holy, that so we m11y be lrnppy. We remRrk (3) that the gospel is glorimrn, if we con- ,,der th~ 11ature of the bk,serlnesa that is commumcated by ,:t. 'l'he blessedness for which mim w11s intended, Rnd t-0 which he would have 11ttnined through obedience, WRB ,·er~· grf'At. Passing safe!~· t.hrnugh the gate of trial nnd peril, he would have attained- Phe.11 we say ?-to a (:;.od-like hle,sedness. He would l1Rve had the blessedne-ss of a free, intelligent heing. He would have been nrnde hle,scd with God, and in the enjoyment of God, to all et~rnity. Now, the gospel is glorious in proclaiming this, that man is not t.o be less blessed than he would have been had he never fallen from blessedness. He is not to be mulcted in blessedness. He i~ not to have a stigma upon him t.o mark the dishonour he formerly did t.o God. He is not t.o be placed on a lower order of bles~ed beings. Nay, in the fact that Christ has taken our hum:in nature into glorious union with his Divine n:iture, have ~e not thereby been m:ide c:ipable of a higher blessedness? And not only so, but we nave been redeem~•. And how peculiarly blessed it is to he redeemed! It is more than if we had stood. We can now not only say, "Our God," but" Our Redeemer." How oft.en does God take the name in Isaiah! "Thus sait.b tltc Lord, thy Redeemer." It is a new tie, "Thus saith the Lord that created thee, 0 J:icob, and lie thi\t tormed thee, 0 Israel, Fear not; for I have redeemed thee." Our peace is peculi:irly blessed; it is the feeling of reconciliation, the sweet sense of sin forgiven. Our joy is peculiarly blessed; it is the joy of salvation. It is the sense of indebtedness to Divine grace. We were on the broad road to destruction. We were down in the horrible pit, a.nd in the miry clay; but we have been saved, we have been redeemed. And dues not the woe we have escaped sweeten our present joy? Can we ever forget it? Our heaven, we think, will begin with a sight of the woe of which we were worthy. And then we have been redeemed by God. "Your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." And does it not heighten our blessedness t.o remember that we owe it to the grace of the most holy God ? And then be has redeemed us by no less glorious a Being than his own well-l•eloved Son, and at the expense of that Son's life. Is that not fitted to raise the soul to its most joy1ul exercise? The blessedness of every intelligent being has been heightened in connection with this salvation. For views have been presented by it of the character of God which could not otherwise have been pre- sented.. Still, there is always this additional in our case. We are the parties concerned; we are the parties for whom all this has been done; we are the parties for whom this great ,;alvation has been provided. It iA a. glorious gospel, then, we say. It makes u1 doubl v blessed. It 8eems to contain the elements of an ecstatic bli,s. Ever as we realize the g~eatness of the redemption, we shall become more gloriously blessed. We conclude with two practical remarks. First, let us keep !!ear to the Source of blessedness by f~th and prayer and meditation. Let ns not go out to any creaturely good, far less t.o evil, as thou"'h it were the fountain of pleasure; but let us go out t.o the blessed God himself, es~cially in the glorious gospel, that we may have our hearts filled with a r,~,luwed and satisfying joy. "Whosoever driuketh of this water"--0f mere creaturely , ,lea.sure-" shall thirst a.gain: but whosoever i;hall drink of the water that I shall give bim shall never tbir8t; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up to everla-ting life." In the second place, being blessed ourselves, let us 8eek to make blessed. That is to be like the happy God. Let us make sacrifices for the happiness of others; L~t us count those moments the happiest of our existence in which we lose sight of self, in prayerful or active devotion to the interests of those whum Providence puts in our way, or more specially commits to our care. And if sin wa,; not an inseparable obstacle in the way of God blessing us, let it not be an inseparable obstacle in the way of our 8eeking t.o bless others. "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, Ides,; thew th:it cur~e you, do good t.o them that bate you, and pray for them th:it dc,J•itefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father wbich is in Leaven: for be maketh bis sun to riee on the evil and on the good., and scndeth rain on the just and on the unjllljt."-R. F.
Vel'I!. 12--17.-Pers,,na[ digresRion. L THANKFULNEBB Jl'OB BEING APPOINTED B1' Ca1uHT To Hlil ~ERv1cE. "I thank him that enaLled me, even Christ Jesus our Lord, for that be couotc<l me faitLful, appuinting me to hiR service." At the close of the eleven tL verse Paul brings in his relatiun to the gospel of the glory of the happy God. U ..,ll,li a trust corulllitted tu Lim, i.e. it was made his grea~- buaine88 to convey the messap OB. L 1-20.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 2G