a lower sense, who may be said to be the gardeners of the Church, as we see it in the world ?-(Ministers, teachers, etc., 1 Cor. iii. 6.) In another sense every Christian is a labourer in the vineyard; we must all do something. In which of the parables do we find this?—(The labourers in the vineyard.) There is such a thing as working in the vineyard of the Church while we neglect the garden of our own soul (Song of Sol. i. 6). We must look within, as well as without; weeds will grow up without any setting; all our evil desires, wills, imaginations, affections, thoughts, like weeds, require to be rooted up, and 66 a godly seed" sown instead.

6. The seed.-What is the seed sown in this garden?-(The word of God.) As in nature seed is sown by other means than the gardener-sometimes the wind carries it, sometimes it is carried in the beak of a tiny bird-so it is in grace: a little book, a single tract, one leaf, one verse, one word, may be seed sown in good ground, and bring forth fruit a hundred fold. In which of the parables are we taught this ?—(The grain of mustard-seed.) [Explain manner of sowing seed in Egypt.] In like fashion we now must scatter the seed of God's word on the waters of the world, and God will bless us in the result. What texts give encouragement to those who are sowers of this seed ?—(Isa. xxxii. 20; Ps. cxxvi. 5.)

7. The trees.-Which is the most glorious tree in God's garden ?—(Jesus.) Where is Jesus called a tree?—(Isa. liii. 2; lx. 21; Ezek. xxxiv. 20; John xv. 1.) Almost every part of the tree has been used as an emblem of Christ : He has been called the "Root," "Leaves,""Stem," ,"" Branch," "Fruit," "Flower." He is the " Tree of Life in

the paradise of God." All His people are "trees of righteousness" (Isa. lxi. 3). Where is a good man compared to a tree? (Ps. i.) Little children and young people are all trees in this garden; the tender plants receive the rain of the Holy Spirit as well as the loftiest trees; so the young believer as well as the greatest apostle. Let us take care that we be not trees that cumber the

ground, having a show of leaves without fruit.

8. The watering.-What is the water for this garden ?-(The Holy Spirit, in all His sanctifying influences.) Teachers and ministers are trying to water the plants; what promise is held out to them?-(Prov. xi. 25.) You young people may make yourselves labourers in the Lord's garden; and if you only root out a little weed, or water a little plant, you will have your reward.

9. The flowers.-What flowers are mentioned most frequently in the Bible?

-(The rose and the lily, Song of Sol. ii. 1.) How is the rose an emblem of Jesus? The sweetness of the rose is its peculiar charm; even when dead it still emits its fragrance; we gather the leaves of a dead rose with care, to preserve them for the sake of their smell. So Jesus is as the rose, "sweeter than ten thousands, and altogether lovely; though He was put to death in the body, yet His gospel pours forth its sweetness and fragrance still; the sweetness of the rose and the sweetness of the gospel are undying. The lily of the valley, as its name indicates, grows in low places, and hides itself modestly beneath its tall leaves. How is it like Christ? (In humility, purity.) It grows not on the mountain top; you may walk by it and not notice it, only for the smell it emits. So the modest young Christian should be like the lily, not seeking to attract attention like the gaudy poppy, but, in a modest, retiring, humble life, emit "the odour of a good life."

10. The perfume.-What is meant by the perfume of this garden? Holiness of life; "the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed." When do we smell the perfume of a garden most?—(When the breeze passes over it.) What is the prayer of the Church in Song of Sol. iv. 16? The wind is the Spirit, the perfume holy actions, holy words, a holy life. All may thus see we "have been with Jesus."

11. Fruit.-All the trees in this garden are fruit-bearing trees. Some persons think they can be trees without fruit. What are the fruits in this garden?

-(Gal. v. 22.) A person professing to be a Christian without producing these fruits is only tying on the fruits to the tree to make a show, when in reality they do not belong to it. We cannot produce these fruits ourselves; God "From Me is thy fruit found says, (Hos. xiv. 8). If we would bring forth fruit we must continue in the vine; if we are closely united with Christ, as closely as the branch is united to the vine, then we shall be fruitful in every good work.

12. Conclusion.-"The trees of the Lord are full of sap (Ps. civ. 16). What is the sap to the tree?-(Its life.) So the Holy Spirit is the life of the Christian individual or the Christian Church; a tree without sap is dead; so a professor only, without this life in him, is spiritually dead. I trust each of you 66 may be planted in the house of the Lord," and that as you grow in years you may grow in grace.

Now I have been sowing to-day; may you reap what I have thus sown, that both I that sow and you that reap may rejoice together in that great harvesthome, after the work is over. Some have dug, some pruned, some planted, some trained; some are gathering, some reaping, some sowing; one is teaching, one preaching, one praying, one a missionary, one a Bible reader, one a tract distributor, one only gleaning. Some have been high as the palm, strong as the oak, wide-spreading as the bay-tree; but they have all had their nourishment from the river of life which flows through the garden. What prophet saw a vision of this ?-(Ezek. xlvii. 12.) In like manner the sustenance for our souls must be the river of the Holy Spirit. If the tree is good the fruit will be good; but take care you are not as the upas tree, beneath which nothing will live, and whose branches multiply so rapidly when they touch the earth. This is a tree of death. Avoid it, and put forth your hand, and eat of the tree of life, and live for ever in the paradise of God.

E. HOLMES.

EMBLEMS OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST.

IV. A FAMILY.

"The household of God."-Eph. ii. 19.

1. INTRODUCTION.-No more beautiful emblem of the Church of Christ could be chosen for study at the season of Christmas, when most friends and relatives are gathered together in joyful re-union, than this which we have entitled " a family." It is said that the word "home" exists only in the English language; and none perhaps more than an Englishman knows and feels the worth of that place "home." If nowhere else, love ought to be exhibited in the family circle. Where is the Church of Christ compared to a family?-(Eph. iii. 15.) Of whom does a family consist? We shall find the love of Jesus compared to the love of a father and of a mother. The strongest love of which human nature is capable is that of a mother; but this is only a faint shadow of the intensity of the love of God. We find every character and every position in a human family used to illustrate Christ and His Church; and, as we found the distinguishing peculiarity of a building was strength, of an army warfare, and of a garden growth, so here of a family we shall find it to be love. A Christian, and a congregation too, should be strong in the Lord, should fight in faith, should grow in holiness, should live in love.

2. Family divided.-The "family of God" is divided. Where are the members?-(Some on earth, but the greatest number in heaven.) I dare say some of you have read Wordsworth's beautiful poem, "We are Seven." You remember the little girl, when asked how many of the family there were, replied, "We are seven;" and although two of her brothers lived at Conway, and two were at sea, and two lay in the churchyard, and she lived with her mother, and the family really consisted only of five, yet the child spoke of the two dead ones as still forming part of it, and persisted in say ing "We are seven." The little girl

uttered a profound truth, and seemed to know something in her simplicity of "the whole family of God."

3. The Father.-What are the duties of a good father? Who is the Father of this spiritual family? Where is He called a Father ?—(Ps. lxviii. 5.) What does He provide for food for His children? (Bread of life, John vi. 34, 35; water of life, John iv. 15.) What clothing has He provided?(Garments of salvation, robes of righteousness, Isa. lxi. 10.) Where is He said to protect the children ?-(Job xxii. 25.) Where is He said to guide them ?-(Jer. iii. 4.) Where is He said to teach them? (John vi. 45.) How does David compare God to a Father?-(Ps. ciii. 13.) How does Jesus teach us to address God?-(" Our Father.") Where is the title of Father given to Jesus in the prophecies ?—(Isa. ix. 6.)

4. Adoption.-In how many ways is God our Father ?--(By creation, by redemption, by adoption.) All are God's children by creation (1 Cor. viii. 6; Mal. ii. 10). In a higher sense we are His by redemption, He hath purchased us, therefore we are His (1 Cor. vi. 20). In a still higher sense we are His by adoption. What is an adopted child?

(A child taken into a family, and treated in all respects as if it were really a son or daughter of the person who adopts it.) Where is the Christian called an adopted child?-(Rom. viii. 15.) Where in the prophets is this adoption spoken of?-(Jer. iii. 19.) Where does God promise we are to be His sons and daughters ?-(2 Cor. vi. 18.) Israel, or the Jewish nation, had a national adoption; God selected this people, and made them His children. Where are they spoken of as such ?(Rom. ix. 4.) The Jewish nation is compared to a little outcast child, a foundling, lying neglected, dirty, desolate, and helpless (Ezek. xvi.). God is represented as having pity on it, taking it to a happy home, washing it, putting beautiful clothing upon it, and feeding it. When it grew up, it forgot its Benefactor, and grieved Him with ingratitude and wrong-doing. This national adoption is a type of our spiritual adoption.

St. Paul wrote of this to the Roman Christians because they understood well what it was. If you and I are adopted into the family of God, we have a new name (Isa. lxii. 2), and we share the heavenly inheritance (Rom. viii. 17). In which of our Lord's parables is He compared to a father?-(The prodigal son; the two sons (Matt. xxi.). Tell me of some adopted child. -(Moses, Esther.)

5. The Church as a mother.-This is an interesting emblem of the Church of Christ. Where is she compared to a mother?-(Gal. iv. 26; Isa. lxvi. 11.) Where is Jesus compared to a mother? -(Isa. lxvi. 13.) Although a mother's love is the greatest of which human affection is capable, yet it cannot make us understand the greatness of God's love to us. God says again, "Can a woman forget," etc. (Isa. xlix. 15.)

6. The Elder Brother.-Who occupies, or ought to occupy, if he has not already forfeited it, the most honourable place in the family? (The eldest son.) Amongst the Jews what were his privileges? (The priesthood, the sovereignty, the double portion.) Who is the elder brother in the family of God? -(Jesus.) Where is He called a brother?-(Prov. xvii. 17.) Where is Jesus prophesied of as the Firstborn ?-(Ps. lxxxix. 27.) Where does Paul speak of Jesus as the eldest in the family? (Rom. viii. 29.) The love of a brother is great; but God says He is "a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother " (Prov. xviii. 24.) Sanctifier and sanctified are all one; hence "He is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Heb. ii. 11). Who does Jesus say are His brethren, sisters, and mother?- (Matt. xii. 50.) By what other names is the elder Brother, Jesus, called in the Bible?-("Holy Child," Acts iv. 31; "Son of the Blessed," Mark xiv. 61; "Son of God," Luke i. 35; "Son of the Highest," Luke i. 32; "Son of David," Matt. ix. 27; "Son of Man," John v. 27.) When did Jesus explain His Divine Sonship to one of His apostles ?-(Matt. xvii. 24.) A tribute or tax was laid upon every Jew who was twenty years old, for the support of the tabernacle, or temple worship. When

the collectors were gathering the tax, Jesus said to Peter, "Of whom do kings take tribute; of their own children, or of strangers?" By this Jesus meant, when kings collect tribute it is collected from strangers (subjects), not from their own sons: so God, the King of kings, commanded the Jews, for His worship, to pay the yearly tax; but Jesus, being the only Son of God, was exempted from paying. In which parable is Jesus represented as the Son?-(Parable of the vineyard, Mark xii. 6.) One in which he is called the King's Son?

(The marriage, Matt. xxii. 2.) The King's Son is Jesus, who marries the bride, His Church; she is then the "King's daughter (Ps. xlv. 13). "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John iii. 1). E. HOLMES.

EMBLEMS OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST.

IV. A FAMILY (concluded). "The household of God."-Eph. ii. 19. 7. The children.-Who are the children of God's family ?-(Sinners.) By what names are the children called? ("Beloved brethren," Jas. ii. 5; "brethren of Christ," Luke viii. 21; "children of Jesus Christ," Rom. i. 6; "children of the Living God," Rom. ix. 26; "children of promise," Rom. ix. 8; "children of light," Eph. v. 8; "holy seed," Isa. vi. 13; "sons of God," Phil. ii. 15, etc.) Tell me the duties of children: (a) To honour their parents (1 Sam. ii. 30; Mal. i. 6). (b) Obedience; good sons and daughters will always obey their parents, as much when they are absent from them as when their eyes are looking on them. "Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience" (Heb. v. 8). (c) Trustfulness and simplicity. When did Jesus show His people that these characteristics of children should be theirs? (When He called a little child to Him, and said, "Whosoever shall

humble himself," etc.: Matt. xviii. 2.) A child is generally humble, confiding, teachable, harmless; so should we be as God's children. Children require correction sometimes, and though a parent's heart grieve while he inflicts punishment, yet he knows it must be, for the child's own good. So of our heavenly Father (Lam. iii. 33; Heb. xii. 5–9).

8. The home.-Where is the home of this family of which we are speaking?

(Heaven.) Earth is but a temporary lodging for us poor travellers; we have no abiding city here, but we are on our way home. When did Jesus speak of heaven as "My Father's house"? — (John xiv. 2.) Plenty of room, and a welcome for every wandering child. When a man has been travelling many years in foreign lands, what does he look forward to when he reaches home?-(Rest.) Where is the Christian's home called a place of rest ?(Heb. iv. 9.) We know not the exact locality of our heavenly home; but we do know that home is where the Father is and the elder Brother is, wherever that may be. At present we are "at home" in the body, and absent from the Lord; but we have 66 a house" eternal in the heavens (2 Cor. v. 1). Some people speak of the grave as our home; but the grave is only a temporary "house" for the body (Job xvii. 13, and again Eccles. xii. 5). But we have a brighter home, a happier meeting-place, a house prepared for us by Jesus, the Head of the family.

9. Servants, &c.-We have seen the love of Jesus compared to a father's love, a mother's love, a brother's love, and His Church compared to a wife, a mother, a sister. Jesus is also the Husband of His Church (Isa. liv. 5). There is one more position in the family which Jesus takes, and which teaches us a wondrous lesson of condescension and humility. Who occupy the lowest places in the family?—(The servants.) Where is Jesus called a servant?-(Phil. fi. 7.) Where did He speak of Himself as a servant ?-(Luke xxii. 27.) What act of our Lord was especially that of a servant ?—(Washing His disciples' feet.) What eminent servant was a type of Jesus?-(Joseph.)

A good, obedient, faithful servant is a great blessing in a household. The position of a servant has been sanctified by Jesus; therefore it is an honourable one. A good servant will pray for the family, will attend to their call, will sympathise with them alike in sorrow or in joy, will make their interests his, will be faithful to them. All this, and infinitely more, do we find in Jesus, who came to minister unto our wants, and to take the very lowest place in God's family. Which of our Lord's followers did He say was the most humble ?-(John Baptist, Matt. xi. 11.) Where did Paul speak of himself as a servant ?-(Rom. i. 1.) So also do we speak of our clergy; they are called our "ministers," which word means "servants." But our ministers are not the only servants in the family of God; we should all be servants: "as the eyes of servants look unto their masters, and the eyes of a maiden to her mistress, so our eyes should wait upon the Lord." Another lesson we learn, in addition to this of humility, is love for our Father's commands and wishes. When a good father dies and leaves a "will and testament," his children, if they be filial, obedient, loving children to their father, will strive to carry out their father's wishes as

expressed in his will, and will listen for his last words, that they may obey them and treasure them in their memory. What ungrateful children many of us are! Here, in this book, the Bible, is the last will and testament of Jesus; many never care to read this will, and are living in wilful ignorance of their Father's last words. What should we think of a son who treated his earthly parent so? And yet this great and holy Being, who has made us His children, is treated so every day by thousands.

but

10. Conclusion.-The last lesson I wish you to notice is one which may appropriately be associated with the thoughts which the close of the old year is apt to beget in our minds. A Christian sometimes feels it hard, when he comes to die, to leave the few members of the family on earth he loved so well; let us think the family are with Jesus, and we are only the few travellers "going home," and bidding farewell to our fellowtravellers; let us try to think of the happy group of friends and relatives who stand on that unseen shore, ready to welcome us! May this be your end, when God calls you home; and may you know Him as your Father while you remain on earth.

E. HOLMES.

OUR REFUGE.

"His children shall have a place of refuge."-Prov. xiv. 26.

THE children here referred to are God's children; and among the many blessings that the Bible tells us belong to them, none is greater than this. I want you therefore to look at the text with me for a few moments.

I think you all know what a refuge is: a place of safety, to which one may fly in time of danger. A long time ago, in a far off country, a man was seen building a great ship. But no sea or river was near; of what use then could it be? It was so large that none could pass that way without noticing it. Year after

year the strange man went on with the work, and passers by mocked when they saw him; but still he toiled on, and as he did so told the scoffers that unless they and the other inhabitants of the earth turned from their sinful ways, God soon would send such floods of water down from heaven that they would surely perish. But the people heeded not his words; and, after the lapse of many years, when the building and the preaching were ended, and Noah (for you will know by this time that it is he of whom I am speaking), with his wife, sons, and their wives, and also some of every kind of living thing, had entered the ark, God Himself shut to the door, and at once the heavy rain descended, and the floods