press that only upon the conviction of sin can the messai,e of a Saviour from sin come with power to any one of us.-R. T. Ver. 25,-l'onvenient seasons. This familiar topic needs bnt a brief outline. Pro- crastination is one of man's chief perils. It is the "thief of time," the "delusion of the evil one." No man has any "by-and-by," any " to-morrow" to which he can trust. " Now " le our accepted time, our day of salvation. A man has nothing but the passing moment; yet he comfortably shifts off the duty of to-cay by tho vain fancy that it ce.n be done to-morrow. "Felix is the type of the millions whose spiritual life is ruined by procrastination." Philip Henry says, "'l'he devil cozens us out of all our time by cozening us out of the present time." Archias, a. supreme magistrate of the city of Thebes, was seated at a feast, surrounded by his friends, when a courier arrive<l in great haste, with letters containing an account of a conspiracy formed against him. 11 My lord," said tho messenger, " the person who wrote these letters conjures you to read them immediately, being serious things." "Serious things to-morrow," replied Archias, laughing, and then put the letters under his pillow. This delay was fatal. The conspirators that evening rushed into the banqueting-room, and put the careless Archias, with a.II his guests, to the sword. I. CONVENIENT SEASONS HAY EXCUSE DELAY. Better opportunities a.lways seem to be away in the future. The pressure of daily business or daily plea.sure will surely be lightened some day. We a.II have our eye upon some distant time wheu we mean to be in earnest about religion, and our sincere intent excuses our present delay. II. CONVENIENT SEASONS MAY EASE TIIE CONSCIENCE. This is what we have in the case of Felix. He was smitten, bnt was purposed not to yield, so quieted conscience with a vague promise, III. CONVENIENT SEASONS HAY NEVER COME. They seldom do. Press that the only convenient seasons for us a.re just those in which God brings home to our souls hi~ truth, and urges us to its acceptance, Could Felix only have seen it, the most con- venient season for him was the hour when Paul urged upon him the" faith in Christ." -R.T. Ver. 26.-0ovetousness excusing injustioe. Felix proved utterly ignoble. His reasons for leaviag a man prisoner whom he knew to be altogether innocent, a.re base. "Willing to do the Jews a plea.sure." "Hoped also that moacy should have been given him of Paul." Felix is stamped as (1) a time-server, and (2) as a corrupt judge. " Felix, well knowing how the Christians aided one another in distress, and possibly having some informa.tion of the funds with which St. Paul had been recently entrusted, and ignorant of those principles which make it impossible for a. true Christia.n to tamper by bribes with the course of the law, might naturally suppose that he had here a good pro- spect of enriching himself." Nothing so quickly and so utterly debases a. man as the cherished spirit of covetousness. This, however, is a somewhat unusual form and expression of the many-sided evil. Olsha.usen says, "The sword of God's Word pierced deep into the heart of Felix, but for this very reason he suddenly broke off the con- ference. But his moral baseness betrayed itself strikingly in this, that he could still hold fast his prisoner for the mere purpose of obtaining money for his release, yea, that at his departure from the province, he left him in prison, out of complaisance to thtJ Jews." Illustrate (1) that Feli:r; knew the right; (2) but that, neverthele~s, he did the wrong ; and (3) that the love of money in part e:r;plains his choosinq the wrong. The following incident may be helpful in the illustration of this third point:-" A ca.se was tried before a young cadi at Smyrna, the merits of which were these. A poor ma.n claimed a house which a rich man usurped. The former held his deeds e.nd documents to prove his right; but the latter had provided a number of witnesses to invalidate his title. In order to support their evidence effectually, he presented the cadi with a ba.g containing five hundred ducats. When the de.y arrived for hearing the cause, the poor man told his story, and produced his writings, but could not support his case by witnesses; the other rested the whole case on his witnesses, and on his adversary's del'ect in bw, who could produce none; he urged the cadi, therefore, to give sentence in his favour. After the most pressing solicitations, the judge calmly drew out from und~r his sofa the bag of ducats which thil rich man had given him as e. bribe, saying to him very gravely, 250 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTL~'S. [011. xx.v. 1-21,
'You have been muoh mist.am in t.he 11uit, for if the poor ma.n could produce no witnesses in confirmation of his right, I myself can produce at least five hundred.' He then threw away the bag with reproach and indignation. and deoreed the ho\188 to the poor plaintiff.u-R. T.