and solf-confidonco and worldliness, and keeps us humble, distrustful of onrscl vos trusting only in God. '£Le joy of the Lord, realized amid sorrow, helps the ChriHtia~ to beliovo that these trials, so grievous now, will be found unto praise and honour and glory at the nppcaring of Jesus Christ. 4. It springs <YUt ef the lO'Ue of Christ. Lorn implies knowledge. We Me not the Lord Christ with the bodily eye; but the vision of faith is more precious far than sight; many who saw him did not believe. "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed;" for faith brings the L0nl verv near to the soul, yen, into the heart; faith opens the rloor to him, and then he cnteretii. in, and maketh his abode within the heart that in faith receives him. Therefore wf:t may know him with a real knowledge, with that knowledge which is eternal life, with the knowledge with which the true sheep know the good Shepherd-the knowledgr. which he himself, in the wonderful words of John x. 14, 15, compares with the know- ledge with. which he himself, the Son of God, knows the eternal Father. It is ~ knowledge of love, of intimate spiritual communion. "Truly," says St. John, "our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these thing, write we unto you, that your joy may be full." The joy of God's saints is unspeakable. "No tongue of mortal can express, No pen can w1·ite their blessedneu: He only who bath proved it knows What bliss from love of Jesus flows." It were a poor thing," says Leighton, "if he that hath that joy could tell it all out. Pawperis est nwmerare pecus. And when the soul hath most of it, then it remains most within itself, and is so inwardly taken up with it, that possibly it can then least of all express it. It is with joys as they say of cares and griefs, Leves loquuntur, ingentes stupent. The deepest waters run stillest. 'Res severa est verum gaudium,' says Seneca. frue joy is a solid, grave thing; it dwells more in the heart than in the countenance; 1Vhereas, on the contrary, base and false joys are but superficial, skin-deep (as we say); they are all in the face." .And it is full of glory, glorified with a foretaste of the glory that is to be revealed; for they who have that joy are spoken of as even now receiving the end of their faith, the salvation of souls. That precious gift of salvation is not only negative, deliverance from the guilt and power of sin; it is much more than this- it is Christ himself manifested into the believer's heart. He is our Jesns, the Salva- tion of Jehovah to his chosen; his presence sheds a glory round. "The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them." In such measure as that presence is realizecl, is the blessing of salvation, the end of our faith, received. His saints as they grow in grace, are ever receiving a fuller and deeper salvation-the salvation of souls now. Hereafter he "shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory" (Phil. iii. 21, Revised Version). III. THE DEEP INTEREST TAKEN IN THAT HOPE AND JOY. 1. By the prophets. Christians are often apathetic: they do not realize the exceeding glory and grandeur of the joy that is set before them; their hearts are dull and cold. It was not so with the prophets. They saw not what the apostles saw; but the Spirit of Christ was in them ; it testified of the sufferings of Christ and his after-glories. They inquired and searched diligently by prayer and devout thought, like Habakkuk (ii. 1) and the psalmist (Ps. lxxxv. 8) ; or sometimes by study and reading, like Daniel (ix. 2). We should imitate them; we should search the Scriptures, we should meditate and watch and pray. We should every day fix our hearts in devout contemplation on the sufferings of Christ; we should lift up our souls to behold in thankful adoration the glories of the risen, ascended Lord. Very sacred and precious must be the mysteries of our salvation which attracted the concentrated attention of those holy men. They saw the facts of our Lord's life and death afar off; we have received the gospel from eye-witnesses speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.· That Holy Ghost, the Com- forter, once sent by Christ from the Father (John xv. 26), abides for ever with the faithful; he will guide us into all truth; if we search for it like the prophets, he will lead ue nearer and nearer to the Saviour. 2. By the angels. But higher intelligences than the prophets are interested in the scheme of our salvation. The blessed angels long to look into these things, and that with rapt fixed attention. The mystery of god- liness, manifest in the flesh, was seen of angels (1 Tim. iii. 16). 'l'hey watched the I. l'ETEB, 0 18 THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PE'l'EH. [os. 1. 1-25,
grrnt. facts in the history of redemption; they 1lelight to contemplate the progress of the gosj•~l now. 'l'hey watch with intensest interest the great struggle between good a11,l en! 111 the world, and as each rnns,1med soul, drawn by the powor of the cross, turns tp Go,1, "there is joy iu the presence of the :rngels of God." How strange that men, for ,,·hum the Lo,·d Jesus died, should be so cold and listless, while an,i;els, of whom ho to,,k not hold a~ he taketh hold of the seed of Abraham (Hob. ii, lG, Revised Version), lo('k so eag~rly mto the great truths of our redemption I '!'hey are our fellow-servants (Ilc1·. x:xii. 9); we slrnll be their fclloll"-students, if we take example from them, and o;t.u<ly with love and awe aud reverence the life, the death, the resurrection, of him who ,ovcd us even unto death. LEsso~s. 1. Cherish the Christian's hope; earthly hopes are but castles In the air ,folusi rn, unsu bstanlial; the living hope abideth. 2. Thank God for the hope of glory! it comes only from his mercy ; it cheers us in onr troubles, in the appronch of death· i~ ernrything give thanks. 3. The heavenly inheritance is kept for Gocl's elect; they aro kept for it; let them rejoice cverm?r_e. 4. '1'~1cir trials are precious; they issue in praise an<l honour and glory; let them rc,1O1ce even JU sorrow. 5. 'l'he love of Christ gives the holic,t joy ; let us seek that joy in seeking to love him more and more. 6. Prophets ~nd angels love to gaze iuto the mysteries of our redemption; let us do the like.