of the reign of Christ would allure e.H cl!l.sses to accept his dominion (Ps. lxxii. 8-14, <·specially ver. 12, "For," etc.). Thus the Name of God would be glorified in his Son. Apply this truth: 1. To those who refuse to give to God the glory due unto bis Name, So did t.he Jews in the days of Christ. But God's honour could be secured in other ways (cf. Matt. xxi. 41-48; Luke xix. 37-40). Note in the former e.nd )alter parts of Ps. n:ii. t-he contrast between vers. 6-8 and vers. 27-31. "His own received him not," but "the Gentiles glorified the word of the Lord" (Acts xiii. 48; cf. Isa. xlix. S-9; Matt. viii. 11, 12). 2. To t-hose who are tempted to shrink from honouring G,id because of the risk to themselves or the sacrifice r!q_uired e.t their he.ode. Illust.: Esth. iv. 10-14. The loss will be only our own {Matt. x. 39). God will find other servants in our place to render the honour he asks at our hands, and to receive that which he bestows in return (1 Sam. ii. 30). 3. 'l'o God's faithful servants who e.re needlessly anxious about bis glory in "a day of trouble and of rebuke and of blasphemy;" e.g. Moses (Numb. xiv. 11-21), Joshua (vii. 9). But God is more jealous for his own honour than we can be (Deut. xxxii. 26, 27), and is wiser than we can be In am\\•ering the prayer he has taught us, "Hallowed be thy Ne.me." II. BY PURER AND MORE SPIBITUAL SACRIFICES. 1. By the revelation of God in Christ as "the Saviour of all men," God's Name was truly magnified (Ps. xcvi. and xc,-iii.). That revelation included a sacrifice, the sacrifice of a sinless soul to suffering in orcier to do the will of God (Heb. x. 7--10), and thus to offer a propitiation for the sins of the whole world. Thus the prayer was answered (John xii. 28) and the pre- ciiction fulfilled (Rom_ xv. 8, 9). 2. By the spiritual sacrifices the acceptable services, like fragrant incense, presented by Gentile hearts, e_g, the penitence of the woman of Samaria; the pertinacious prayers of the Syro-phc:enician ; the marvellous faith of the centurion; the &lms and prayers of Cornelius; the unrecorded acts of faith and service of unknown worshippers in the heathen world ;-these are accepted by God, while the tainted sacrifices of the Jewish priests are refused. This a warning to all formalists. 3. By pure offerings from all hearts that" in every place call upon the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours" (cf. John iv. 21-24). Our hearts were once impure, bnt have been cleansed by the blood and the Spirit of Jesus Christ. And now we are eager, impatient to express our sense of the i,,Teatness and goodness of God by accept&ble sacrifices, our" bodies" (Rom. xii.1), our gifts (Phil. iv. 18), our praises, our good deeds, and any means by which we can "communici:te" to others, and thus glorify o:ir Saviour-God (Heb. xiii. 15, 16). Notice, in conclusion, what &n encouragement this truth may be to those who long to l!'ive unto God the glory due unto his Name, but are dissatisfied with their own efforts. God's honour will be secured in spite of our failures. These may stimulate us to seek that greater purity by which our offerings may themselves become purer. It will not provoke us to envy, but rejoice our hearts that others are able to render to God more usefnl service than we do. And if, in the midst of our efforts to offer such pure offerings and fragrant incense as our poor hearts can present, we are called away from this service, we may rejoice to know that God's hononr will not suffer because our services are withdrawn. JllUBt.: In one Roman Catholic convent there is a chapel of "perpetual adoration," where, every hour, night and day, some service is being offered &t the alt&r. So will be the true worship of God throughout the world-universal and perpetual.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. L-Burdensome prophecies. "The burden of the Lord to Israel by Male.chi." Much of the work or tlie Old Testament prophets involved a serious strain on feeling, and may appropriately be figured as a "burden " which they were called to bear. A very large proportion of it consists of denunciations, declarations of swiftly coming and overwhelming Divine judgmente. Those prophets were, in fact, raised up to meet a couclition of society and national life of which God disapproved, and by which God was dishonoured. It should never be forgotten that the prophets belong to the Israelite monarchy, and that we.s not God's ideal of government for his people. It brought couditiouE and perils the sig1,ificance of which the prophets were to declare. Malachi'a OIi. I, 1-14.] THE BOOK OF MALACllI. 9