Ver. 79.-<Jhrist our Peace. "To guide our feet into the way of peace." And how far has the mission of the Dayspring succeeded? How far haa he guided the feet of men into the way of peace? Judged by the outward appearance, the answer would be q~it~ unsatisfactory. To-da_y, after eighteen centuries of Christianity, there are four nulhons of men under arms lil Europe only; and if another great war dooe not break out, it is not from humane or Christian considerations that it is suppressed. How do we explain the fact? 1. Christianity ha.s had no fair chance of shuwing what it is in it to do. It ha.s been so wretchedly misrepresented through whole centuries of time. 2. It has done much to moderate and mitigate the severities of war; amongst other things, it ha.s carried the "red cross" of succour right into the heart of the battle-field. 3. It is impregnating the minds of statesmen with the truth that an unnecessary war is a heinous crime against God and man. 4. It has been leading the souls of men into a profounder peace. For there is a spiritual sphere in which there is strife and unrest worse by far than any physical contests can be. It is there that peace has been most missed, and that its absence has wrought the saddest evil. This worst restlessness has resulted from two things- L FROll llAN SEEKING ms SATISFACTION WHERE HI!: CANNOT FIND IT, 1. What a. vain thing i.s it to seek satisfaction in a life of p!e11Sure, in Ii ving to be a.mused, in hunting happiness over the field of enjoyment I 2. What e.n nusitisfying thing is life lived on any lower plane, whatever it may be! Alas for those millions to whom it is a. dreary and monotonous round of toil! And to those who move in the higher social circles, is it so very much better? When the veil is lifted, as it is occasionally by &ome honest memoirs or frank autobiography, how often do we find it full of dis- appointment, of disillusion, of wretched rivalry, of hun~er e.nd heart-ache! There is no peace or rest there that is worthy of the name. Where, then, shall rest be found? We 11hall gain it from him and find it in him who "knew what was in man," and who alone knew what would satisfy the hunger of his soul; it was he who came to guide our feet into the way of peace. We shall find it in hisfriendship, in his service, in his ea-use. When we have come to ourselves, and have returned unto the Lord our God; when we have lost sight of ourselves, and have entered his holy and happy service; then have we left disquietude e.nd unrest behind us, then have we entered into e. true, deep, and enduring peace. IL Fao111 oun SENSE OF BIN AGAINST Goo. There is no peace for man without reconciliation to God. He has left the home of his Father, has become estranged from him, has come under his righteous condemnation, e.nd he can find no peace until he has been forgiven aud restored. Apathy, indifference, the unconcern of e. stolid i"'norance, there may be; but that is not peace. Peace is a well-grounded aasurance that all is well with w. This we can only obtain by knowing the trnth concerning ourselves, and by taking the path which leads WI home to God. It is just this we have in Jesns Christ. He (1) makes plain to the understanding and makes grievous to the soul our own great unworthiness and guilt; and then he (2) offers himself to us as our all-sufficient Saviour. Then "being justified by faith [in him] we have peace with God Lhrough our Lord Jesus Christ." And abiding in him, we continue in the path of peace-a path which leads on to holy joy and up to heavenly glory.-0.
Ver. 80.-The ser'Dice of solitude. " And was in the deserts till the .-lay of hie Ehowi!la unto Israel." John the Baptist had a long period of retirement before he Leaan the activt: work of life; and we may be sure that the time spent in the wilderness w~ not lost. The communion he had there with God, and his prolonged reflection on the worth and purpose of human life, must have ba.d much to do with the character he formed e.nd the work he afterwards accomplished. Then good seed was sown which bore much fruit in later years. We should do well to "be in the desert" more than we a.re-tu 6!lek the solitary place where we are alone with God and with ourselves more t1au we do. "The world i, too much with UB," We caunot hear the stiller aud OR. I. 1--80.] TUE GOSPEL ACC01tDING TO BT. LUKE. 27