harvest. Since he would build a high house of joy in our hearts, there was a "needs-be" that he should dig out deep foundations of sorrow, and he did it so for our lasting and perpetual good. Could John Bunyan have ever written "Pilgrim's Progress," if he had not felt abounding sin, and rejoiced in "Grace abounding?" Could he have ever compiled such a wondrous work as the "Holy War," if he had not himself felt all the attacks which the Town of Mansoul knew, and heard the beating of the hell-drum in his own ears, just as the Mansoulians did, whose tale he tells. Masters of divinity are not to be made by shallow experience. We make not sailors on dry land, nor veterans in times of peace. Christ's rugged warriors who shall do great exploits for him, must be like the Spartan youths, they must be brought up by a Spartan training, and flogged, and made to bear the yoke in their youth, that afterwards they may be good soldiers of Christ, able to endure hardness and to achieve great victories. This that looketh so cruel in Christ is only masked mercy. He putteth the vizard on his face, and looketh like an enemy, but a friendly heart is there still towards his chosen.

Let us remember, then, if we are to-day guilty and moaning our guiltiness-we ought not to forget that Christ is a brother though he seems to be an enemy, that he loves us with a pure and perfect love though he speaks hardly to us. If he do not answer our prayers he still intends to do it; if no pity or compassion are expressed, yet beyond a doubt he is not flinty of soul, nor is he hard to be moved to commiserate his children.

III. I now come to the last point, and here may God be pleased to let light break in upon darkened souls. JOSEPH AFTERWARDS REVEALED HIMSELF TO HIS BRETHREN, AND SO THE LORD JESUS DOES IN DUE TIME SWEETLY REVEAL HIMSELF TO POOR CONSCIENCE-STRICKEN PENITENT SINNERS.

The reading of the chapter which we heard this morning, is enough to bring tears to all eyes that are connected with tender hearts. I must acknowledge that when reading the chapter in my own study, I could not resist weeping copiously at the picture which the Holy Ghost has so admirably drawn. Those ten poor trembling brothers, Judah's speech just finished, and all of them on their knees supplicating the clearing of the court house, and then Joseph, whose soul was swelling with such grief and love, bursting out with that "I am Joseph." What a scene for tender souls! Though he must have spoken in deep affection, yet, "I am Joseph," must have fallen on their ears like thunder. "Joseph !" where are we now? Better for us that we were in a lion's den, than here with him whom we mocked, saying, 'Behold, this dreamer cometh, with him whom we sold, and dipped his coat of many colours in blood,

should bless you, it must be without money and without price. Ay, poor soul, and there is one other point upon which thine eye may rest with pleasure; he has sometimes spoken to thee comfortably. Did not Joseph say to Benjamin "God be gracious unto thee, my son?" And so, sometimes, under a consoling sermon, though as yet you are not saved, you have had a few drops of comfort. Oh! ye have gone sometimes out of the house of prayer as light as the birds of the air, and though you could not say "He is mine and I am his," yet you had a sort of inkling that the match would come off one day. He had said-"God be gracious to thee, my son." You half thought, though you could not speak it loud enough to let your heart distinctly hear it, you half thought that the day would come when your sins would be forgiven; when the prisoner should leap to lose his chains; when you should know Joseph your brother to have accepted and loved your soul. I say, then, Christ disguises himself to poor awakened sinners just as Joseph did, but even amidst the sternness of his manner, for awhile there is such a sweet mixture of love, that no troubled one need run into despair.

But, dear friends, I am met by a question. Some one asks, “Why doth Jesus thus deal with some coming sinners? Why doth he not always meet them at once as he does with some, while they are yet a great way off, and fall upon their necks and kiss them?" Perhaps we can answer this question by another. Why did Joseph thus hide himself, and not manifest himself to his own flesh? The answer is here; Joseph knew there was a prophecy to be fulfilled; the sun, and moon, and eleven stars must make obeisance to him; and their sheaves must bow down before his sheaf. So there is a prophecy concerning us"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;" and were it not that Christ doth thus deal roughly with us, perhaps we should never bow ourselves with that deep humiliation and prostration of spirit, which is necessary for our good as well for his glory. I am sure that any of us who have passed through this state of mind, feel it a privilege to Low down before him. All hail, Jesu! We bring forth the royal diadem and crown thee, Lord of all. We wish not to dispute thy sovereignty, nor to interfere with thine absolute dominion. Give him all the glory; give him all the honour. Our spirit boweth down with even deeper reverence than the cherubim, who bow before him with veiled faces, crying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth." Besides, my dear friends, Joseph's brethren would not have been convinced of their sin at all, if it had not been for this. It was needful that they should know the greatness of the wrong, that they might know the value of the free pardon. The delay of manifested mercy has done much good to many of the saints; it compelled them to search the fountains of the great deep of their natural depravity, and led them to admire the freeness and richness of divine grace. We should have been but poor fools in Christ's school, if it had not been for the rod with which he whipped us, and the ruler with which he knocked our knuckles in our early days. That black board of conviction was a useful implement enough in the school house. If he had not ploughed deep, there never would have been a hundred-fold

AN EXHORTATION BY REV. C. H. SPURGEON,

AND

A SALUTATION BY REV. MERLE D'AUBIGNE, OF GENEVA. DELIVERED IN THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE,

ON SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 18TH, 1862.

"And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem."-2 Samuel, xi. 1.

THE last sentence informs us of a circumstance so significant that the Holy Spirit has recorded it twice. In the parallel passage in the Chronicles, you will find a repetition of the statement that "David tarried at Jerusalem." It had hitherto been his custom to march at the head of his troops. The king of Israel was the commander-in-chief of the Lord's hosts, and by personal deeds of prowess excited the national spirit; but on this occasion, you perceive, he delegates his power to Joab, and seeks inglorious ease. We are informed that the season had arrived when kings go forth to battle-probably the spring, when horses could be maintained by forage, and when, if a long siege should be necessary, the armies might sit down before a city with the prospect of advancing summer and ripening harvests. It was a great occasion; for otherwise, how is it that he sent all Israel with Joab? A great war had been provoked, and most important interests were at stake. This makes it the less excusable on the part of the king, that he should, when his presence was especially necessary, absent himself from his proper post. Nor do we think that state affairs needed his presence in Jerusalem. No rebellions were hatching; the whole land was quiet, and all the tribes voluntarily submitted themselves to his sway. It does not seem from the context, that David was at all occupied with state cares; for you find that he rises from his bed at eventide. Contrary to the hardier custom to which he had inured himself in his earlier days, after his noontide meal he laid himself down and slept till the sun was setting; and when he arose, it was not to succour the poor, or to dispense justice, but to take a stroll on the housetop; and there, being idle, having put his armour off, the arrow smote him; having nothing good to do, the enemy found him awful work; for the tempter planted straight before his eyes a fair temptation, into which he rushed as a bird to the snare, or as a bullock to the slaughter. Happy would it have been for king David had he been in battle; he would not then have known this temptation. Probably if the temptation had presented itself, he would have been so occupied with martial cares that he would

not have fallen a victim. Idleness was the mother of the mischief, and if you trace to its bottom the foul iniquity that has made the name of David a special mark for all the Lord's enemies, you will find it had much to do with his not going out to battle when the country required it, when the season commanded it, and when no affairs of state justified his absence.

You will readily perceive the subject of my address. First, to the individual Christian; and secondly, to the Church, as God shall help me, I will utter warnings against that deadly lethargy which is so apt to steal over us, putting us into a position to be readily assailable by temptation, ay, and to be easily overcome by it too.

I. To you, BROTHER IN CHRIST, I SPEAK PERSONALLY.

1. Let me direct your special attention to the season at which this temptation to idleness came upon David. Brethren, David never refused to go forth to battle while he was harassed by his adversary Saul. So long as he is hunted like a partridge upon the mountains, David's character is spotless, and his zeal is unrivalled. In his religion there was an intensity of energy, so long as in his life there was an intensity of adversity; but now an hour of trial is at hand, Saul is dead, and the last of his race sits as a humble pensioner at David's table. The son of Jesse is no more obliged to frequent the tracks of the wild goats, or to hide himself among the glooms of Engedi; his great adversary has long ago fallen by the arrows of the Philistines upon the mountains of Gilboa; but a stealthier foe is lurking in ambuscade,-woe to thee, David, if he overcome thee! Ah! Christian, and it is a dangerous time to you when temptation has ceased to harass you, when Satan has left you in peace, and when you have placed your foot on your adversary's neck; when the storm has hushed itself to sleep, when a dead calm takes the place of the awful hurricane; it is then you have need to look well to it, for then your soul may lose its former strength and watchfulness, and you may decline into indifference, and Laodicean lukewarmness. While the devil assails you on the right hand and on the left, you will hardly be able to rest upon the couch of carnal security. The dog of hell, by barking in your ears, keeps you awake; but when he shall cease his howlings, your eyelids will grow heavy, unless grace prevent. When you are no more driven to your knees by furious assaults from hell, you may experience the still more terrible trials of the enchanted ground, and you will have good cause to cry out, "Lord, let me not sleep as do others, but let me watch and be sober."

Yet again, David at this time had obtained the crown, and it was sitting softly and securely upon his head. Dear friends, far from depreciating the full assurance of faith, we know that it is our strength and our joy; but there is a temptation connected with it. The Christian is apt to say, "Now I am saved, I have no doubt about it; for the crown of my salvation encircles my head right royally." Believer, be on thy watchtower, for the next temptation will be, "Soul, take thine ease; the work is done; thou hast attained; now fold thine arms; sit thou still; all will end well; why needest thou too much to vex thyself?" Take care of the seasons when you have no doubts. "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." "I said, I shall never

be moved. Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled." Bless God for full assurance; but, remember, nothing but careful walking can preserve it. Full assurance is a priceless pearl; but when a man has a precious jewel, and he walks the streets, he ought to be much afraid of pickpockets. When the Christian has full assurance, let him be sure that all the devils in hell will try to rob him of it. Let him be more upon his watchtower than he was before. This is the temptation of assured believers, to sit down upon the throne and say, "I shall sit in my glory for ever and see no sorrow; I need no more go forth to fight the Lord's battles."

Yet further: it appears that at this time David was at the height of his prosperity. He had attained to about fifty years of age; the year of his jubilee was come, and everything went on jubilantly. Whithersoever he turned his hand, he prospered. "Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph." He could boast himself exceedingly, for God was with him in all his ways. Ah! dear friends, and when a Christian prospers, it is an ill time for him, unless he be on his watchtower. "In all time of our wealth, good Lord deliver us." When a man is poor, when he is sick, when he is tried in his estate, he has need of grace; but when he is rich, when his business succeeds, and his family are in good health, and all is well, he has need of grace upon grace. It is hard standing in high places; the brain grows dizzy with looking down. It is not easy to carry a full cup with a steady hand. Smooth places are slippery places. Let us beware, lest when we get full, Jeshurun waxes fat and kicks against the Lord. Summer weather breeds flies; fair weather in the soul brings out the evils and mischiefs of our nature. Heat hatches the cockatrice eggs, and the heat of prosperity often brings out the young serpents of sin. See to it, lest like David you refuse to go forth to battle because you are prospering in the world.

To complete the hazard, David had now the opportunity of indulging himself in all the luxuries of life. He had a palace with all the accompaniments of oriental magnificence. He was no more the humble shepherd eating a crust from his wallet,-no more the chieftain of an outlawed clan, depending upon such churlish husbandmen as Nabal for temporary assistance. The fat of the land was his; the oil of Asher, the vintage of Ephraim, the corn of Judah, and the dainties brought from afar, from Tyre and Sidon-all were his; he could be clothed in scarlet and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day: then it was that his soul grew lean, while the flesh was pampered. Fat steeds sometimes will not work; birds too well fed refuse to sing; and so does it happen when the riches of the earth are ours freely to enjoy, and the blessings of Divine Providence are poured out of the cornucopia of divine munificence, that we refuse to do the Lord's work, and, like David, go not

out to battle.

Dear friends, I know that my sermon is pertinent to some of you. I would that I could pourtray the individuals so clearly that they could not allot to others the rebuke intended for themselves. It is a well known fact that when some people get rich in gold they grow poor in