II. HEDJ!J IS BEST. "Her warfare Is accomplished." The weapons to be put into the hands of the faithful suffice to secure victory, and therefore the warfare ie spoken of a.H accomplished. Looking forward to the Redeemer's days, Isaiah reminds us that his sacrifice is to be complete, as we read in Hebrews, "Once in the end of the world bath be nppeared to put away sin by the eacrifice of himself." Thus Christ epake of hie own death," I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." This is the spirit of the New 'l'estament. "Iniquity is pardoned." All who believe haTe full and free remission of sins. And the warfare within them must end in holy conquest- every rebel flag on every province of the nature will be hauled down, and every worldly enemy will be laid low. "This iti the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith." III. HERE IB DEPENDENCE, We receive double from "the Lord's hand." This is the theme of all the true Churches of Christ. Whether we express our gratitude for redemption in the words of Lyte or Watts, Keble or Doddridge, Faber or Wesley, it is still the same, and antedates the great Church worship of heaven: "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and bath made us kings and priests unto God, . . . be glory 11nd dominion for .iver and ever. Amen."-W. M. S. Vers. 3-5.-The golden age. "Every valley shall be exalted," etc. Everything depends upon how we view the future, whether with the horoscope of history or prophecy. History says the old evils return-war, strife, wrong, selfishness. Then the heart sinks, and inspimtion to duty is weakened. But when we go with the pro- phet to the mountnin-tops, we see-- I. PATHS OF PREPARATION. "Prepnre ye the way of the Lord." There are the ruins of the old military roads of the Crosara, but the Cmsars are gone. There the Ptolemies of olden time made incursions, but their sway is past. But the highways of commerce, the freer intercourse of peoples; the more humanizing influences of equity in l11w, and reformation in punishment, the kindly workings of pity and charity to the neglected and forgotten ;-all these are preparation-paths for the great King who i• lo roign in righteousness, Not alone through the roy11l gates of olden prophecies, but through the triumphal arches of redeeming ideas and in.lluencea which he ha.~ set at work, the Messiah shall come. II. OosTA.OLES nKMOVED. "Every v11lley," etc. 'l'hie is but a figurative way of stating that no hindrance can affect the onward march of the Redeemer. In Eastern countries the things described here were obstncles sufficient to binrlcr Solomon in his E11stern journeyd. '1.'here WeN limits to his progress when be left his gmnd baoilica to visit his wide dotuuins. Not so will it bo with One greater tlmn Solomon. Ill GLORY REVEALED, It is hidden now. Men are dnzzled with flllse glory, with meretricious ideas of empire, and they see no beauty in Christ that they should desire him. But one day-as the reathetio stu,lent realizes in time what is true art, as the musician understands the majesty of Beethoven -the moral nature of men being quickened and renewed by the Spirit, they shall see the glory of the Lord and tho excellency of our God. Not some here and there, but man everywhere; "all flesh shall sec it together." What a vision I and what a day of jubilee I We need cherish no doubt 11bout it, The vision is not imagination. The grand climacteric result is not predicated from a mere study of the triumph of the strongest forces. God has pledged his own word: "For the mouth of the Lord bath spoken it."-W. M. S. Vera. 7, B.-The imperi,hable. "The graaa withereth," etc. The soul of man is immortal, and the Word that is to feed it is immortal too. I. 'l'HE DECAY OF NATURE. "The grass witbereth "-that which feeds the dying re.ce of creatures upon earth. "The flower fadeth "-that which regales tho pbysic11l senses of man. Each genoration learns this great lesson, and it is interwoven into poem and song in every literature. II. TnE SYMBOLISM OF NATURE, These pictures of dec.'\y are to teach us how frail is the earthly life of man: "He cometh up and is cut down like a flower." ".All flesh is as graaa, 1md all the glory of man as the flower thereof." So that his beat life, his soul, will demand the greater care; that must be rooted in the everlasting. Th(, inspiring of the hum11n is a pensive enough consideration at times ; we can ouly be 80 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [os. XL. 1-31.
comfotted by the faith which, uniting us with Christ, enl\bles ue te say," Though the outward mo.n perishes, the inward man is renewed day by day." III. THE ETERNITY OF TRUTH. " The Word of our God shl\ll stand for ever." It is blessed to be able to say "our God," because that implies not only reconciliation1 but interest in his kingdom, and that kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. There is the written Word, e.nd that lives and is translated into almost every language and dialect on the earth. There is that ,v ord as it lives and breathes in the regenerated hearts and histories of the saints of God. There is the eternal Word himself, the Logos the Lord Christ, the Inspirer of all truth in all the s.ges, the Alpha and the Omega1 the Begin- ning and the End, the Lord God Almighty.-W. M. S.