his face to the ground, and bowed himself." This same being, called from the realms of the happy, and sent by God for a mysterious purpose "Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? And the Lord hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David: because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day. Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines." This is the only instance in Scripture in which a spirit was called by one on earth from the dead, and made communications respecting the past, the present, and the future. But it may be, that in the last times the upper and the lower, the spiritual and the physical, may more intimately meet. Certainly in the last days there will be superhuman delusions and temptations so great that "if it were possible they would deceive the very elect." But I believe also that in the last days, in the language of Joel, "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." It is therefore highly probable that as the winding up of the great drama in which we play a part draws nearer, the future or the heavenly rest shall come down in clearer manifestation to this world. The Rev. Edward Bickersteth, whose judgment and piety no one can possibly dispute, says: "No part of divine truth"-and I was very much struck with this, and it very much influenced me

in making these remarks-"no part of divine truth can be neglected without great loss; and it is too evident that the deep and mysterious doctrine of the Bible respecting evil spirits and good angels has been far too much disregarded. It has arisen from the wide spread of infidel principles; and on the other hand, from the unscriptural idolatry practised by the church of Rome, there is a painful prospect," he says, "of a sudden recoil from the present scepticism to an undistinguishing credulity." Dr. Owen, a man of great judgment and piety, says: "It is the height of ingratitude not to search after what may be known of the great privilege of the ministry of angels; God has revealed it; and surely this is not for nothing." Moses Stuart, the eminent American divine, says: "If then there are good angels and evil ones, these facts are important to us; as they both cast light upon God's providential government in the world." But suppose, now, these realities were to be made more tangible; suppose spirits were to come from heaven and communicate flashes of celestial glory to the combatants of Christ upon earth in more visible array; suppose spirits were to come up from "the vasty deep" in order to tempt and to seduce the people of God in greater numbers, are we to fear or to appeal to them for guidance? We are told that Satan will be transformed into an angel of light; that in the last days there shall be signs and wonders such as if it were possible would deceive the very elect; but we are directed at the same time to the decisive test and criterion: "If we," the apostles, or an angel from heaven"-which assumes that an angel, or a spirit, for it is really not an angel, but a messenger-" if we or a messenger from heaven"—he assumes the possibility of a messenger coming down from heaven" preach to you any other gospel than that ye have received, let him be anathema." If we were to see at this moment burst upon earth all the splendour of a beatific vision; and if an angel radiant with all the glory of the cherubim, which Isaiah saw, and seeing which he fell prostrate at his feet, struck blind, were to appear; and

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if that angel, professing to be from heaven, bright with its glory, and bearing evidence that he had come from heaven, were to tell me that there is another name by which I can be saved than the name of Jesus-I should instantly answer, "Get thee behind me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." I agree with students of prophecy, that the three great worlds will come closer as the consummation draws nearer. It is possible that the spirits of the departed in heaven may come nearer us, and that the spirits of the lost in hell may also approach us; it is very certain that Satan, transformed into an angel of light, will try to pervert us; that messengers seemingly from heaven will come and preach another gospel. We have a decisive test; no miracle, no power, no splendour, no pretension, that asserts any one thing that is contrary to this blessed book is a messenger from Christ; and if any voice from the heights or from the depths were to bid you believe what is denounced in this inspired book, you need not hesitate nor fear in Christ's strength to rebuke it, and thus repel all the charms and seductions of its eloquence: "Get thee behind me; it is written." The second lesson I draw is very important. The seeking to call down spirits from above to answer curious questions, if not rebuked, is certainly not countenanced in the Bible. Isaiah, viii. 19, speaking of the last days, writes: "And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter," then what is the answer? "Should not a people seek unto their God? shall the living seek to the dead?" And then it is added: "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." This, however, is perfectly compatible with what I have tried to show before, that the two worlds are near each other; that the spirits of believers in heaven may see us; that those that have left us are nearer to each of us than we are at this moment to each other; that spirits in glory do know

our state, our struggles, our difficulties.

If so, and if you want to send a wave of blessedness to the eternal sea, to break in music upon those shores that are bright and illuminated for ever, you will send up that wave in fulness and with force by more earnestly consecrating heart, and soul, and body, and spirit to the service of Him who has redeemed us by his blood, and made us kings and priests unto our God. If you wish to gratify those that have preceded you, and I must quote it as a motive because the apostle himself has done so, you must detach your affections more from a world that perishes, and attach them more and more to a world that endureth for ever.

Our creed is a very short and a very simple one-no atoning efficacy but in the blood of Christ; no regenerative power but in the Holy Spirit of God; no rule of faith, or of conduct, but the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation; the cross without a screen; the Bible without a clasp; the way to heaven without an obstruction; and all things the servants of them who are the servants of our God and of his Christ.

LECTURE XXXIV.

THE BUILDER OF THE TEMPLE AND THE BEARER OF THE GLORY.

THE Author of the work of ages is also the Finisher. He only is the foundation, and he only the top stone. Under his eye and in his strength it rises every day, and therefore

"He shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory."-ZECHARIAH vi. 13.

THIS imagery is allusive. The ancient temple of Jerusalem, in which was the glory that burned between the cherubim, the mercy seat, and all the symbols of a more sensuous economy, expressive then to the Jewish church of those great truths which are now brought clearly to light, is the basis of the theme. Next to his God the temple was the glory of a Jew. When he prayed he turned his face towards it; when he praised he thought of its incense, and its high priest, and its golden altar, and its censer. Whatever act of worship he engaged in, the temple was to him symbolically what the name of Christ is to us. It is not true that the Jew turned to the east when he worshipped, and to suppose that it is the duty of the Christian so to turn in prayer is unscriptural and absurd. The Jew looked to his temple just because in the holy of holies was the symbol, and the type, and the representative memorial of Him who is the light that lightens the Gentiles and the glory of his people Israel. There only sacrifice was offered; there only incense in the holy place was presented in the golden censer by the high priest of Israel; and from that place, where God had written his name, the Jew expected that his prayers would be