of his members here. In hurting a Christian you wound Christ, and Christ has power to punish. Let this thought, that the executing of judgment on your behalf is your Redeemer's case, as part of his charge and burden, tend to relieve your minds of overanxiety about self-defence: above all, let it give emphasis to that precept of the gospel, "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath." Trust to Christ to take care of you and to protect you. Believers too frequently rush forward to do battle with those who oppose themselves, as if they were their own helpers and defenders. Whilst occasionally it may be desirable to defend yourself by the pen, for the sake of the cause with which you are identified, against slander or false assertion, more frequently it might be better to commit your cause to Him that judgeth righteously, and, like Christ towards his accusers, to 66 answer them never a word." The scornful world will be more struck at times with your patient silence, as Pilate was, than swayed by your apology or convinced by your arguments. The best reply under some circumstances, and to the adversary the most galling, is, to hold your peace.

In Exod. xxviii. 12, it is written with regard to the names on the shoulders, "Thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord for a memorial." (Exod. xxxix. 7.) With regard to the breastplate it is written (Exod. xxviii. 29), "And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breast

plate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in into the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually." Thus the ephod, with its onyx stones on the shoulders, and breastplate on the heart, presented three memorials of Israel in the presence of the Lord. "The onyx stones on their shoulders bore their names before the Lord according to their birth-a memorial of the strength and power with which they were upheld in the presence of Jehovah. And these stones were also stones of memorial unto the children of Israel themselves. They were to remember the power and glory with which they had been by birth connected. And the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate of judgment expressed God's judgment of Israel also upon the heart of the high priest."

It is worthy of notice that the first stone on the breast of the high priest is the sardine, and the last the jasper. On the first was written the name of Judah, which means "praise." On the second was written Naphthali, which means "wrestling." In Rev. iv. 7, the Lord Jesus is seen sitting on the throne in heaven, and "is to look upon as a jasper and a sardine stone;" that is to say, He is the "praise" or glory of God, and also of the church and of the whole universe; and He is thus the "praise" because of his "wrestling" to the death, even the death on the cross. Both of these stones were red in colour. Surely it conveys to us the great truth contained in the Bible, running through it from cover to cover, that the blood of the cross is the Alpha and the Omega of the salvation of every one of the precious stones-the Lord's jewels-who are on his heart

before the throne. Yes, every stone rests on that, for "without shedding of blood is no remission of sins." May the cross of the Lord Jesus be the great rock on which every reader of these lines is resting "till He come."

Oh that, near the cross abiding,
We may to the Saviour cleave,
Nought with Him our hearts dividing,
All for Him content to leave.

THESE

CHAPTER IX.

THE MITRE AND GOLD PLATE.

EXODUS xxviii. 36-39; xxxix. 30, 31.

HESE are the last of the sacred vestments of
the High Priest.
"The mitre of the high

priest differed from the head-gear of the ordinary priest, which was shaped like the inverted calyx of a flower, and was probably also somewhat different in size. Fastened to it by a ribbon of blue lace was

the symbol of royalty, the gold plate, or 'ziz,' on which was inscribed Holiness unto Jehovah.' This plate was only two fingers wide, and reached from

temple to temple." This gold plate is called also "the holy crown." (Exod. xxix. 6.) The mitre was made of fine linen, the emblem of purity. There were thus three parts of the body of the high priest for which especially garments were provided-the head, the seat of the intelligence; the shoulders, the place of strength and power; and the heart, the seat of the affections and moral qualities. The special garments on each of these denoted heavenly excellency, beauty, and glory in each of these places. How precious is the view as shadowing forth the Lord Jesus as our great High Priest! The shoulders of his power and strength, the heart of his affections, and the forehead of his mind are all engaged on behalf of his people.

The inscription on the plate testified of what Jesus is in Himself. It tells of his own inherent holiness. Of all that ever bare the form of man He and He only could carry on his forehead a title which was perfectly justified by his entire character. Holiness was his nature, his element, his instinct, his life. Not even the faintest shadow of a blemish had ever fallen upon that spotless Lamb of God. His body, soul, and spirit; his thoughts, and words, and actions; his feelings, instincts, and desires; all that ever was in Him before his birth, during his life, at his death, after his resurrection and ascension, and now at the right hand of God, was as stainless and pure as the most essential perfections of Jehovah could possibly desire.

The inscription testifies also to what He is to the Father. Perfectly beautiful, fairer than all the