God who created them. The revela.tion of that Creator 11.s " the Father of spirits" constitutes those created spirits into a brotherhood. From this fraternal relation the claim to liberty and more than liberty follows. I. Somm ETHICS MUST BE BASED ON A TRUE THEOLOGY. Our relations to men depend on our relation to God. Our treatment of them will vary with our conceptions of those relations. False views of God are fatal to consistent conduct towards our1 brethren. And though our ethics may be partially true, they will be practically power- less unless supported by "the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness." Hence the practical impotence of heathen ethics, whether those of Socrates or of Confucins. We must recognize such truths as these: that we are creatures of the one God, "in whose hand our breath is, and whose are all our ways; 11 that we are pensioners on his bounty; that we are sinners dependent on his mercy ; and that, nevertheless, we are chil<lren entitled to claim our place in his family. We shall then recognize that we are bound to treat all our fellow-creatures as members of the same family, sharing with us in the same bounty and mercy of the Father of all, "who willetb that all men should be saved." Jesus Christ, in whom that will is revealed, is the bond of unity, for" the Head of every man is Christ." JI. THERE IS A "COVENANT OF OUR FATHERS" MORE EXTENSIVE THAN THAT WHICH GoD MADE WITH THE JEws. We can trace it back beyond Moses or .Abraham to " our first father;" "for God bath made of one blood all nations of men;" " for we ue also bis offspring." The terms of this covenant are found in "the law written in our hearts." Hence moral law and Divine retribution are found beyond the limits of an inspired revelation. We see in the Bible illustrations of God's judgments denounced Oil : 1. The sins of the Hebrews against their own brethren; e.g. the re-enslavement of the freedmen (Jer. xxxi.v.). 2. The crimes of Hebrews towards strangers, though they were heathens; e.g. Saul's massacre of the Gibeonites (2 Sam. xx.i.), Zedekiah's perjury against Nebuchadnezzar (2 Chron. mvi. 13). 3. The outrages of heathens upon their brother heathens, as when the King of Moab "burned the bones of the King of Edom into lime" (.Amos ii. 1). Ill. .A SIN A.G.AINST A BROTHER IS A SIN AGAINST GoD, WHO MADE HIM A. BROTHER. The warn.ing of;l Cor. viii. 12 is applicable beyond the limits of the Christian Church. It was a fearful prediction that " the brother shall betray the brother to death." Give to the term" brother" its Divine significance, and every act of treachery or nnfa.ithfulness is seen to be odious to the Father of all. Hence the claims of truth towards our "neighbour, for we are members one of another;" of "all good fidelity" on the part of servants towards masters, "that they may adorn the doctrine of God; " of standing t-0 our word. though it may be to our own hurt, that we inay stand in the holy place of the Lord; of loving our enemies, that we may be children of our Father who is in heaven. IV. THE FATHERHOOD OF GoD IS ONE GREAT MOTIVE FOB THE BIGHT TREATMENT OF HIS CHILDREN. Cruelty, tyranny, slavery, and every form of social wrong would then be banished from the family of God. the brotherhood of men. War would be as intolerable as fighting iD the family circle. Pun~s~~ent of offend½1g brothers would only be inflicted under a grave sense of our responBlbility towards their Father and ours. Practical benevolence would be inspired by God's love to us (1 John iii. 17). .And as Abraham interceded for the preservation of the heathen Sodomites, so should we, by prayers and labours, seek the salvation of tbe whole nature (" spirit and soul and bo<ly," 1 Thess. v. 23) of those children of God_ who are still lost to the Father•~ home. Notice, in conclusion, how the fuller revelation of the Fatherhood of God m Jesne Christ and our adoption iD him, gives power and pathos to all the tiruths we have menti~ned and the motives to brotherly kindness we have enforced (1 John iv. 9-11). The knowledge of such a Father should inspire our hearts with the most tender com- passion towards our brethren who know him not.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 2.-TM cursing of our blessings. The direct address of thie verse is to the priestly class, whose irreverence and indifference were so clearly shown in their offering OR. II. 1-17.) THE BOOK OF MALACHI. 29