materials for the study of the Semitic religions have come from the monuments of Babylon and Nineveh. The very images of Bel and Nisroch now stand before our eyes, and the inscriptions on the tablets may hereafter tell us even more of the thoughts of those who bowed their knees before them. The religious worship of the Phenicians and Carthaginians has been illustrated by Movers from the ruins of their ancient temples, and from scattered