with the '' deep things of God." Those who look upon God's Word as a common book, or Chri~t's sacraments as simpJe symbols, without any mystery about them, e,·en to the fa1thfnl worslnpper, are. hkely to deprive themselves of a very necessary help and guidance in their way through the world. A.we, and .reverence, and a sense of the mystery as well as the nearness of the Unseen, are among the most necessary features of a life that seeks aright after the perfection of man's nature. V. THE MINISTERS MUST LEAD THE WAY. \Vithout any undue sacerdotal preten- ~ions, it may at least be said that if the ministers of Christ's Church be not the guides anrl. t~nchers of the people, we were better without them. Yet, as Matthew Henry remarks, we are_ only t<;> follow them when they follow Christ. Nor is there any contrad1ct10n m this. It 1s om· duty ever to "search the Scriptures, whethe1· these things are so." \V c are to " prove all things," to "hold fast " only '' tho,t which is good." But it is tJie duty of those whose province it is to "rule the Chm-eh of Go,r' to be ever foremost in every good work. It is idle to preach if we do not practice. It is useless to exhort men to follow the right path, unless we ourseh-es go before them in the way. An officer cheers his men into action not from behind, but from the front. So the officers of God's army should be in the van of its progress. Therefore in all things which become the Christian, the Christian minister must set the example. In zeal for his Master's cause, in unwearied efforts to promote it, in purity of life, in acts of love to the sick and aged, to the young aud tender, in kindness to all, in public spirit moreover, and re· gard for tJie general welfare, in honour, in truth, in prudence, in self-command, in self-abnegn,tion, the ordained servant of God should be in the fore-front of the grancl army. But the army must follow its leaders. It is not sufficient to lay down a high ideal for our ufficers, and to consider that the part of the privates is to criticise sharply and closely the actions of those who are set over them. Whatever they do, we must do also. Where they go, we must go too. We are all pledged to the same work, and, taking our tone from those who are appointed to lead us, we must lead a life animated by the same spirit as theirs, the opirit of the living God. YI. A SPECIAL WORK REQUIRES A SPECIAL PREPARATION. Joshua bids the Israel- ites " sanctify themselves " because God was about to " do wonders among" them. So when we set about any work of more than ordinary importance, be it sacrecl or be it secular, we are bound to prepare ourselves by prayer, by meditation, by recep• tion of the Holy Communion, by a special study of God's Word, by a cessation, as fur as possible, of ordinary cares and engagements, for the task that awaits us. Thus Jesus Christ spent the night before choosing His apostles in prayer to God. Thus before His Passion He withdrew Himself for a while from the concourse of men. Thus the apostles waited in silenc& at J erusalein for the descent of the Holy Spirit. Thus St. Paul spent three years in Arabia communing with God before he entered on his life-long work. God's Spirit is ever near us, but at specie.l times He requires to be specially sought. And he who never permits himself a moment's retirement from the ordinary business and amusements of l_ife may well doubt whether God's Spirit have really a hold on his soul.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Yer. 16.-The crisis of life.-There ia only one date in history transcending this in importance-the date when, across a vaster Jordan, the dividing line between heaven and earth, God came in the person of a little babe to ruake a conquest of e. world of promise. The year of the founding of Rome, the fiigl,t of Mohammed, the invasion of the Saxons, the irruption of the Gauls into Italy, the Norman Con- quest, the \Var of Independence in America, the French Revolution-what date can compare with this crossing of the Jordan by a people only a gene!ation free from slaYery, ignorant of their own destiny, crossing with a h~pe of findmg an E:a.rthly home, but with no dream of the world-wide usefulness which would crown their history ? The beginning of the history of Cane.an I Invasions do not generally con.tribute much $0 the well-being of mankind, and frequently are as evanescent in OR, m, l-6,] THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 47