commercial nations, whose pursuits bring them into incessant contact and communication with men of every tribe and tongue, are Protestant nations-nations which possess Christianity in its purest form. Is there not prescient design in all this? And what can the design be but to open a way for the world-wide dissemination of Christian truth? Yes, commerce spreads her sails, ambition extends her conquests, colonisation multiplies her settlements, in order to pioneer the march of Christianity, and to call after them into the same fields of labour the Bible and the missionary. The merchant, indeed, may think only of widening his market; the warrior may think only of adding to his country's military renown ; the emigrant may think only of bettering his temporal fortunes on a foreign soil; and to the unreflecting onlooker these human agents and mundane ends may seem to be all. But these are not all. These are but the tools in the hand of a higher Worker; these are but the servants, conscious or unconscious, of an unseen Master; these are but the cherubim and the wheels which propel the mystic chariot. Yonder MAN with the rainbow round about His throne, is the real Director. And His design throughout the whole course of His rule-His design, alike when He incites and when He restrains the careering steeds—is always to hasten on the world's conversion, the world's

glad sabbath, the world's millennial rest. Ride on, ride on, until the goal be won, thou heavenly Charioteer! Ride on, ride on,

“Propitious in Thy chariot paved with love,

Till all that sin has blasted and defaced

Be full repaired, and earth display anew

The bloom of Eden and the bliss of heaven!"

As the practical application of the subject, tender you four counsels.

Seek the favour and friendship of Him who sitteth on the throne. In His favour is life; and all other friendship is worthless apart from His. If He is against you-He who has the whole universe of creatures and of circumstances at His command-who can be for you? And if He is for you, who can be against you? "When He giveth quietness, who can make trouble?"

Be the willing agents of His providence. Serve Him, indeed, you must; fulfil His purposes you must, whether you will or not. For, in common with all other creatures, you are included in the symbolic cherubim which propel His chariot. But to do His work against your own will-to further His designs only to your own undoing, what a wretched predicament were this! O, be it yours to render Him, not passive, not unconscious, not involuntary service-but cheerful, intentional, devoted service. Be it yours to stand, as it were, with outstretched wings, ever waiting

to receive His commands, and to fly on His errands. Strive to be able to say, "I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is within my heart!"

Espouse Christ's cause-that cause which it is the very design of His government, as well as the warmest desire of His heart, to promote. Let none of you say, I might do something towards the spread of His Gospel, but I will not: for He has Himself undertaken the work, and will perform it, irrespective of any help of mine. Yes; HE has undertaken the work, and will perform it; "He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth.” But then, as has been justly said, "He will have a long memory back; He will remember who they were that did what they could to further His cause, and who they were that thought it better to stand indifferent by."

Finally, Dismiss all unbelieving fears and misgivings as to the ultimate triumph of the Gospel. It may be that the religious aspect of the times is not wholly promising; it may be that while light is spreading in heathendom it is fading in some Christian lands; it may be that Popery is recovering its lost ground, and Protestant orthodoxy drifting into latitudinarianism. But why should these or any such things shake your confidence, when the government is upon the shoulder of One

who makes even the wrath of man to praise Him? If He permits truth to be trodden down in the street, and error to vault into the seat of power, it is only as a temporary trial and discipline for His people-it is only that error's overthrow may be in the end more signal, and truth's triumph more glorious. In this lower sky, the thundercloud may gather, and the whirlwind sweep, and the lightning flash. But the throne above the firmament abides serene; and yon encircling rainbow tells that the tempest must ere long retire, and the calm and the sunshine return!

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SERMON X.

THE LOVE OF CHRIST.

"To know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.". EPHESIANS, iii. 19.

BEFORE adverting to the proper lesson of this text, I may briefly notice the incidental proof which it furnishes of the divinity of our blessed Lord. If Christ were a mere man, could His love be described as a love "which passeth knowledge"? As a rule, the love of any being is proportionate to his intellectual rank. The love of the lower animals is slight compared with that of man; and the love of man, again, is feeble compared with that of angels. The higher any being rises in the scale of intelligence, the larger is his capacity of loving. What, then, must be the rank of a being of whom it can be affirmed that his love "passeth knowledge"? Can such a being be less or other than that Being above all being-God Himself? Infinite love can belong to