I. TnE ooou~nENCE OF MEMORABLE DAYB. In themselves e.11 days may be equally sacred (Rom. xiv. 6). Nevertheless, a. difference of character, history, and a8sociations will divide our days out into very various cla.ss,,s, and will mark some for especial interest. Thero a.re de.ye that stand out in history like great promontories a.long the coast. We must all he.ve lived through days the memory of which is burnt into our souls. There are the red-letter days, days of honour and gladness; and there a.re the black-letter de.ye of calamity. Note some of the kinds of memorable days. 1. Days of warning. Such was the day of our text. We cannot afford to forget such days. They may occur but rarely; yet their influence should be permanent. 2. Days of blessing. If we have had times of exceptional prosperity, or occasions when we have been surprised with new and unexpected good, surely such happy seasons deserves to be chronicled. It ie ungrateful to leave a. blank in our diaries for those days, 3. Daya of sorrow. These, too, may be days of blessing, though of blessing in disguise. It is not easy to forget such days, nor is it altogether desirable. The softened raemory of past grief has a. wholesome, subduing influence over the soul. 4. Days of revel,ation. The day to be noted by Ezekiel was of this character. We have no prophetic visions. But there ma.y be days when God has seemed to draw especially near to us. Truth has then been most clear and faith most strong. The memory of such days is a help for the darker sea.sons of doubt and dreary solitude. II. THE UBE OJ' MEMORABLE DAYS, 1. To chronicle them. A diary of sentiments is not always a wholesome production; but a journal of events should be full of instruction. An e.lmanack marked with anniversary dates is a constant reminder of the lessons of the past. 2. To stU<ly them. Dates a.re but sign-posts. They indicate events which require separate consideration. It is good sometimes to turn aside fr0,1;11 the noisy scenes of the present and walk in the dim cloisters of the sweet, sad past, communing with bygone days and musing over the deeds of olden times. Our own rushing, heedless age would be the better for such meditations among the tombs, not to grow melancholy in the thought of death, but to learn wisdom in the lessons of the ages. 3. To avoid their errors. There a.re bad past days. Antiquity does not conse- crate sin and folly. 4. To follow their good example. We have the whole roll of the world's history from which to select instances of inspiring lives. The Christian year is sacred to the memory of a. holy past, and its anniversaries revive the lessons of good examples; chiefly it repeatedly reminds us of the great events in the life of our Lord. 6. To be prepared for their reC'U,rrence. 'rhe de.y of prophecy was anticipatory of the day of judgment. Past days of judgment point to the future judgment. "Of that day and of that hour knoweth no one," but the fulfilment of prophecy in the destruction of Jerusalem is a solemn warning of the sure fulfilment of predictions concerning the judgment on the whole world.
Ver. 12.-.A weary task. Jerusalem is represented as endeavouring to remove her own evil, but as growing weary in the fruitless task. The rust cannot be c\ea.nsed from the vessel. I. Sm A0TB LIKE RUST. 1. It comes from a corroding ag1mt. Temptatioo. bites into the yielding soul like an acid. 2. It reveals an inferior character. Brass and iron become rusty under circumstances which leave gold and silver untarnished. Readiness to yield to temptation is a sign that there is base metal in the soul. 3. II corrupts the very substance of the soul. Rust on mete.I is not like moss on stone, a. mere excrescence and para.site growth. It is formed from the metal itself; it is a portion of it disintegrated and mixed with an a.lien body. Sin breaks down the fabric of the soul-life, and wears it awe.y in a slow death. 4. It tarnishes the beauty of the soul. Rust is like ingrained dirt on the bright surface of the metal. The rusty mirror no longer reflects light. The sin-stained soul has lost its lustre and ceases to reflect the light of heaven. IT. MEN TBY TO REMOVE THE nusT OF BIN. Thie is the task that the people of Jerusalem are supposed to have undertaken. 1. They tum from their past. The atmosphere which ea.used the rust is abandoned. The old days a.re to be forgotten; a. new life is to be commenced. 2, They put their souls under discipline, The attempt is made to burn off the rust or to scour it a.way. 3. They offer compensation. New deeds of goodness are to supersede and atone for old deewi of sin. 4. They offer 3G THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [orr. XXIV. 1-27.