the downward path than we thought possible at first, that a fretful discontented spirit is one which Satan will ply with his subtlest temptations, that if we dote upon earthly treasures, the passage is short sometimes, between lusting violently and sinning deeply, that our repenting-time will often follow close upon the hour of enjoyment, so that we shall hardly win our prize before we wish it had been at the world's end when it first attracted us.

And let us remember, my dear brethren, that it is only in the school of Christ, and by the teaching of His life-giving Spirit, that these lessons are learnt effectually. A firm hold upon the Cross,—a steady look into the eternal world,―aims and pursuits higher than those of the giddy or careworn crowd, pleasant foretastes of the heavenly banquet, and living, heart-warming communion with the Father of our spirits,-these will keep us safe from folly and guilt like Ahab's. A "garden of herbs," or a Palace of gold, will be no bribe for a man who realizes his portion in the "unsearchable riches," and the "incorruptible inheritance." If, on the other hand, we have no sure hope beyond the present scene, then it is accident or temperament that preserves us, in critical and trying seasons, from passionate grief, or consuming anxiety, or settled despair. "The wicked,"―ay, and the ungodly too, men of roving desires, of unstable principles, with passions that will not brook control,

-are "like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt." Such men

"kill and take possession,"—that is, they sin and think they have got the fruit of their sin; but some Elijah meets them in the vineyard; some troublesome interruption from without or from within comes to spoil enjoyment; and they have to begin the chase again, with one bitter disappointment more to sadden life. "We which have believed," the Apostle says, "do enter into rest;" and the world's restlessness is a fatal sign of its unbelief.

Elijah would have been no enemy to Ahab, but the best friend he ever saw, if Israel's King would have listened to Israel's Prophet, and become an obedient servant of Jehovah. And the same thing is true of every undecided, self-seeking, worldlyminded Christian. The Gospel pursues him, not as a messenger of evil, but as the bearer of tidings to make him happy in the best sense. "Come unto me, ye that are sick of the world's vanities,ye that are weary of strife and vexations and heart-burnings without end,-ye that are out of heart because vows and resolutions seem to go for nothing when some strong temptation assails you on your weak side,—come unto me," Christ says, "and you shall have peace and liberty. Take what I give freely, and give what I ask freely,-your own selves as my purchased possession,-and you shall not be the world's slaves and drudges all through. I, who made man's heart, and know what it wants, -I, the King of Heaven, who have power to bless all whom I came to save,-I will give you rest.” O"hear," we say, in the language of our Church,

"what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith to all that truly turn to Him," and break loose from all unholy alliances; cast down every heartcherished idol; take faithful counsel to be better a thousand times than the world's deceitful flattery; "go softly," humbly, guardedly, all your days, —so that you may have that rest, the saint's rest, for

your own.

SERMON XV.

THE HUMBLE MESSENGER.

2 KINGS V. 2—4.

"The Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel."

(Eleventh Sunday after Trinity.-Morning.)

NAAMAN and Elisha are the two principal persons of whom we hear in the narrative contained in this Chapter, the one, a Syrian leper, miraculously cured by washing in the river Jordan,-the other, a Prophet, dwelling within the borders of Samaria, and acting as the messenger of heaven, sometimes among his own countrymen, and sometimes among heathen strangers. It was the will of God that these two men should be brought together; and blessings of many kinds, we know, resulted from the meeting. But, then, how should it be brought

about? Afflicted as he was, the captain of the hosts of the King of Syria was very little likely to wander to a distance from his home; and the Lord's Prophet was still less likely, perhaps, to cross the border, and take up his abode among idolaters.

There is no difficulty when God wants to bring about something which tends to His own honour, or the good of His people, about making, or finding, instruments that are suited to His purpose. "He doeth whatsoever pleaseth Him with the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth," and not only has Angels and Archangels for His obedient ministers, but thousands and tens of thousands of meaner creatures, who do their part, consciously or unconsciously, willingly or against their will, to bring about the accomplishment of His purposes. We have an instance, in the passage which describes our Lord's entry into Jerusalem. He was to enter the holy city, not in a triumphal chariot, like a conqueror, but "meek and sitting on an ass." Zechariah had prophesied that it should be so, and it could be no otherwise. So when the time was come, our Lord said to His disciples, "Go to such a place and you will find the ass. Loose him, and bring him hither." And there the animal was, all ready, waiting for his burden, and obedient to the guiding hand of those who led him away, as if they were his rightful owners.

In the case before us, God might have taken a great many ways to bring Naaman to Elisha first, and to Jordan afterwards. He might have sent