Ver. 10.-Present reward. "His reward is with him." There is a glory to be revealed. There is a day of the manifestation of the sons of God-a day of august solemnity, when the King shall say, "Come, ye blessed." But the Christian dispen- ffition is not fairly represented when its rewards and punishments are declared to be future only. These words speak of a present reward. I. CHRIST JEsus HAD ms REWARD HERE. So says the prophet, speaking here of Christ. Anrl the apostle says, "For the joy set before him he endured the cross• " and Jesus gives this legacy to his disciples: "My joy." We are apt to think of Jes'us only as the "Man of sorrows." And so our artists have painted him. In their pictures there is often no light of triumph in his eye! How he went about doing good I What a re,vard it was, every day to comfort the mourner and to heal the broken-hearted I Think of nll that Jesus said in the synagogue of Nazareth-that he came to do, and you will understand that beneath this sorrow and suffering there was e. still deeper joy. His reward was with him. So it was, even on the cross, strange as that may appear. Still the prophet says, " When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall ~ee his seed, ... the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied." II. CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE ENDORSES THIS TRUTH. The Christian's reward is with him. True duty is not discharged for the sake of reward. Men in this world never get happiness by seeking for it alone. It must come, not as an end, but as an accom- paniment of duty. Besides, we should be open to the criticism that the gospel appealed to selfishness if we invited men and women to become Christians for the salce of heaven. No; we invite them to take up their cross and follow him, and therein they will find their reward. Strange as it may seem, they too will find blessedness where they least expected it in doing the will of God; and then heaven will come as the culmination and perfection of sacrificial and spiritual life.-W. M. S. Ver. 29.- Weakness made strong. "He giveth power to the faint," etc. The pilgrim to Zion is often weary. Lassitude and faintness steal over the soul, and energy is gone. At such sea.sons we cannot recover ourselves. No effort of will can give tone to the spirit and zeal to the activities. I. F .AINTNESS BELIEVED. Our principles have not changed; nor have our ideals. To live for Christ is still our aim. But somehow the heart, which is the centre of the life, beats feebly. God ha.s varied ways of relieving our weakness and restoring our strength. But whatever the instrumentality, it is God that does it, God's Spirit that fills it. Blessed hours are those when the heavenly breath revives the soul; when the graces lift up their faded heads like dew-bathed flowers; when courage revives, and the soul rejoices in God. II. STRENGTH INCREASED. "To them that have no might." Further than this we cannot go. And it should comfort those who regard their experiences of feebleness as indications that they are not the children of God, that such a state is recognized in Holy Scripture as possible to us. "No might." Patience gone. Endurance gone. Perseverance gone. It is almost like moral paralysis. But it is not, indeed, so. The nerve is weakened, but not snapped. Divine communication can and will come, even 10 the most enfeebled and dejected. While we say" no might," there is a little strength, or it could not be "increased." And this increase is often very slow and imperceptible. When we are physically feeble, we cannot measure progress as we inhale the air of sea or mountain; only steadily does the tide of health, like the ocean tide, return. But it OH, XL, 1-31.] 'l'HE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 81
does oorno, if we wait upon God; for God is faithful who hath promised. It is all of him.-W. M. S.