hood, by companionship with those who ta.kc foreboding views of life, and by the domination of '' fixed ideas" so difficult to shake off. And all cannot afford change of scene and change of clime. 1. le is not in medicine to cure all this. It ma.y alleviate, but it cannot recreate. Earthly appliances are wise in their own way; but the gospel of Christ is tl,e relieving power-that a.lone brings out fully the blessed revelation of the fatherhood of God. From the lips that c,1nnot lie we hear the all-sustaining \Vords, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." Christ is the great Physician. He can cure the very leprosy of sin, and make the Gehazis whole, so that the trembling chilu. of guilt, whose sin has been of deepest dye, may hear the consolirig words, "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." Christ can say to the leper," Be thou clean." He ga.ve purity to the penitent's heart, a.nd peace to the publican witb con- science distracted a.bout ill-gotten gains; for "he is a.hie to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him." 2. Christ alone can interpret life in all its /ulness and mean- ing. He knows how sa.d is hopelessness. He came not to save alone the hale, the righteous, the strong. He came a.lso to ta.ke the lambs in bis arms, a.nd to carry them in his bosom. Blessed Christ! Would he ever make amusement out of the nervous weaknesses of some? Would he ever say," It cannot be helped; physical law is imperious, and must hold on its way,"? Would he not rather comfort anrl help the we~k-hearted? Sometimes a. sense of rectitude sustains us in trouble, for unq uestioc- ably the upright Corinthian columu can bear a greater weight than the leaning one. That erect attitude of the soul which the Scriptures call" uprightness" will enable many a. ma.n to be strong. But this cannot do a.II. We have all sinned, and come short of the glory of God; and we have sinned against each other also. We want, above all else, a. Saviour. Some suspect their own motives, a.nd are questioners, not of their Lord's Divinity, but of their own sincerity. Yea! a.nd some a.re sensitively anxious concerning the very foucda.tiocs of their first repentance towards Go<l, and their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Study, thee, Obrist•~ infinite compassion, his perfect knowle<lge of every huma.c heart--yes, of yours. "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee." Never rest in yourself a.lone. Wa.it and pray! Not for ever will you tremblingly bear the burden of nervous sensibility. Not for ever will the immortal gpirit dwell in so frail a tabernacle. In God's own good time, you will be clothed upon with your house from heaven. The day will come when the poor harp will be restrung, sorrow a.nd sighing will be done away; and there shall be no night there.-W. M. S. Ver. 3.-" The garden of tlie Lord." The Lord would comfort Zion, and make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord ; joy and gladness would be found therein. The expression, " garden of the Lord," signified everything that was choice, inviting, eligible, that ministered to peace a.nd satisfaction. It may be taken a.s suggestive of the Church of Christ, which ought to be, to the outside and unreclaimed world, what the cultivated garden is to the surrounding wilderness. The Church- each separate Church-of Christ should be as the garden of Lord in respect of- I. CULTURE, DIVINE AND HUMAN. The garden is marked out from other spaces by the superior culture which it receives; every square inch of it has attention from the gardener's hand. The ideal garden is carefully and regularly weeded, digged, planted, pruned, etc. ']'he Church of Christ should show the signs of heavenly, of spiritual culture. On it the Divine Husbandman has bc,towed the greatest care. He ha.s wrought upon it, suffered for it, watched over it, tended it with wondrous condescen- sion and inexhaustible love. Human culture ha.s also been expended upo1,. it : the minist1y of man, the watchful love, the earnest prayer, the faithl'ul admonition, the solemn vows of its own members, have been given to improve and perfeet it : it is, or it should be, well-cultivated ground. II. SECURITY. The garden is fenced on all sides, that no wild animal, that no intruder of any kind, may enter, to steal or to ravage. The Church of Christ should be a sphere of the greatest possible security. Iu it there should b6 no occasion to he dreading the presence of the marauder, of " tho thief who comes . . . to steal or to destroy," of the enemy that undermines faith, or that wins away holy love, or that deadens sacred zeal. There we should be free to walk without apprehension, without. fear of harm. III. BEAUTY. We aim to make our gardens as beautiful as the finest taste can 272 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET IS.A.I.A.H. [os. LI. 1--23.
make them; to excln<le all th11t is unsightly, 11nd-so to intro,luce and arranO'e everything that, in part and in "·hole, it shall be attractive and inviting. From" the Church of Christ should be excluded all that is distasteful to the Divine Lord-all that is irreverent, untruthful, discourteous, ungenerous, inconsiderate. Within the Church should grow and flourish all these graces of the Spirit of God which are fair and comely in the sight of God an<l man. lV. FRUITFULNESS. What the fruit.age of the productive garden is to the house- holder, that the many-sided usefulness of the active and earnest Church is to the Lord of the vineyard. V. VARIETY. That is a poor and imperfect garden in which are only two or three kinds of flowers, and where the beds and lawns are laid out so as to suggest monotony. That is a poor and imperfect Church where only one or two orders of intelligence or moral excellence or piety are found. Our Lord does not want to see all the flowers and shrubs and trees in his garden cut and trimmed so as to he of an unvarying pattern. VI. PEACE Am> HAPPINESS. We associate with the garden the thought of tran- quillity and peace. It is the abode of domestic felicity; then• friendship spends its golden hours ; it is the resort of happy love. '!'he Church should be the home of peace and joy. To it we should be glad to retire from the bustle and strife of life; in its fold we should ~nd the pnrest aud the sweetest satisfaction which earth can yield. There have been Churches which might justly be called the arena of conflict or the wilderness of neglect. The ideal Church-that at which we should aim, and for which we should strive and sacrifice-is one that might be appropriately designated, "The garden of the Lord."-C.