the unnatural folly of man? Chickens instinctively obey the call of the hen. It is irresistible. They seek shelter under her wing, from the cruel fox and every enemy. But Jerusalem, the city of the great King, which should be intact, at unity with itself, in her palaces a sure refuge, denies what should be her distinctive character. She denies her King, her strength. She refuses the common ground for all, tramples under foot her own distinctive privileges, and hardens herself to the call of mercy, being one with evil.

Then, when the scourge of God went forth, it did not spare. In the waters of the flood, in the judgment of the firstborn of Egypt, and in the destruction of apostate Jerusalem,—a warning to the end of time,-did the redeeming arm of Jehovah reveal itself, putting away all evil.

Jerusalem, according to its name, should have attested the mercy and peace of God. As the city of the great King, the dwelling-place of the Most High, judgment and righteousness dwelt there. It was thus an outward and expressive testimony to the truth itself. God gives no outward sign or shadow without the substance. Jerusalem, then, set forth the invisible kingdom of the Father; but, as she then was, her children within her trampling under foot the blood of the everlasting covenant, doing despite to the Spirit of Grace, she was full of murderers-a painful picture of this present world, though redeemed. It is now, as of old: many are the children of the desolate one, but few are they of the married wife.

The Lord Jesus, not "in the sympathy of a human spirit," but in the never-failing love of the divine nature, wept, and cried, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen her brood under her wings; but ye would not. The invisible Jerusalem is a

Mattess o Es realling are: then should not the earthly je van Es preserve in the mist of her? If we but practise TOME TO TAY veini jurselves me with the Lord, mi ar krus or mine mi ny forcess, my strength, n vàm vi Irs. Ser he shall felver me from the stare of the wet rm te some pestilence. He shall sover me was antres d mier His wings shall I

The two isangusaed üsenes a viem we have already ferred win subsementi- nessed a rood confession, would lave dhe zeit land and he let of her Lori in the Kingdom. The joked forwari a something future, without realising what was already present. Being then in the bondage of evil, how could they have wist der asked? In contrast with them, were two Jüni nen, wiese hindness but expressed the common senditen of mm. They sike the right course; they come to the Son of Durni, the Christ, the true King; they cry for merey. When asked what they would that He should do unto ther-in other words, what was their idea of mercythe answer was That we may receive our sight; in other words, Purge any the ents that we may receive the light." Now, in the grace of God, mercy has been fully manifested; the evil is purged away, and our souls-like the eye, created to receive light in all its fulness, and give it to the body without any part dark-are free to fulfil that, in the economy of the grace of God, for which they were formed and have been redeemed: to receive the Spirit of God, and walk before Him in the land of the living.

The Lord touches the two men ; they, then, being one with Him, are immediately cured, receive sight, and follow Him. If, then, we would follow Him-reveal the Father-it will be only in the full blessings of the covenant.

When the beloved disciple truly followed his Master, he spake very differently to what he did when he, with his brother, asked the right hand and the left in the Kingdom. Behold! he now says, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are ye the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And every one that hath this hope in Him, purifieth himself, even as He is pure. A holy love is our portion, our everlasting treasure; so we pass from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord, and thus we practically realise the petition.

The generality of professing Christians take a standard that pleases themselves, and not that of God. If we fail to take the Lord's-that of the covenant in judgment and righteousness-the Bible is a difficult book, and evil devises a cruel device, and we are deceived. The grace of God has not overlooked, much less fixed, the doom of any; but it is put away by those who will not be gathered under the shadow of the ALMIGHTY. Every one must purify himself if he would be delivered from evil, not according to the standards of men or the maxims of the world, but according to the covenant"pure as He is pure." Else his petition is unanswered: he mocks God every time he puts it forth, and it will be said, when the door is shut, "Take from him that has not, and give to him that has." In other words, "Behold! your house is left unto you desolate."

The soul, created a temple-a habitation for the Most High, redeemed by the eternal Son of God, is desolate. Awful and most terrible judgment! what tongue can describe ? To be left alone by a covenant God-most fearful doom!

what language can express? Yet, withal, in judgment God remembers mercy. He is waiting, that every one may know this mercy in a deliverance from evil; for there is no depth of degradation into which evil may have plunged, and now holds, any one, but from which the redeeming arm of the Lord can and may deliver him. And thus he speaks: "I say unto you, ye shall not see me until it come to pass when ye shall say, 'Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." For without holiness shall no man see the Lord. Thus is it within the power of any one at once to cleanse the temple, to present the pure heart, and to perfect praise-a condition that will long for the second advent of the Lord, when He shall appear without sin unto salvation. Then let the song go forth, "The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous. The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted. The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord hath chastened me sore, but He hath not given me over unto death. Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter. I will praise Thee, for Thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech Thee. Send now prosperity. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. We have blessed thee out of the house of the Lord" (Ps. cxviii. 14—26), for it is no more desolate.

XXV.

HEBREWS xii. 14.

"Follow holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."

Ir is asked, "In what relation do justification and sanctification stand, each to the other?" As ecclesiastical terms, what they mean may be ascertained from various writers; but, if we turn to the Bible, "justification" is put for "made righteous;" and "sanctification" for "made holy." Such a sense would be awkward in a system of doctrine which requires a man to do something, while it denies grace to have been given him.

When any obeys the truth, he obeys what is, and he is holy before he is righteous. He realises the indwelling of Christ before he does that of the Spirit. He "first trusts in Christ' and then "is sealed with the Spirit of promise" (Eph. i. 12, 13). He is purged from all iniquity before he is filled with the blessing of God. Although both be, as it were, simultaneous, yet there is this order, and it must be observed.

We have already abundantly shown what are the two principles of the covenant, and how they mutually imply each other. Where judgment is, there will be righteousness; and where righteousness is, there judgment has gone before. He, then, who has these principles and walks in them, is perfect before God. By this washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, a man is restored, though he may fall seven times a day; which number points to the covenant and shows that his restoration from time to time is only according to it. This offers no indemnity from the painful consequences