a trifler, robbing us of energy, making the present flat, and withdrawing us from work- ing in order to dream. But Chtistian hope is an armrd warrior, grave and calm, ready for conflict because &Ssured of victory. It will be as wings to lift us above care and sorrows, and as cords to bind us to duty and toil. III. 'l'HE SELF-DISCIPLINE WHICH KEEPS THE PERFECT HOPE. It bas two parts-" gird- ing up the loins," and "being sober." These two are somewhat difficult to distinguish. But the former enjoins determined effort, the bracing up of all one's powers, or, as we say, "pulling one's self together." Travellers, servants, soldiers, have to tighten their belts and confine loose robes. A slackly braced mind has not force enough to cherish a perfect hope. There are many difficulties in its way, and vigorol\s effort is needed to concentrate the mind and heart on the truth which warrants it. All Christian virtue needs determined effort. Earthly hopes will not be vigorous unless the intrusive present is shut out by resolute effort, and the attention kept fixed on the future. How can a strong Christian hope be preserved on easier terms? Again, for the completeness of Christian hope, rigid self control and repression are needed. "Be sober" means" keep a tight hand on all desires and tastes, especially on animal passions and appetites." There is no possibility of clear vision of the future if the mists that steam up from these undrained marshes hide it, nor can the soul whose desires tum earthwards go out in keen expectation to the more ethereal joys above. If the plant is allowed to throw out side shoots, it will not run high. Our hopes are regulated by our desires. We have a limited amount to expend, and if we bestow it' on things of time and sense, we shall have none to spare for the unseen. If we pour the precious ointment on the heads of earthly loves, there will be none with which to anoint our true Lover and King. A great possibility is set before us weary sons of men, whose hearts have been so often torn by disappointment that we know not whether it is sadder to hope or to despair. We may have the future made as certain as the past, and be made conquerors over sorrow and the dread of to-morrow and the apathy which does not look forward, by a calm hope which knows that it will be fulfilled. \Ve need not build on peradventures, but on "Verily, verily, I say unto you." Do not build on sand when you may build on rock, even on "Christ, who is our Hope "-and you will not be confounded.-A. M.
Vers.14-16.-Christians God-like men. Probably we are not to see in the first words of these verses any reference to the filial relation which Christians bear to God, tempting as the view is which would make them parallel to Paul's exhortation, "Be ye imitators of God, as dear children." The literal rendering is, "children of obedience,'' which is plainly a Hebraism, and means simply" persons whose_cbaracteristic is obedience," like "sons of light," or" of earth," or "of thunder." Submission to the Divine will in the twofold form of resignation to its appointments Iand of obedience to its behests is the very lif-lement of the believing soul This obedience is to express itself in the order- ing of the outward life. There was a time when self-will shaped their lives. They moulded themselves according to their own desires,'but all that must be at an end now . .A new pattern is set before them. They are now to fashion themselves, not after the ideal framed by their own tastes or inclinations, but, as we might read the words, "according to the Holy One who hath called you." So we have here- L THE MOULD OR PATTERN FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. Can that infinitely perfect Divine nature be proposed as a pattem for men with any good results? ls imitation possible? Will not the snowy whitenest1 of the far-off peak dazzle rather than attract, and its steep height seem to counsel rest in the valleys below rather than the toilsome climb to the summit? How can human virtue in its highest form be analogous to the holiness of a Being who has no weakness, no passions, no temptations, no changes, no limitations? But love, gentleness, goodness, righteousness, must be so far identical in God and man that we know what they are in him by what they are in ourselves. A dewdrop is rounded by the same law which moulds a planet, and its tiny rainbow is the same as the arch which spans the heavens. Power, wisdom, cannot be limited, but righteousness may. To be like God morally is the sum of all religion. Worship pre- supposes that the character of the being worshipped is regarded with admiration and aspiration. The worshippers make their gods as embodiments of their ideals, and then the gods make the worshippers. "They that make them are like unto them" is the law for heathenism, and explains many strange perversions of conscience. ~n Christianity < u. 1. 1-26.] THE FIIl8T EPIS'fLE GENERAL OF PETER. 35