or the Sunday school, or the committee-room, or the cottage, be perfunctory, constrained, tinged or it may be coloured with seH-seeking, unspiritual, there is but little bea11ty in it in the sight of the Pure One. We should aim to make our whole life beautiful in the sight of our Saviour; let obedience be prompt and cheer[ul, the discharge of duty conscientious and thorough; let submission be ready and unrepining, liberality generous and hearty, courtesy cordial and graceful, etc. So shall we be arrayed in beautiful garments.-C. Ver.2.-T/ie dignity of the Church. Jerusalem was to arise from the dust of humiliation, and to sit down" with dignity and composure" on a seat of honour, taking her true posi- tion among the nations of the earth. 'l'he Church of Christ is called to rise frotll any undignified poijition into which she may have fallen, and to assume one that is in keeping with her origin and her estate. But the question is, in what the dignity of the Church consists. It is clear that dignity has various application8, according to its subject. The dignity of a sovereign is in one thing; that of a scholar is in another thing; that, again, of a servant is something quite different. It is not found in any particular deportment or in any especial surroundings. The Church th!lt seeks to secure its dignity by attaciiing to itself those external honours or trappings which worldly kin1<:dorns demand for the maintenance of their honour completely mistakes its position. To be truly dignified is to act in a way that is worthy of our origin and in harmony with our position. The true dignity of the Church is realized by its acting in a way that becomes the offspring of Christ, and that is suited to an institution which exists to illustrate his truth and to extend his reign. It consults its dignity and commends itself to the honour of the wise when- I. IT MAKES ITS APPEAL TO THE HUMAN JUDGMENT, and not to superslitious fears. II. IT RELIES ON THE ATTACHMENT OF ITS FillliNDS for the necessities of its existence. III. JT REFUSES TO COUNT IMPOSSIBLE THAT WHICH ITS MASTER CHARGES IT TO ACCOMPLISH, viz. the subjection of the whole world to his sway. IV. IT LISTENS WITHOUT ALARM TO THE PIIEDICTIONS OF ITS FOES, and goes calmly and energetically on its way of holy service.-C. Vera. 2-9.-The liberty of the Church. "Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, 0 capti\"e daughter of Zion." I. THE RIGHT OF THE CHURCH TO LIBEnTY. The sight of the daughter of Zion in chains was very pitiable in the prophet's eye. How much more grievous the spectacle of a Christian Church in bondage, enslaved and oppressed! The Christian Church, being composed of those who have received Jesus Ghrist as their Lord and Saviour, and being calleu into existence for the purpose of extending a spiritual kingdom amongst men, cannot possibly submit itself to the rule of the world without abdicating its fuuctions and forfeiting its essential privileges. It baa a native, Clirist-given right to decide upon its own constitution, to choo~e its own officers, to worship God according to its own convictions, to act freely upon the world in disseminating its principles. lt is oppressed and (more or less) enslaved when authority presumes to dictate, or when rank or wealth claims to direct, in these high and spiritunl matters. - II. THE LIMITATIONS OF ITS FnEEDoM. The Church is not free to "do what it likes" in all these matters; that is licence, not liberty. Its freedom is limited by tho will, and defined by the word, of its Divine Lord. Uuder all circumstances, it is bournl to consider what Christ would have it do. Beyond his will it may not move. III. !Te ATTITUDE UNDER OPPRESSION. 1. A patienl submission to the absolutely inevitable. In early Christian times, and under the domination of tyrannical powers since then, the Church has had to accept such share of liberty as was allowed, patiently nnd devoutly waiting for an extension. 2. A calm, bmve assertion of its duty to its Lord; often under censure, hardship, cruel suffering. 3. A seizure of the earliest opportunity to enter upon its right. "Loose thyself," God says to his people. When the bonds can be broken, break them; when the door can be opened, unbar it; when the way is clear to holy liberty, take it without hesitation or delay. IV. ITB EXULTATION IN 'l'HE HOUR OF RELEASE. (Vers. 7-10.) The prophet foresees the liberation of Israel, and breaks out into a strain of surpassing eloqutnce and joy. Probably the escape from bondage to freedom is calculated to excite the keenest 288 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [ou. LII. 1-15.
transports of delight of which the human heart is capable. So has it been in many hundreds of instances of individual release, and so it has been in cases of national and of ecclesiMtical deliverance. Spe~ch and song have been far too feeble to utter tha rapture of the hour. At such a time the best forms which abounding aud overwhelming joy can take are : 1. Gratitude to God, showing itself in praise. It is the Lord whose provide_n~e opens the way, who_se arm_ strikes off the sh11.ekles (see vers. 3, 6, 10). 2. Recogmt1on of the fact that liberty 1s useless, and even dangerous, unless it is well employed, and a consequent determination to spend the acquired freedom in holy service.--C.