condemn not. "But above all things," says the same apostle, in his first Epistle, "have fervent charity among yourselves." Sobriety, or solidity, is generally the result of real experience, and sometimes very painful experience. It arises from a knowledge of one's own heart and weakness. It is the result of the Spirit's gracious and heavenly tuition, as it is written, "Whom shall he teach knowledge, and make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breast." It is very frequently by sanctified trouble the Lord produces this spiritual sobriety: the judgment becomes informed, the understanding enlightened, the will subdued, and the affections raised and fixed on things above. How very contrary, therefore, to the Christian character, and how unlike the great example, Christ, is a light and trifling spirit! Hence the necessity for this very frequent exhortation, "Be sober."

But in the second place the exhortation is to be vigilant: "Be sober, be vigilant," -wakeful, watchful, and on the alert. And how much in the word of our God is said about watchfulness! How oft did our Lord Jesus enjoin this state of mind on the disciples ! "What I say unto you," he says, "I say unto all, Watch!" "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation." "Watch ye, therefore; for ye know not what day or what hour the Son of man cometh !"-"For if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh shall find watching." "Be watchful, and strengthen those things which remain, and are ready to die." "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come upon thee." "Blessed is he that watcheth daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors." For "he that findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord." From all which portions of eternal truth, dropping from the very lips of Christ himself, we gather the great importance and blessedness of a wakeful and watchful spirit. But alas! where is it to be found in this day of departure from the good old ways? Are not the words of Paul addressed to the church at Corinth, very applicable to our times: "Many are weak and sickly, and many sleep." May God of his infinite mercy, awake his sleeping saints, and cause them to arise from the dead, and come away, and shake themselves from the dust, ere the storm of persecution arises, which seems inevitable and necessary, to separate professor from possessor, and truth from error, now alas! so mixed up together. Watchfulness was not only enjoined by Christ himself, but by all the apostles as well. "Watch thou in all things," says Paul to Timothy. "Give all diligence," says Peter, "to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things ye shall never fall." But where are we to watch? Hearken, beloved friends, to Christ. Blessed is he who "watcheth daily at my gates." Here a diligent and prayerful attendance on the means of grace is enjoined; but alas! how little prized by many, even of the Lord's people, are our gospel privileges in these days, especially our meetings for solemn and united prayer; and yet the promise is, "The diligent soul shall be made fat." And what do we watch for at his gates? Hear what David says; "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple." And again, "to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary." O for this spirit of earnest devotedness of heart, in waiting upon God in his own appointed means of grace, to watch and wait for the promised presence and blessing of our covenant God, who says, "Here will I meet with thee," and here in my holy mountain will I make " a feast of fat things-of fat things full of marrow, and of wines on the lees, well refined" and here shall there be "showers of blessing." 2ndly. Watch at the throne of grace for answers to our prayers, “Watching thereunto, with all perseverance and supplication for all saints," &c. The apostle Paul, writing to the Thessalonian church, urges this twofold exhortation on this ground: "Ye are the children of the light and of the day; therefore let us not sleep as do others; but let us watch and be sober: for they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that are drunken, are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breast-plate of faith and love." How important, then, brethren, to be helped to watch in the house of God, to watch at the throne of grace, and to watch especially against the introduction of error. Take heed what

ye hear and how ye hear; for whoever sleeps, the devil is awake and busy with his army of agents to sow the seeds of error on every hand; and so plausible is false doctrine made to appear, that Christ our Lord himself declares "they shall deceive, if it were possible, even the very elect." Look around at the state of things in professing Zion, and who can deny the solemn fulfilment of eternal truth, "In the last days some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils ?" "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine," says Paul to Timothy:"continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee." This is the portion of truth on which John Wesley founds that hymn -"A charge to keep I have," &c. How dreadful the perversion of truth here!whereas it was Paul's solemn charge to Timothy, to preach the truth and to stand fast in the faith, and thereby save himself and those that heard him from souldestructive error. See the whole context (1 Tim. iv. 16). It is declared in that important parable of our Lord and Master, that "while men slept, the enemy came and sowed tares." How important to watch the incoming of members to our churches and the coming of ministers into our midst! Is it not to be feared many are led away by the gifts of the preacher, instead of looking diligently for a gracious and firm adherence to the good old way of truth? O for a watchful spirit! Watch self more than others as to words, motives, and temper, and watch the good hand of God in his providential dealings; for "whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even he shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord." God knows how to make us watchful and wakeful; for a spirit of slumber and indifference is to be deprecated by the child of God: a woe is pronounced against those who are at ease in Zion. While the pilgrims were walking over the enchanted ground, the air of which was calculated to make them drowsy, they proposed, as a remedy, some good Christian conversation about soul matters to keep one another awake; and this, by God's blessing Christian fellowship and spiritual conversation in connection with the trials of the pathway, God often uses to keep his people both sober and watchful. In the most degenerate times, the Lord has had those that feared his name, and that often spake one to the other. Would there were more of this in our special gatherings; but how seldom is the question passed from one to another Christian,-Brother, how is it with thy soul? When did you last see the Lord? The beloved John thus expressed himself to one to whom he wrote, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." 3 John 2.

In the second place, let us notice the reason urged by the apostle to enforce this twofold exhortation-namely, "your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." If I were to tell you to beware, when you leave this chapel and go to your home; for there is a roaring lion in this town roaming about for prey, how cautious you would be, and how eagerly you would look at every corner and place on your way! This appears to be the idea here, only what makes the danger still greater, is, the devil, though a mighty malicious foe to the saint, is invisible. Mark the character of the foe here. He is our adversary the devil, and a roaring lion. Here we have malice, cunning, and power. He is an adversary to the child of God, because he hates the God of the child,—an adversary to Christ, and consequently to Christians, an adversary to holiness, and he strives to tarnish it, an adversary to peace, and he strives to destroy it,—an adversary to happiness, and he does all he can to mar it,—an adversary to communion with God, and he does all he can to interrupt it. And then he is the devil, cunning, subtle, a deceiver, that old serpent who beguiled Eve, and who walketh about seeking to devour all our comforts and peace, to warp from the truth and to turn out of the way. All the error in the world comes from the devil, the author of sin and all darkness, as God is the Author and Source of all holiness, peace, and light. And then mark, "he walketh about, ever restless and on the alert, waiting and watching to pounce upon his prey, as a ravening and roaring lion. How dreadful are his roarings to the poor, timid sheep and lambs of Jesus' fold! How often he alarms and worries whom he cannot devour! Blessed be God, we have a strong refuge, a greater Protector, a mighty Shield, or we should be swallowed up.

This brings us to consider in the third place, a consoling truth or two, implied by

the language of the text. And in the first place, this precious truth is clearly implied, the lion is chained. He goeth about seeking whom he may devour, not whom he will: here is his tether, here is his restraint, "Thus far shalt thou go, and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." His rage and malice are sufficient to devour all the sheep of Christ; but one of these, no, not the feeblest lamb may he devour; they are infinitely too dear to the great and ever-watchful Shepherd, who says, "They shall never perish." Peter he may sift, but not a grain of Peter's grace shall be lost; he shall come out of his sieve much better for the sifting. David, another blood-bought sheep, he might pounce on and plunge in the dirt and filth, and break his bones, and break his peace and comfort for a time, but devour him he might not; the good Shepherd seeks and heals, cleanses and restores his soul again. Poor dear Job he thought to have, but there was a limit to his chain; his malice is clearly apparent in the way he laid out the calamities of Job; wave upon the heel of wave, and the heaviest last, was intended to sink God's servant quite. But how mortified and astounded was the devil when he heard that tongue he had hoped to hear curse God, bless him for all he had done! How often had Satan walked round Job's hedge to find an opening somewhere; but no, even the devil must admit to God's face and to the glory of our God, that Job's God had made the hedge, and consequently he could neither touch Job, nor anything Job possessed, till the Lord permitted. Floods of damnable heresies and doctrines this old serpent has cast out of his mouth, to carry away the church ; but the earth helped the woman, and in all ages there has been and shall be still, a seed to serve the Lord, and a generation to call him blessed. And, therefore, another blessed truth is implied here, not only that the devil is limited as to his power, but the constancy of the Shepherd's care, the vigilance of the Father's eye, and the protection of his almighty arm. He who purchased the sheep with his own precious blood, claims them, and cares for them dearly, and watches over them with a more vigilant eye than the devil has. "I will guide thee with mine eye," is His precious promise, an eye that never closes, that never grows dim or weary. "He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous." He is not only our Shepherd, but our Shield to protect; and not only our Shield, but our Advocate to plead his own right in the sheep, and what he has done for them, against this accuser of the brethren. He, as the Captain of our salvation, fought this dread foe of ours and overcame him, and has assured the weakest saint, the weakest believer in Him, that he shall overcome through him; for he not only obtained the victory, but gives the victory obtained to a worm, and will eventually, as the God of peace, bruise Satan under our feet shortly. Therefore it is added, "whom resist, stedfast in the faith," looking unto Jesus: for "this is the victory that overcometh the world," and the devil, the god of this world, too, "even your faith."

"When legions of infernal foes

Beset my feeble soul,

Faith in my dear Redeemer's blood

Will shield me from them all."

THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST.

BY J. W. COLE.

-hen was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil."-MATT. iv. 1.

THE Christian, in the apostolic epistles, is continually urged to study the life and character of Jesus. Every incident in his biography is worthy of our attention, and "the temptations," for many reasons, peculiarly so. The time, the place, and the circumstances of the Saviour's trial, may each be made to impart useful lessons to the believer.

In the consideration of the text at the head of this paper, great importance must be attached to the simple word, "Then,"—"Then was Jesus led up," &c.—

"Then," i.e., after his baptism, after the outpouring of the Spirit upon him, after his recognition, and public acknowledgement of relationship by God the Father. Surely this fact should teach us, that the storm of temptation and trial may follow immediately after the manifestation of Divine favour, and the enjoyment of holy communion. A storm may suddenly gather in the clearest sky, and danger may lurk in the most pleasant path. This truth should put us on our guard and prompt attention to the Saviour's injunction, "Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation." Moreover, the fact that the temptation of Jesus followed so closely upon the pouring out of the Holy Ghost upon him, should teach us that God does not make us possessors of spiritual influences to excite idle sentimentality, but to fit us for conflict with the powers of darkness. It is with grace as with gifts," Where much is given, much will be required." If God bestows special grace, it is for a special purpose. The Spirit that strengthened Christ, led him forward to the conflict. We learn further from the temptation of the Saviour, that Satan, like a crafty foe, watches his opportunity to attack. He not only waits for the hour of our weakness, but assaults our most vulnerable point. It was when the Son of man was hungry, that he tempted him to rebel against God's providence by commanding the stones to become bread. This is Satan's usual mode of attack. He prompts man to murmur against God, for present gratification, and thus lose by disobedience and rebellion future blessings of a much more weighty character. So he tempted and overcame Adam, and Esau, and Judas; and so he sought to triumph over Christ. Men are every day bartering their hope of future joys for a little present gain. Worldly advantage is esteemed above even eternal life. The god of this world blinds their eyes. He knows the proverb well," A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," and takes advantage of it, too. The sun, as it shines in the firmament, is a great and glorious object; but a shilling held before the eye may hide it from the sight. And in like manner, the deceiver of souls hides the great things of eternity from men by placing before their vision the small things of time. But in the case of the Saviour, faith in God triumphed over the machinations of the evil one.

The place in which the scene of " the temptation" occured, is worthy of notice: "the wilderness." In the temptations of the first and the second Adam, we behold a parallel and a contrast. In their hour of trial, both met the tempter alone. In each case it was single combat. Both were representative personages. In each temptation, the well or ill-being of the race was involved. But what a contrast as regards results. By the defeat of the first Adam, sin and death, and all their woe, were entailed upon humanity; by the victory of the second, "life and immortality where brought to light." Notice, also, the striking contrast which is apparent between the localities in which the respective temptations occured. On the one hand, Eden's fair garden, abounding in all manner of trees good for food, and pleasant to the taste, waving branches and blooming flowers, the music of the river, the song of the birds, and the charms of nature; on the other hand a reign of desolation, rugged rocks and barren sands, thorns, and briers, and stunted shrubs, wild confusion, hunger, and thirst, and horrid gloom. Does not this teach us most forcibly that it is not circumstances of an outward nature which ensure holiness of life; Jesus, in the wilderness, maintained his integrity, Adam, in Paradise, fell.

A word or two about the tempter himself. There are those who deny the personality of the devil. They would have us believe that Satan is only the principle of evil personified. The temptation of Christ evidently teaches a different doctrine to this. If the temptation of the Saviour came from without, there must have been an agent, and that agent, we are informed, was "the devil." If the temptation came from within, then a dense dark shadow is at once thrown over the inner consciousness of "the Lord's annointed One." He must himself have been the possessor of evil thoughts, and, if so, he was not the spotless character which the Scriptures represent him to be; and hence he was not fitted to be our Mediator; our faith must be, therefore, vain,-we are yet in our sins. But we have not so learned Christ.

Braunston, Rugby.

AN AFFLICTED AND POOR PEOPLE.

The substance of Two Sermons, preached at the re-opening of Bethesda Baptist Chapel, Broad-street, Bilston, Staffordshire, June 13th, 1869,

By MR. WILLIAM HUNT, of Birmingham.

(TAKEN DOWN IN SHORTHAND AT THE TIME.)

"I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord."-ZEPH. iií. 12.

(Continued from page 208.)

AFFLICTIONS Work patience and submission to the Divine will. Now I want to point out the difference between stoicism and faith. The stoic says, "Well, Tom, I hear your wife is dead." "Yes," he replies, " she died on Wednesday morning; but what can't be cured must be endured." This is stoicism, not religion: it is not what my text declares. The soul of the believer submits to the inevitable, but submits approvingly,-believing that afflictions work together for good and are tokens of the Divine love. I have heard Hosea ii. 14, preached from as though "the alluring" were the drawing of His love. I don't take that view of it; and I think it would be well for the church if the stereotyped views of popular men were not so much followed.

Let us look at the words of Hosea, "I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak comfortably unto her there," &c., &c.

Many a godly man has, after battling with great difficulties, risen in good circumstances, but not without being tainted with the pride of success, and becoming lofty, ambitious, and worldly in his spirit, forgetful that he is indebted for all to God, who has endowed him with judgment and energy, and who has given him power to become rich. Carried away by prosperity, he has adapted his style of life to that of men of the world in similar circumstances. But reverses come, losses are made, his prospects are blighted, his schemes are blasted, and he is brought into a wilderness, lured on by the fickle gale of fortune.

This is the state of man,-to-day he puts forth the tender buds of hope, tomorrow blossoms and bears his blushing honours thick upon him; and when, alas, good easy man! he thinks, how surely his greatness is a ripening, there comes a frost―a chilling frost-that nips him at the root; and then he falls. But God has said, I will not desert him, but will speak comfortably unto him there; I will give him "the valley of Achor for a door of hope," &c.

So experience works patience, patience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, because of the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost, given

unto us.

But afflictions can neither be heavy nor grievous, except under circumstances pointed out in the word. It does not say, "Now no affliction is joyous, but seemeth to be joyous." It seems to be grievous, but it is really "joyous ;" and for the reasons I have assigned, as well as many others, all God's dealings with his people are according to his own eternal purposes in Christ, and the greatness of his love to them in him; and I hold to this belief as a sailor to a spar, when overboard, knowing it to be his very life. I once thought otherwise; but now my comfort in this life, and my hope in the next, stands in the firm belief of

these truths.

Afflictions are sent to deaden us to the world, to crucify our lusts, and draw us near to God; and when these results are realized, they are not grievous, but joyous. We say afflictions are only felt to be heavy under certain circumstances which the word declares. I hear some one saying, If you had my trials upon you, you would not so say. I reply, You cannot judge of people's trials by their complaints.