' III. H,e BPinlT AB CONTRASTED WITH TllAT 01!' THE JUDAIZERS, 1. Hi9 gloryinq. "But for be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world bath been crucified unto me, and I unto the world." (L) He gloried, in the croas. By the cross we are to understand the atoning death of our Loni Jesus Ohrist. By glorying in the cross we are to understand that. he not only truRted in it for hie own salvation, a.nd admired it himself, but that he held it up for the trUBt and admiration of others. The cross la to be gloried in a.s a. marvellous exhibition of the Divine lo'Ue. It wa.s God not spa.ring his Son, but delivering him up for the salvation of men. U love is to be measured by sacrifice, then it was a love that ma.de infinite sacrifice. The cross is to be gloried in as e. m:i.rvelloUB exhibition of the DiviM rlghteouwness. In default of man being a.hie to make satisfaction for his sin unless in his own destruction, it was God coming forward in:Christ and making satisfaction for sin by paying its utmost penalty. The cross is to be gloried in as a marvellous exhibi- tion of the Divine power. It was God in Christ conquering the kingdom of Satan, showing himself stronger the.II the evil of man's heart. The crose is to be gloried in aa a marvelloUB exhibition of the Divine wisdom. It. was God showing how he could be just, and yet the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus; showing how he could attract the sinner to himself, and yet condemn his sin. (2) He gloried especir1,lly in .the cross because of its effecting changed relations to the world. By the world we are to understand the sphere in which the princ.iples of the flesh find their manifestation. The cross ,crucified the world to him.. He condemned it and t.ore himself from it ,because of its antagonism to God. He was independent of its favours and pleasures, for he had better within himself, in the love and approval of God, and in all the joys of aonship.,. The cross crucified him to the world. It condemned him in turn, and stood aloof.from him as a lost man, and only thought of him to bate him and persecute him. In this cross, then, with all that it entailed, he gloried, and in this alone. F~ be it from hip:i to hold up anything else for tbe trust and admiration of men. 2. Hu regard for r,eality. " For neither is circumcision anything, nor nncircumcision, but a new creature." 'l'o him it was of no importance that men should be outwardly marked. ,What :w~.s e>f importance was that they should be inwardly c~anged. Numbers ha ,would have rejoiced in if they represented ~ved men. IV. µJ HIS SPIRIT WAS so HE BLESSED. "And as many as shall walk by this rule, peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God." He invokes blessing on all, who _would walk by the .rule laid down, i.e. who would glory only in the cross of Christ,.and would seek reality and not appearances. He invokes blessing on them in th,e usual form, only putting peace before mercy. All such, and not those whom the Jµ.daizers blessed, were to be regarded as the Israel of God. .. y. Hl8 CLAm TO BE. UNMOLESTED. " From henceforth let no man trouble me: for .I bear branded on my body the marks of Jesus." A general who has seen long service and has received many scars may reasonably claim to be relieved from future service. .That was not Paul's claiin. Hard service had a singular charm for him. But ho thought that he had received. scars enough to place his relationship to Christ as his servant and apostle henceforth beyond all doubt. The slave had branded on his body the name of the Master to whom he belonged. So in his past hardships he had as it were the name of Jesus branded on him. Henceforth, whatever men might do to him, 'let them not molest him by raising doubt as to the Master to whom he belonged. VI. HIS SPEOIAL AND FINAL BLESSING FOB THE GALATIANS. .. The grace or onr Lo~d Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen." He blesses them from the centre of their being. He was so charged with indignation when he commenced the Epistle that he was long before he could address them as brethren. Now he is so charged with affection that, putting" brethren" into an unusual position,'he makes it the last word that shall linger in their memory when they have completed the reading of the Epistle. We have no evidence of the immediate effect which this Epistle had upon the Galatians. It is painful to read of heresies which, at a subsequent period, were rife among them. It is, however, tileasing to know that in the Diocletian per:le- oution In the beginning of the fourth century, and in the "attempt to galvanize the expiring form of heathen devotion in Galatia," by Julian the apostate, there were not a few Galatia.n ma.rtyr11, It cannot be said that there is at the present day within the GALATIA)TB, Z THE EPISTLE TO TRE GALATIA.~"'B. [oB, Vl, 1-l&
district any rcpn•scnt.ation of Paulh:ie Cht•istiimity. The ChriAtlnn Church h~s yel to ■how its indebtedna!!I! for this Epistle by going forth in the spirit of the gre&t,preaoher of the cl'Oliti to rooonquer Galatiat>. soil for Christ..._R. F. , ,.