no loss to discriminate between the welcome and favour and the displeasure apparent upon the monarch's face. To the mind at all sensitive to the moral beauty and glory of God, no sentence can be so dreadful as that uttered in the simple but terrible language of the text, "My face will I turn also from them," I. IN THE SHINING OF Gon's COUNTENANCE IS LIFE AND JOY. When the sun arises in his strength, and :B.oods the hills and the valleys, the rivers and the forests the corn- fields and the meadows, with his glorious rays, nature returns the smiles, gl~ws in the sunbeams, rejoices in the warmth and the illumination. Where the sun shines brightly there the colours are radiant, the odour delicious, there the music of the grove is sweet and the harvest of the plain is golden, there life is luxuriant and gladness breaks forth into laughter and song. And in the moral, the spiritual realm, it is the sunlight of God's countenance, the manifestation of God's favour, which calls forth and sustains all spiritual life, health, peace, and joy. "In thy favour is life." Il. MAN'S Ul."JlELIEF AND SIN OCCASION THE HIDING AND WITHDRAWING OF GOD'S COUNTENANCE. The change is not in'him; it is in us. When the sun is not seen in the sl..-y, it is not because he no longer shin~~ but because clouds, mists, or smoke, ascending from the earth, come between the orb, of day and the globe which he illumines. So if God turns his face from an individual, a city, a people, it is because their sins have risen up as a dense, foul fog, intervening between them and a holy, righteous God. "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God." So it was with those against whom the Prophet Ezekiel was called upon to testify. So it is with multitudes whom the ministers of Christ are required to address in language of tender sympathy yet of expostulation and reproach. • ' III. THE AVERSION OF Goo's COUNTENANCE IS THE WORST OF ALL 0ALAMITIES, It is not to be wondered at that men with their composite nature, absorbed as they a.re in things which affect the body and the earthly life, should think chiefly of the suffer- ings and privations in which the moral laws of the universe involve them. And these Bllfferings and privations are realities which no thoughtful man can fail to perceive and to estimate with something like correctness. Yet he who is enlig~tened and in any measure spiritually sensitive cannot fail to see that it is the regard of God himself which is of chief import. It is better to enjoy the Divine loving-kindness, even in poverty, privation, spoliation, and weakness, than to possess luxury, honour, and the delights of sense, and to know that God's countenance is turned away, is hidden. IV. A MERCIFUL Goo WILL TURN AGAIN HIS FA0E .AND 0AUBE IT TO SHINE Ul'ON PEI,"ITENT .U."D BELIEVING SUPPLIANTS. It is sin which conceals the Divine counten- ance; it is repentance which see~s the shining anew of that countenance; and salvation consists in the response of God to the prayer of man. Yet the turning of his face towards us is the work of his own mercy, the revelation of his own nature-com- passionate, gracious, and forgiving.-T. Ver. 25.-Peace sought in vain. No feature of distress and horror is omitted in this prophetic description of the effects of God's displeasure manifested towards the Jewish people. The burden of predicting such judgments must have been too heavy to bear: what can be said of the state of those upon whom the judgments came? They might well ask, "Who cau abide the day of his coming?,,, What more appalling than the account given in these few words of the state of the people in the time of their dis- asters: "-They shall seek peace, and there shall be none"? I. THE GREAT BLESSING OF PEACE. This may be misunderstood. • Warfare with ignorance, error, and iniquity, is characteristic of the condition of the good man here upon earth. Our Lord Jesus saw this, and declared," I am not come to send peace, but a sword." The presence of evil requires that the att\tude of the righteous should be one of antagonism. But this is for a season and for a purpose. A state of con- troversy and hostility :is not a state in itself perfectly desirable and good. Peace of conscience, peace with God, peace with Christian brethren, as far as possible peace with all men,-these are blessings devoutly to be desired and sought. II. THE INCOMPATIBILITY OF BIN WITH PEACE, If peace results from the harmony of the several parts of a man'11 nature among themselves, and from harmony between man a~ a moral being and bis God, it is not to be expected that, when the passions-are arrayed against the reason, interest against conscience, the subject against the rightful oH. vII. 1-27.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 131
and Divine Ruler, there can be peace. It is mercifully ordered that peace should flee when iniquity prevails. "There is no peace, eaith my God, to the wicked." Ill. THE PUNISHMENT APPROPRIATE TO BIN OFTEN LEADS TO A DESIRE FOR THE BLESSINGS OB' PEA0E. Men seek peace, and there is none. Thus they are led to reflect upon the unreasonableness of their expectation that the moral laws of the universe should be changed for their pleasure. 'foesed to and fro upon the stormy waters, they long for the haven of repose. IV. PEAOE IS ONLY TO BE OBTAINED Ul'ON Goo's OWN TERMS OB' COMPLETE sux,. BENDER AND SUBMISSION. It is not to be found either by endeavouring to stifle the voice of conscience within, or by withdrawing from a world of outward strife to some seclusion and isolation. Both these methods have often been tried, but in vain. The conciliation must take place within. The heart must find rest and satisfaction in the gospel of Jesus Christ, "our Peace." The whole nature must, by the power of the Spirit, be brought into subjection to God. The fountain of peace must thus be divinely opened, and "peace will flow as a river."-T.