the Bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst," On Christ, as the Gift of God to us, our souls may "eat, and live for ever." There is in ver. 4 a first allusion to King David, but a further final allusion to _Jesus. " He that hath the Son hath life." The points which may be illus- trated and impressed are suggested in the following paragraph: "'l'he prophet, speaking in the name of God, afrer calling men to come to him, to hear him that their souls may live, annexes to this gracious invitation the specific promises of a sure salvation-a salvation not contingent or fortuitous, but one provided by a gracious constitution on the part of God_ hi_mself_; _a salvation promised and confirmed by oath; a covenant of mercy, eternal _1~ its ongm an~ everlas~ing in its stipulations, comprehending in its wonderful prov1s1ons the essential reqnis1te of an atonement, a priest and sacrifice an all-suffi_cient Saviour; no_t a Saviour whose performance of his office should be partial, or contrngent, or uncertam from the change of person, but the one, the only Saviour- the same' yesterday, and to-day, and for ever,' the Son of God, the Sou of man, the Son of David." Soul-rest in the living personal Saviour finds expression in the familiar verse- "I ea.me to Jesus e.s I was, Weary, and worn, nnd snd; I found in him o. Resting-place, And he he.a made me glad." R.T. Ver. 6.-The time/or seeking after God. Compare" Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation." " To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." After showing the need for seeking after God, and the duty of seeking, dwell on the appropriate time for the seeking, unfolding and illustrating two points. I. THE TI.ME FOR SEEKING IS NOT FIXED BY OUR CONVENIENCE. Yet men constantly act as if it were. They assume that they can find God when they please. But such an idea proves that they neither know themselves nor God. 1. They do not know them- selves; for a man is not at all sure of feeling the desire when he thinks he will and arranges to. If a man plays with his deeper emotions, and puts off responding to them uutil some unknown time, be has no security that the feelings will return. If a. man resists good inclinations, he will find that he cannot get them when he would. 2. And they do not know God; for be can never permit man to play with his offers of mercy and willingness to accept. Rejected gifts, neglected gifts, cannot be still pressed on acceptance. It is inconceivable that God can ever wait on man's convenience. We mnst take a,ivautage of God's time for seekers, for he can never recognize times that sPekers are pl~ased to arrange for themselves. IL THE TIME FOR SEEKING IS FIXED DY Goo's INVITATIONS. It must be; for the gift is an absolutely sovereign and free gift, and the Giver must be allowed to find his uwn time and way. If salvation were a matter of purchase, we might expect it to be dependent on our good will. It is wholly a matter of grace, and so absolutely dependent on Gorl's good will. Our Lord even said," No man cometh unto me, except the Father, which bath sent me, draw him." The general invitations of God stand in bis Word; the precise and special iuvitations to individuals, in which we find our golden opportunities of salvation, are, in the text, called times when" God may be found,'' or when God is propitious towards us; and times when "God is near," or gives an impressive sense of his nearness, Such times may appear to us as (1) providences,-circumstances that arouse, awaken, humble us; or as (2) persuasions,-such as come through appeals of ministers, or the atmoHphere of revival-times, Anything, everything, that brings to us the sense of God's nearness is an appropri:ite thing to set us hopefully seeking after salvation, eternal life, and heart-rest in God.-R. T.
Ver. 7.-Man's p,eparations for receiving God's pardon. Two things have to be clearly recognized, and harmoniously set together. I. God's pardon and favour a.re absolutely free and priceless ; they am sovereign gifts, based on no condition, won by no payment, responsive to no merit in us. He saves us purely for his "own Name's sake." 2. And yet there are oonditions which those who receive the grace are reasonably r,·41.&keil to be in, if they are to be recipients, and make ri&ht use of the grace received. (l8, LV, 1-13.] 'rHE BOOK OF 'l'HE PROPHET ISAIAH. 343