Christian's strength. We get ill and out of sorts, and immediately everything seems wrong, both with ourselves and the world in which we live; our faith in the good providence of God makes to itself wings and flies away; and as to our spiritual condition-why, we seem to ourselves that we are worse than anybody else, and that there is absolutely no good in us. Well, supposing there is not much good in us —what is that to the purpose? If we have understood the teaching of the Church during the first half of the year, we ought to understand that the quietness and confidence in which a Christian should find his strength, depend not upon his faith in himself, but on his faith in God. We are assured that His will towards us is better than that of the best of human parents, that He is bent upon educating us in His own character, and that our pains and difficulties are to be taken as the pressure of His Fatherly hand to force us to make use of the inward strength which is ever made perfect in our sense of weakness. If this is so, we may be uncomfortable and miserable to any extent you may like to imagine; but the fact nevertheless remains that it is our vocation to serve God in the midst of our discomfort. The serving God in spite of discomfort is, so to speak, part of our day's work-it has to be borne with and made the best of; and if we do so make the best of it, it is absolutely certain that quietness and confidence will be the result.

R

Again, a man will perhaps say, "I could bear personal suffering, or illness, or pain, but when one's heart is torn at the loss or suffering of those whom we love better than ourselves, when we have to put up with cruel disappointments, anxious cares about our nearest and dearest, how can we then trust the good providence of God, and feel the quietness and confidence which are supposed to follow ?"

I answer, Simply by taking these things, however bad they may be, as part of our day's work for God, in which we have to learn the lesson that our wills are only ours to make them His. It is a common saying that the back is fitted to the burden. Anyhow, whether it is fitted to it or not, if the burden cannot be escaped, the only question is, What is the best way of holding ourselves under it? And to this the answer of our religion is sharp and clear: that if you will only act on the principles of Him Whose prayer was ever this, "Not My will, but Thine, be done," you may depend upon it you will find it answer, and that "although no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous, nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them which are exercised thereby."

Lastly, some one may say, "Ah, no doubt what you say is all very true and good, but if we could only be made sure, how gladly we would act upon it! But how are we to know? We hear what you say, but assertion is not proof."

The only way you can know is by trying. If you will not be at the trouble of surrendering your will and pleasure to the will of God; if you will persist in caring more for peace and happiness and ease of mind than you care for the kingdom of God and His righteousness; if you will not take the trouble or difficulty, of whatever nature it may be, as your especial burden, which you have to learn to deal with in a Christ-like spirit, and in spite of which, so to speak, you have to learn to trust God and do your duty, you cannot enjoy the quietness and confidence in which the Christian should find his strength. So long as a man is in the condition of halting between two opinions, so long as he refuses to put his back manfully to the burden which has been laid upon him, alleging as an excuse that he cannot be quite sure whether God means him to take it up or to shirk it, he cannot win the strength of those who shoulder it at once, whether they like it or not, and walk along the path of duty which they see lying straight before them. Anyhow, there can be no doubt what is the business of those who profess to be Christians. Our great Master has said, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls." He does not say, "Come to Me, and you shall be accurately informed about all sorts of mysteries in heaven and earth;" but He says, "Take

My yoke upon you of filial obedience to God, be meek and lowly in heart as I am, and ye shall find rest to your souls." Again He says, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions"— resting-places for all sorts and conditions of men.

"I

go to prepare a place for you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you. . . . In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ was the peace of One Who said, "My work is to do the will of Him that sent Me." If we wish to get it, there is no other way than by setting the same object before us. We talk much about what a man is to believe and disbelieve, but the profession of a Christian is simply to follow the example of our Saviour Christ, and endeavour to be like Him. If we do endeavour to be like Him, by taking all our trouble as part of our day's work, which we are to conquer with the aid of His Spirit, then all I can say is, that I never read of any one who did not find such conduct answer; and we shall probably discover that, the older we get, the more peacefully shall we rest in the thought of the good providence of God, and that in quietness and confidence our real strength is to be found.

XXI.

Christianity not at Variance with Mature.

"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father."-GAL. iv. 6.

So spake the Apostle Paul to his converts among the Galatians more than eighteen hundred years ago. After explaining to them that the change from the law of Moses to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ indicated no change in the character or purpose of God with respect to the creatures of His hand, but rather the arrival of mankind at a stage in their growth when they were fit to receive a higher manifestation of His will, he wished them to understand that men were no longer to regard themselves in the position of children, who were under tutors and governors, who were appointed to tell them what they must do and what forbear doing, but in that of grown-up youths, who were able to understand and appreciate the intentions of their Father concerning them, and whom, as a natural consequence, He