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They for us fight, they watch and duly ward,

And their bright squadrons round about us plant;
And all for love and nothing for reward:

O why should heavenly God to men have such regard!"

-SPENSER.

"ministers of grace" to

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If thus angels act as "ministers of succour fallen men, surely we should obey that same Will in acts of beneficence to one another; ministering to the saints, protecting the weak, caring for little children, visiting the sick, tending the dying. In such service we are apt to neglect small acts of kindness while thinking to do great things, and waiting for these to present themselves. 'A wise man," said Lord Bacon, "will make more opportunities than he finds." Benevolence like that of the angels will never wait for a call to some mighty act, when to give a cup of cold water is at hand. While imitating their obedience to Him whose "Nature and property is ever to show mercy," we shall never be at a loss for opportunities.

"Small service is true service while it lasts;

Of friends, however humble, scorn not one;
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun."
-WORDSWORTH.

In all benevolent work we are doing the Will of God. But there is no department of such work so important as that of endeavouring to save the souls of men. Here also we may learn a lesson from the angels. They announced His birth; ministered to Him in the wilderness and in Gethsemane; appeared

at the Resurrection and Ascension; came to the disciples to succour and direct them; to Philip, Acts viii. 26; Cornelius, x. 3-22; Peter, xii. 7-9; Paul, xxvii. 23; and John, Rev. i. 1; and are deeply interested in the salvation provided for sinful men. "Which things the angels desire to look into." “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." Possessed of lofty intelligence, with vast and accurate knowledge of truth, they understand how much is involved in the salvation of one soul. Already in possession of joy so complete, they would not burst forth into fresh gladness on account of any trivial event. We may learn from them the unspeakable reasons for joy in the salvation of one sinner. If we do the Will of God on earth as they do it in heaven, we shall feel that the repentance of even one sinner is ample reward for a life of labour, since it furnishes occasion for fresh joy in heaven. O for the time when earth shall thus resemble heaven; when all men in doing the Will of God shall best serve themselves and one another; when the varied wills of men, not destroyed nor compressed into a rigid uniformity controlled by a single dominant and all-embracing volition, but in their multiplicity of individual wills, each free yet all concurring, shall form one Commonwealth of Willinghood in the perfect service of the Eternal King!

VI.-PASSIVE OBEDIENCE.

Men have also to obey in another method unknown to angels. We are exposed to varied sorrows, all sent or permitted by God and overruled for good, but needing special help to endure them patiently. The purposes of God must be accomplished whether we assent to them or not. We here pray that we may render this assent. Our repining hinders not His working, but it hinders our own comfort: our wrestling and fretting doth but pain ourselves" (Leighton). How the character of any trial is changed when we accept it from our Father; when we are cheerfully led instead of being unwillingly driven; when we take up our burden and carry it instead of trailing it along the rocky path! God's Will may concur with our own wish; or our prayer may bring us what we ask; but there will often be times when what we wish we cannot have. But we may always relinquish our own will and embrace that of God, and so, by making His Will ours, have our own. Luther said, "I do not ask 'Thy Will be done,' but my will be done, because Thy Will is now my will, and I best get my own will by unquestioning acceptance of Thine." It would not be good for us to have our own will always, if it were possible. Were God to give us the liberty of choice, it would be wise to resign that liberty again to Him who is infallibly wise and unfailingly kind. Often, as we look back,

we see places where we wished to take some other path than that in which God was leading us, and we perceive that our own preference would have led us into bogs or over precipices. And we also see places where we resolutely chose our own path, and God overruled our disappointment to teach us the folly of refusing to be guided by Himself!

"Lord, Thou art mine and I am Thine,

If mine I am: and Thine much more,

Than I or ought, or can be mine.

Yet to be Thine, doth me restore;

So that again I now am mine;

And with advantage, mine the more,

Since this being mine brings with it Thine,
And Thou with me dost Thee restore.

If I without Thee would be mine,

I neither should be mine nor Thine."

-GEORGE HERBERT.

How unanswerable the argument for resignation to the Divine Will in times of trial is the assurance of the apostle, "Our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory"! Light compared with the weight of glory, momentary compared with the eternal result, they are always operating for our welfare even when causing us most suffering. "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God." They are active, beneficent, harmonious; they work together for good. Often our trials act as a prickly hedge which wounds, but guards us from the steep precipice or the deep river. Loss of property may enrich the soul. Trials reveal to us ourselves,

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as soaking rain shows damaged places in the roof which need mending." They bring our sins to remembrance, as in the case of Joseph's brethren. They separate us from many perilous temptations and worldly snares; they draw or drive us to the throne of grace; they are a needful discipline of faith, and our patient endurance is a helpful example.

"If loving hearts were never lonely,
If all they wish might always be,
Accepting what they wish for only,
They might be glad, but not in Thee.

We need as much the cross we bear
As air we breathe, as light we see ;
It draws us to Thy side in prayer,

It binds us to our strength in Thee."

The brave and godly Sir John Eliot said: "In wrestling with calamities there is this advantage for all-First, thyself; the favour of God giving thee this education, knowledge of thyself, confirmation of virtue. Secondly, thy neighbours; profit by thy example, thy fortitude adding courage to them. How then in this great duty of advantage to ourselves and neighbours we should repine, as 'tis a prejudice to our happiness, so 'tis a wonder unto reason." As the destruction of Aquileia and other towns on the Italian coast caused their inhabitants to flee to the islets of the lagoon, from which there afterwards arose the temples and palaces of the queenly city of the Adriatic, so the most threatening perils and darkest trials of the believer have often been the means of erecting

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