i.e. the life of the spirH-can possibly be conceived as coming into the possession of thos"' otherwise dead in trespBSses and sins. It is, however, of the very e~eence of this life that it ie imperishable, nnd independent of all that is earthly and transitory.-T. Ver, 3.-Knowled_qe anrl life: a sermon for the ym.1111.Q. We cannot doubt that Go<l knows ue. We c1mnot conceive of him otherwise than as knowing all things. "He telleth the number of the stars;" and at the same time he reads the eecret,s of every heart. The psalmist took a just view of bis God when be exclaimed," 'l'hou art acquainted with all my ways: for there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, 0 Lord, thou knoweet it altogether." But whilst God knowe ns perfectly, we can only know him imperfectly. Yet it is both a wonderfni nnd a happy thing that we can know him at all. I. THERE IB MUCH WE CANNOT KNOW OF GoD. If we are often baffled in studying the works or his hands, we cannot be eurpriserl that the Divine artificer is too high for us to comprehend him. If we are perplexed in onr endeavours to understand the oonl of man, bow can we expect to fathom the mysteries of the Divine nature? It is said that King Hiero asked the philosopher Simonides, "Who is God?" The wise man nsked for a day to reflect and to prepare an answer. Finding this insufficient, he asked a week, and then a year. But time and meditation brought no light which could satisfy him, and the query remained unanswered. God in the spiritual realm is like his universe in the material realm; of which the great Pascal ~aid, "It is a circle whose centre is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere." It is said that the Emperor Trajan, addressing a Jewish rabbi, Joshua by name, said, "Show me your God." The sage answered, "Come out of the house, and see one of bis ambassadors." Leading him into the daylight, the rabbi bade the emperor look upon the sun, then shining in bis strength. "What I cannot you look in the face of the ambassador? are you blinded by his dazzling presence? How can you look upon the countenance of the King?" "No man bath seen God at any time." Who can by searching find out God? v,-e sec glimpses, we hear whisperings, of his power and wisdom; but there is an infinity which comes not within our ken. A child follows the course of the brook which flows through his father's fields; he reaches the point where it joins the river in the valley; bnt be dreams not of the sea into which that river empties itself. II. WE 0AN B'.NOW OF GOD WHAT IS OF MOST VALUE TO us. If we cannot under- stand the Divine nature, if there are some of his attributes, as, for example, his omni- presence, which utterly baffle our intellect, still there is much that is within onr apprehension. We can know that the Lord our God is one God, that he is wise, that be is just and faithful, that he is compassionate and merciful. Now, what does it matter to a child that he cannot understand his father's occupation~, that he is not able to appreciate his father's abilities, so long as he is sore that his father will give him good advice, so long as be is sure that his father will provide for his wants, bodily and mental? Suppose the father to be a statesman; the child cannot enter into the reasons of national polity. Suppose the father to be a lawyer; the child cannot form any opinion of his father's conduct of a case in court. But the child can know that bis father will receive with .kindness any application which may be made to him for guidance, for help, for the means of acquiring knowledge or rational enjoyment. The child can know that the father's house will not be shut against him, that be is ever welcome to the father's t11ble, that the father's time is always at his service. In like manner we are quite capable or knowing what is God'11 will, of understanding the propriety of obedience to that will, of valuing the opportunities we have of !earning and obeying our heavenly Father. III. THERE ARE SPECIAL WAYS m WHICH Goo GIVES us KNOWLEDGE OF HIMSELF. We cannot see him directly, but we can see him, so to speak, by reflection. He bas given us two mirrors in which the spiritual lineaments of his Divine character become visible to us. 1. There is the mirror of nature. It is allowed us " to look through nature up to nature's God."
"There's nothing bright above, below, From flowers that bloom to stars tbs.t glow, But in its light my soul can see Some feature of the Deity." 362 '!'BE GOSPEL ACCORDlNG TO BT. JOllN. [ou. xvu. 1-20.
It is ~nid that on one occasion Napoleon Buonaparte was or.. lbe dMk of a ship on I\ calm summer night, when hie offioere around him were maguiryiu,,. nature and dis- puting the existence 1>f God. The great commander listened, and then polnicd to tbll hosts of heaven, saying," All very well, gentlemen, but who created theso?" 2. There is the mirror of our own spiritual 'flat'Ure. The psalmist looker! into this mirror and enw therein the reflection of the Lord, the Ruler, thG J udgo, or all. "As the' hnrt panteth after the water-brool-i;, so l?anteth my soul al'tcr theo, 0 God.>l fV. IT I'S IN JESUS CHRIST 'rBAT cJob GBANTI! US TUE CIIIEF RRVELATI.ON OP' BIMBELF. Nature and conscience are mirrors; Christ is the veir shining forLh of the Dil'.lne glory, We must not make an image of God; but God has given us a perfect image of himself. of his moral attributes. 'When we have once seen God In his dear Son, we recogniz; his presence c,•erywhere and in all things. As the sun illumines a hundred snow-clad peaks, and every summit glows and glitters forth his splendour, so when God appears in Christ, his attributes are seen in all his works and all his ways. Especially do we through Jesus come to the knowledge of the Divine holiness, righteousness, and lm·e. Y. IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GoD IN CHRIST IS THE ETERNAL LIFE. Of our Lord J esns an apostle affirms, " This is the true God, and the Eternal Life." Now, an ignorant, uninformeJ., uninstructed soul is a dead soul. It is knowledge that cnkindles mental life, that calls forth the intellectual powers. And it is the highest knowledge which. is the Dh·ine means of awakening the highest life. '!'bis life is called eternal, because it is not like earthly life which perishes, but because it is of a higher kind-because it i,s' the life of God himself, spiritual and Divine. A boy taken from an inferior position, with few opportunities of improvement and no profita]:>le companions, may be brought into a position where advantages are many, opportunities precious, associates inspiring. He may come to say, "This is life indeed I" So Saul became Paul-when he had seen· and known Christ.-T.