Vera. 16-22.-Giant-lcillers. These huge monsters were dangerous enemies. To 11lay them was to do valuable service to king and country. To assail them required much courage. Those who killed any of them gained great renown; and tbeir names and deeds were recorded in the chronicles of the kingdom, and, 11s to some of them, have found e. ple.oe in the Book of books. J. So:11i1E GIANT FOES OF THE Drvil'IE KING AND KINGDOM THAT NEED TO BE DESTROYED, We may name superstition, whether pagan, papal, or protestant; infl- deUty ; selfishness; pride; tyranny, ecclesiastical or political; slavery; senmality; intemperance; war; 'TTW!mmon, Singly, or in partial union, they assail the subjects ol Christ, and oppose them in their endeavours to extend his kingdom. And behind lie the devil and his angels, ever active and formidable (Eph. vi. 11, 12). II. To BATTLE AGAINST THESE MONSTERS IS THE DUTY OF ALL CHRIST'S SERVANTS. 1. It is involved in their Ohristian calling. The new nature which is given to them is instinctively hostile to Satan and his works. The endeavour to serve God and benefit men necessarily brings them into conflict with these powers of darkness. The attacks made on themselves compel them to fight in self-defence (1 Pet. v. 8, 9). 2. They are supplied with arms and armour for the purpose. (Eph. vi. 11-17.) 3. The ensl,aved and degraded condition to which these giant evi1s have reduced their victims appeals to and stimulates them. 4. Their own happy condition under the reign of Christ supplies them with a powerful motive. 5. Regard for him impels and strengthens them. Loyalty, desire for his glory, the hope of his approval, and of the honours and rewards he bestows. III. HEROES IN THE FIGHT ATTAIN TO DISTINCTION AND BEWABD. 1. Wn.o are the heroes P Not those who engage these giants (nominally) as a profession and for the sake of earthly rewards. But such as (1) renounce for themselves their service, which all who profess to oppose them do not; (2) show great zeal in contending against them; (3) cheerfully expose themselves to hardship and peril in doing so, displaying con- spicuous courage and endurance. Those faithful in times of persecution--confessors, martyrs. Those who bear the gospel to savages, or encounter dangerous climates in seeking its extension. 2. Their honours and rewards. (1) In many cases, success; not, alas I in killing these giants-they e.re not dead yet-but in preserving themselves, and rescuing others from their power, and in diminishing their dominions. (2) Enrol- ment in the Divine records. Many illustrious no.mes are written in hnman records ; more have been overlooked; but e.11 are in the "book of remembrance written before" God (Mai. iii. 16). (3) Final promotion to honour, power, and blessedness (see 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8; and the promises me.de in Rev. ii. and iii. to" him that overcometh ").-G. W. Ver. 17.-The unquenchable Light. "That thou quench not the light of Israel." " The men of David" who. thus speak, and doubtless the multitude of his subjects, regarded him as the light (literally, as in Revised Version, "the lamp") of the nation -its guiding mind, its safety, glory, and joy. His death would involve the nation in darkness-in perplexity, confusion, peril, and trouble. Such we.a likely enough to be the consequence of his death at that period. Nevertheless, David, as a moral and spiritual light, burns on still for all peoples and generations. Death did not quench this light. More emphatically is this true of Jesus Christ our King. 1 HE IS THE LIGHT OF MEN. Intended ultimately to" lighten every man;" actually enlightening those who receive him. He is their: 1. Teacher and Guide. Through whose revelations they know God and himself and themselves; sin and righteousness; heaven, and the way to it ; perdition, and how to escape it ; the real worth of things; the wisdom needful for the guide.nee of life. Christ sheds light upon all things- the li11:ht by which their true character and relations e.re made apparent. 2. Safety and Salvation. In darkness is peril ; in light security. 3. Glory. Imparting to them of his own lustre. 4. Joy. In knowledge and conscious safety are peace and happiness and hope; in ignorance, doubt, and perplexity, is unhappiness. II. HIS LIGHT 0ANNOT DE QUENCHED. 1. Not the light of his personal glory In the battle with his foes and ours, he fell and died ; but he rose age.in, and to a greater bright- ness of glory, in consequence of his death. His cross itself is a great light for men. He lives above all the power of his enemies. He goes with his people to battle, but cannot be touched by the foe. 2. Nor the Light he has become to men thrcni,gh the U. SAMUEL. 2 ll 530 THE SECONO BOOK OF SAMUEL. [en. xxu, 1-61,
k11owltdge he hGS gitien to the world. Great and formidl\ble and persistt!nt have been the efforts to extinguish the lil!;ht; but it bums on unquenohed and unquenchable. It may be obscured here and there, and for A time, but it can never go out. It will yet Rhine forth over the whole eArth, and eoatter all the darkness of error and sin. 3. Nor the Light he is t,o each of hiB believing people. Through life, aud in dea.th, and for ever h_e remains their Light. Hi~ presence in their heart11 is their wisdom and joy under aii c1rcumstAnces. Then: I. Be grAteful for him. 2. Accept the light he sheds. 3. "Walk as ohildren of light." 4. Be lights yourselvas. Shine by speech, and especially in your lives.-G. W.