years of suffering than thnt of our English missiona.rie1." With their wounrls untended, St. Paul 1md Silas were roughly thrust into the inner prison, a. foul and loathsome duncreon, there to sit for hours with cramped limbs, shivering in the dampnesR and cold~ Everything in their circumstances was against them, and yet "with heroic cheerfulness they solaced the long black hours of midnight with prayer aillt hymns." 'l'hoy would doubtless sing well-known psalms, and selections may readily be made of euch ae would precisely suit their purpose. It is a remarkablo incident. It is a 1riumph of character; a. triumph of grace ; a sublime declaration of what Christ's rcnlized presence can be to the suffering believer. He can give "songs in the night." Making the incideots the subject of meditation, we observe- I. THE UNITY OF BODY AND BOUL. A unity 110 complete that the one never can suffer without the sympathetic suffering of the other. If the soul be depressecl or distressed, the nervous condition of the body is sure to respond. Vigorous bodily health can never be known when tbe mind is diseased or the soul overwom anrl. troubled. And, on the other hand, depression of soul comes oftentimes out of pain of body; and as long as the pain is limited the depression continues. It is singular to note that a prolonp:ed little frailty is more trying to the spirit than a sudden and intense distress or pain. '.1.'he soul seems to make a great effort to meet a great occasion, but fails to resist a continuous wearying influence. Illustration may be taken from various classes of physical and mental sufferers. It may be shown how often spiritual doubt and distress are found to be due to the sympathy between the body and the soul. And, in view of this, the infinite tenderness of God's dealings with us may be urged, Most gracious God, "he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust I" II. THE DIVORCE OF DODY AND BOtJL. It can be said that "as the outward man perishes, the inward man is renewed day by day.'' The recor<ls of the afflicted will bear out the statement that, under two circumstances or conditions, the soul may force itself free of the body and rise above bodily reach iu the power of its own life. 1. When pa.ill is extreme. lllustrate from martyrology, or from records of great sufferers. There seems to be a possibility of pain reaching such an extreme as to swing the body loose from the soul, and leave the soul free to sing. This we may, perhaps, see in the case of St. Paul; the very intensity of his suffering in part explains his triumph. 2. When the soul-life is strong. Swelling into power under sudden impulse, as in the martyrs; noutished into a. holy fulness of vigour, as in the afflicted and diseased, and as ill St. Paul. III. T1IE FULFILMENT OF DIVINE PROMISES IN THIS MASTERY OF THE SOUL OVER THE BODY, Such promises in the Old Testament as, "'When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee," etc. And in the New Testament as, " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Impress what a. holy witness is made for God by all Christian sufferers who can win calmness, submission, and peace, and even sing their "songs in the night."-R. T.
Ver. 30.-The failor's question. It puts into a single sentence the great cry of the human soul. And yet see how difficult it is to get the soul to realize this its greatc~t need, and to utter this its greatest cry. I. MANY OF YOU ARE NOT QUl'l'E SURE YET THAT YOU NEED TO BE SAVED, That is the gravest hindrance to the preaching of Christ to you. You attach very litrle meaning to the expression. You say," Saved! Saved from what?" Yon need to be saved from two things: (1) the penal consequences of your sin; and (2) the moral power of your sinfulness. That is, you need to be saved from all that is gnthered up in the word "hell," a.nd from all that is gathered up in the word "self.'' You a.re not your own; you a1·e a creature of God's. Your first duty is to love, trust, nnd obey God. 'l'o help you God has made his will known with sanction,. Do you think he will fail to keep his sanctions? His "Law is holy, his commandment is holy, and just, and good;" nnd "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Moreover, you a.re as one strickeu with a foul disease, the leprosy of sinfulness, You need to be saved from a foulness that pollutes you, from delusions which vainly seek to shatter you, and from bomh,;es which you are powerless to break. How can a man be just before God, a sinful ma.n be clean in the presence of his Maker? Verily you need to be saved. II. EVEN WREN AROUSED TO ANXIETY, MANY TURN ANYWHERE FOR REFUGE BATllEB 613 TB.I!: ACTS OF 'l'HE A.POS'l'LE;,, Loil, llVI. 1....40.