grounded conviction-" God means well with me-God has thoughts of peace toward me."

O ye, who are wandering in the world without hope, without any clear, joyful out-look into the future of time-as well as into that of eternity, let me say, you are wanting in nothing so much as in the hearty and assured consciousness" God means well with me." And why are you wanting in this? It is because the Holy Spirit has not yet sealed upon your hearts the truth, "that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself." He, who can declare it, not simply with his mouth, and to whom in the inmost depths of his soul it has become a strong verity— that God has followed erring man into the very thorns of lifehe, I say, must be a man of joyful hope. Christians are men for whom this is a solemn truth; yea, and not only this; in their hearts the love of God is poured forth like a stream, as the Apostle says-" And hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts-by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

Who will wonder then if Christians are a joyous people as children are? How much rather ought we to be astonished at ourselves, if we are still sad! No. The Christian life is a transfigured childhood: Like children, we believe without suspicion; like children, we love without distinction; like children, we hope without limitation; and together with this has the Spirit of grace given to our faith, light; to our love, wisdom, and to our hope an everlasting foundation. Honor-and praise-and worship be unto Him who hath done such great things for us. Amen.

DISCOURSE XVII.

THE TOUCHSTONE OF HUMAN HEARTS.

THOSE of us who have had much acquaintance with Christians, especially with those of the olden time, will have observed how customary it was for them to confirm remarkable experiences of the spiritual life, with the saying: "Then was again fulfilled what the Scripture saith." Such, too, was the habit of the Apostles, and in just this sense did they often refer to the words of the Old Testament. Herein, then, is exhibited a deep conviction of the world-wide comprehensiveness of the truth of God's word. Of this broad character is whatever stands on record, respecting the doings of man, or the ways of God, more particu larly during the period of our Lord's manifestation on earth; so that along the course of history, we are prompted ever and anon to exclaim: "There has the Scripture been fulfilled." With one such expression will our meditations this day be occupiedwith a Scripture saying, which first proved true in the history of Christ, and has again and again been verified through all subsequent times. I refer to the prophetic exclamation of the aged Simeon, when, in the days of the legal purification, the parents brought the child Jesus, for the first time to the temple. It is found in Luke ii. 34, 35: "And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against. Yea, a sword shall pierce through

thine own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

We will first explain the entire passage, and then direct your attention particularly to its last clause. It is hardly possible to imagine a more solemn scene bearing the impress of substantial truth, than that into which these words of the Evangelist translate us. The bare thought of that little company, which, as we are told, had gathered about the child Jesus, is enough to awaken in us the liveliest emotions. It is said that there were assembled there those who were "waiting for the consolation of Israel." These, of course, were but a small fraction of the great multitude then gathering in Jerusalem-a select few only, in whose hearts there burned this one desire: "That the Deliverer would come out of Zion, and take away ungodliness from us." The number could not have been large, and most of these, it is likely, were aged people. Simeon and Hannah, at least, were far advanced in years. A touching thought is it, also, that they oftentimes found themselves collected precisely here in the temple, in order to pray in company. Besides, to Simeon was it expressly promised, that he should not die before he had seen the salvation of the Lord. And now the longdesired child of heaven approaches, borne upon the arm of its mother. But how are they to recognize it? It is, indeed, a holy thing, but no halo of glory surrounds its head. It is a king without a diadem. The grace of God, nevertheless, resolves the difficulty. To Simeon is the truth supernaturally revealed. Under the impulse of the divine Spirit, he now advances, and significantly addresses himself, not to the father, but to the mother. It is no sweet, flattering speech, however; no bright, smiling vision of future triumphs which he utters. Simeon calls the babe a rock; but a rock whereon a part of Israel would be broken. His prophetic eye also discerns the sword, which should, ere long, pierce the mother's aching heart, in order, as he says, 'that the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed." With these words, which refer particularly to that time when

the sword actually pierced the mother's heart, the prophetic speech concludes. We lay them at the foundation of our nowcommencing series of discourses, and derive from them this doctrine :

THE MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST IS THE TOUCHSTONE OF HUMAN HEARTS, THROUGH WHICH IS FIRST REVEALED WHAT IS IN EVERY

MAN.

Let us consider this subject, first, in its more general aspect, and then as it is particularly manifest in the history of our Lord's passion.

The manifestation of Christ is the touchstone of human hearts, by which that which is in every man is first clearly revealed. There are some, but not many, who have the power of readily detecting what is in men. Almost every individual knows what is in himself. But what do we mean, when we say there is something in a man? This expression strikes deeper than many may imagine. Rarely is it used merely in reference to the talents or gifts which a man may possess. It rather pertains to the manner in which these gifts are employed. We understand by it, not so much what a man has, as what he is. The disposition, the will, is intended. And this is just what the Scripture means, when it says, that "the hearts of men were revealed through Christ." For, according to the saying of our Lord, it is out of the heart that evil thoughts proceed, and of the thoughts and ways of the heart it is affirmed, that it is evil from "its youth up." The heart is the seat of affection. The worth of a man is determined by what he loves. We love, indeed, only that with which we have some inward affinity-that in which we find ourselves again. Whatever object you love most, determines your worth. The incomprehensible good, which is above all other good, because it is the foundation and source of all other good, even God, IIe is, above all things, worthy of our love. This we unanimously admit. For who is there that does not admit it? But will any one, treating the whole matter as something vague, affirm: "Thou lovest Him, in a certain sense, and

so, too, thou lovest Him not?" Is not our love for Him as impalpable and hidden as He is himself? Is it not the mystery which every soul performs in its most retired chambers, as within closed doors?

My friends, I will not now stop to show that although the flame of love to God may glow in the heart, deeply concealed, yet it must manifest its fervor in works. I will ask but this, can God still be called a hidden, unseen object of love, now that Christ has come into the world? John says: "Whosoever loveth Him that begat, loveth Him also that is begotten of Him. No man bath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us." Here, you perceive the whole matter at a glance. Although we may persuade ourselves a thousand times that we are cherishing a love to the unseen God, so long as we have no affection for those whom He has begotten again through Christ, and whom He has made to reflect His grace and truth, there is no true love in us-all our professions are empty words. There is not one of you, my brethren, who would not raise an outcry against the man who should desert the brother in whose veins there flowed the same ancestral blood as in his own. Such a person we would all term a monster, to whom there is nothing sacred in the name or in the memory of father. And can we, then, in truth, love our Father in heaven, and at the same time withhold our affections from that brother in whom reigns the same spirit of grace and truth through which we have been begotten anew?

But I go yet further, and say, that our love for an individual who might be manifesting only a somewhat lively religious striving or an inclination even of the heart towards God-is also a touchstone by which our inward thoughts are revealed. For certain it is, that all contemplation of, and longing after God among men, finds its perfection only in Christ. If this be so, can we regard the yearnings of any human heart which thirsts after light and life from God, in any other aspect than as standing in connection with Christ? "Whosoever is of God, heareth