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name of the Lord."-Acts xxii. 16.

THE narrative in the ninth chapter records the execution of this proposition but not the proposition itself. Here Ananias calls upon Saul to be baptized; there we are told that after he had received his sight "he arose and was baptized." The discrepancy here is not contradictory, but supplementary. The words

suggest three remarks concerning the work of getting rid of sin. It is a possible, a praying, and an urgent work.

I. It is a POSSIBLE work. "Be baptized and wash away thy sins." The Holy Word represents the sinful state of the soul under different figures. Sleep, slavery, disease, death, pollution. Here pollutionthe words imply that it is a cleansable pollution. It is not ingrained. It is a something separable from the soul. It can be washed away. Baptism to Saul, would not only be, what it ever was, the ordinance by which men passed from one religion to another, but would symbolize that moral cleansing of the soul which he so deeply needed. No water, of course, can wash the soul; all the waters of the Atlantic could not cleanse one moral stain. There is, however, a spiritual water, "the truth as it is in Jesus,

VOL. XX.

by which the Eternal Spirit does cleanse." (Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 27; 1 Cor. vi. 11; Titus iii. 7; Eph. v. 25, 26; Rev. i. 5, 6; vii. 14.) Thank God it is possible on this earth to separate the sin from the sinner.

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II. It is a PRAYING work. "Calling upon the name of the Lord." The correcter reading seems to be "calling on his name "-aûrôv rather than kuptov. Christ's name, however, is Himself; to call upon his name is to call upon Him. First: Christ is the only cleanser of human souls. His work is to wash away the sins of the world. To purify the moral garments of humanity. To make them white "without spot, wrinkle," &c. Secondly: Prayer is the ordained means of attaining his cleansing influence. "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved." (Rom. x. 13.) The prayer addressed to Him in the upper-room at Jerusalem, brought down his cleansing influences on the day of Pentecost, You may get wealth by industry; intelligence by study; wisdom by experience; but moral purity only by prayer. Prayer takes the soul up to the fountain opened for the washing away of all uncleanness.

III. It is an URGENT work. "Why tarriest thou?"

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more literally, why art thou | about acting, instead of acting really? Do not hesitate a moment. Be prompt. What thou doest, do quickly. The importance of promptitude may be argued---First: From the greatness of the work. Eternity depends upon it. Second : From the time already lost. The whole life should have been given to it, but much has run to waste. Third: From the increase of difficulties. Disinclination, insensibility, force of habit, increase. Fourth: From the character of the future. It is (1) brief; (2) uncertain.

A COMMON THING REACHING THE WONDERFUL.

"While I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance."-Acts xxii. 17. I. HERE IS A COMMON THING. A man praying. Prayer is an instinct of the soul. Danger seldom fails to rouse this instinct into the passionate supplication even of the most depraved (see Psa. cvii. 13). Volney in a storm. at sea, a striking example of this. Alas! more than half the prayers of the world are worthless.

All worthless prayer may be divided into two classes. First: Prayer addressed to the wrong god. Second: Prayer addressed to the right God in a wrong way. The universal ten

dency of man to pray implies the oul's innate belief in some of the leading facts of theology, such as the being, the personality, the presence, and the entreatability of God.

II. HERE IS A COMMON THING REACHING THE WON

DERFUL. The trance, ekσTaσis, is the state in which a man has passed out of the usual order of his life, beyond the usual limits of consciousness and volition. To this "ecstasy" of the Apostle Paul we owe the mission which was the starting-point of the history of the universal Church, the command which bade him " 'depart far hence unto the Gentiles." It is supposed by some, and with much probability, that it is to this trance Paul refers (2 Cor. xii. 1-5) when he speaks of being caught up to the third heaven. Now, it was prayer, a common thing, that conducted Paul into this wonderful state of ecstasy.

CONCLUSION.-First: Learn the sublime possibilities of the human soul. By a mysterious power of abstraction it can close up all the physical senses, shutout the external universe, and transport itself as on the wings of an angel into a world where there are scenes too grand for description, and communications surpassing utterance. Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, John, as well as Paul,

SEEDS OF SERMONS ON THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.

were often transported to these supernal states. Second: Learn the incomparable worth of true prayer. It was while Paul was praying that he got into this trance. Prayer is the road into the celestial.

While Daniel was praying,

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the man Gabriel touched him about the time of evening oblation, and said, “O, Daniel," &c. (Dan. ix. 2123.) While Peter was praying on the housetop, he fell into ecstasy, and a man stoɔd, &c. (Acts x. 9, &c.)

Seeds of Sermons on the Book of Proberbs.

LABOUR AS ENHANCING THE RELATIVE VALUE OF A MAN'S POSSESSION.

"The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.". Prov. xii. 27.

THE original word here translated "slothful," is in several other places rendered "deceitful." Slothfulness is almost necessarily connected with deceit. The idle man is a dreamer; he lives in false hopes. He makes promises that prove fallacious, because he has not the industry to work them out. Slothfulness stands almost always nearly akin to falsehood. The text means one of three things. First: Either that the slothful man is too lazy to "roast" and to prepare for food what he happened to strike down without much effort in the field. Or secondly: That which he "roasts" and prepares for food he had no hand in procuring, and that he lives on the production of other men's labours. He has "roast" meat, but that which he roasts is not what he himself took in hunting. Or thirdly: That what he caught in the field was so easily caught, caught with such little effort, that

he did not value it enough to prepare for food:-He did not take it up, carry it home and prepare it for the table. The last, I think, was the idea that Solomon had in his mind when he wrote this text. The last clause indicates this: "But the substance of a diligent man is precious," as if he had said, The slothful man does not value sufficiently what he has without labour caught in the field to prepare for food; but what the industrious man has, as the result of his work, is precious to him. The general principle, therefore, contained in these words is this:-That labour enhances the relative value of a man's possession. This principle is capable of extensive illustration; it applies to many things.

I. IT APPLIES ΤΟ MATERIAL WEALTH. Two men may possess property of exactly the same amount, of exactly the same intrinsic and marketable value, but whilst the one has gained it by long years of industry, it has come to the other by accident or fortune, or in some way entirely irrespective of his labour. Is the property equally appreciated by these two men ? Is there not an immense

difference in the value attached to it by its different proprietors? Yes; it is a very different thing to him who has got it by work to what it is to him who has fallen into possession of it without any labour or anxiety.

II. IT APPLIES TO SOCIAL POSITION. One man is born to social influence; he becomes the centre of an influential circle, and gets a position of extensive power, with no effort but that which is involved in a small amount of mental culture. He is a country squire; he is a member of Parliament; he is a peer of the realm; and all rather by what is called fortune than by anxious and persevering toil. The other man gets to such positions by long years of arduous and indefatigable labour. Are these positions of the same value? To the eyes of the world they are of the same worth, but to these men they are vastly different things.

III. IT APPLIES TO CIVIL LIBERTY. Civil liberty IS AN INVALUABLE POSSESSION. It is the grandest theme of political philosophy; it is the ideal of patriotic poetry; it is the goal in the race of nations. But what a different thing it is to the men, who have just won it by struggle, bloodshed, and sacrifice, to what it is to those who, like us, the modern men of England, have come into it as an inheritance!

IV. IT APPLIES TO RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES. To have the right to form our own religious convictions, and to express them freely and fully; to worship our own God in our own way, what a priceless boon is this! Yet do we value it as those who gained it after long years of persecution and battle? Thus it is that labour enhances the value of our possessions. "Weave, brothers, weave! Toil is ours; But toil is the lot of man;

One gathers the fruits, one gathers the flowers,

One soweth the seed again! There is not a creature from England's king

To the peasant that delves the soil, That knows half the pleasure the seasons bring,

If he have not his share of toil." BARRY CORNWALL.

THE TRUE PATHWAY OF SOULS.

"In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death."-Prov. xii. 2s.

THE life of souls is a journey beginning at the first voluntary thought, and running on from stage to stage through interminable ages. Wonderful pilgrimage is the pilgrimage of souls! What is the true pathway of souls? This is the grand question of being.

I. IT IS A RIGHTEOUS PATHWAY. The way of righteousness." What is the righteous way? The way that the righteous God has marked out. Nothing can be more axiomatic than this, that the path that the great Proprietor and Creator of souls has marked out is the right path, and the only right path. The path of "righteousness' is, First: The path in which His character is the supreme attraction of souls. In the true pathway all the affections of the soul run after Him as rivers to the ocean. is always the grand object before the eye, filling the horizon, and brightening all the scenes through which they pass. Secondly: His will is the supreme rule. Wherever that will lead is the path of righteousness. His will is revealed in different forms of expressions. For example: "This is the will of God, that ye believe on his Son." Again: "This is the will of God, even your sanctification."

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The true pathway of souls isII. A BLESSED PATHWAY. In the way of righteousness is life;

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I. THE TEACHABLE SON. wise son heareth his father's instruction." Solomon, of course, supposes that the father is what a father ought to be. There are men sustaining the paternal relationship who can scarcely be called fathers. They have not the fatherly instincts, the fatherly love, the fatherly wisdom, the fatherly royalty. A son would scarcely be wise in listening to men of this class. When we are commanded to honour our father, and to honour the king, it is always supposed that the father and the king are honour-worthy, and realize, to some extent, the ideal of the relationship. He who attends to the instruction of a father, Solomon says, is wise. He is wise, First: Because he attends to the Divine condition of human improvement. The Creator has ordained that the rising generation should get its wisdom from the teachings of its parents. It is by generations learning of its predecessors, that the race advances. Secondly: Because he gratifies the heart of his best earthly friend. The counsels of a true father are always sincere, dictated by the truest love, and intended

to serve the interests of his children, and nothing is more gratifying to his paternal nature than to see them rightly attended to.

II. THE UNTEACHABLE SON. "A scorner heareth not rebuke." Scorn is derision, contempt, and may be directed either to a person or a thing. It is not necessarily a wrong state of mind, its moral character, good or otherwise, depends upon the person or thing to which it is directed. Some persons justly merit derision; some things merit contempt. A son who scorns either the person or the counsels of his father, is not in a state of mind to hear rebuke -he is unteachable. The son who has got to scorn the character and counsels of a worthy father has reached the last degree of depravity, and passed beyond the pale of parental instruction:"The sport of ridicule and of detraction Turns every virtue to its bordering fault,

And never gives to Truth and Merit that Which simpleness and true desert should purchase. SHAKESPEARE.

MAN SPEAKING.

"A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth: but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence. He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life; but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction."—Prov. xiii. 2, 3.

I. THE SELF-PROFITING AND SELF-RUINOUS IN SPEECH. Here we have, First: The self-profiting in speech. "A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth." The speech of a good man which is enlightened, truthful, pure, generous, is of service to himself in many ways. By it :-(1.) He promotes the development of his own spritual being. (2.) He gratifies his own moral nature. (3.) He produces in hearers results which are delightful to his own observation; thus "he eats good by the fruit of his mouth." Here

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