NOT GOD'S WILL.

MATTHEW xviii. 14.

"It is not the will of your Father that is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish."

E are too apt to resolve everything into the will of od; making thus a kind of refuge for our indolence, · even screen for our sin. Whatever happens-" It the will of God," we exclaim; 'tis easily said, where, perhaps, nothing may be further from the truth. et us be careful.

The subject is indeed difficult to approach, imposole to compass. It is like creation, infinite to man's

ind; as the great Creator, incomprehensible. The will of man-is it bond? Is it free?

What is

? What are its bearings? This is a subject which man yet has been able to fathom. And if the will the creature is thus full of marvel, full of mystery, hat must the will of Him be, to whom creatures are lebted for their very existence? Before so solemn,

so sacred, so marvellous a thing, let us stand in awe, and not sin, by vainly intruding into those things which it is altogether impossible for us fully to comprehend.

Yet there are aspects and bearings of the will of God, which we may not only behold, but which it is our duty to regard; and these, we shall find, are most essential to our happiness. Everything may be resolved into the will of God indeed. He is supreme. His counsel shall stand. His will embraceth, within its ample folds, the complicated enigmas (enigmas to us) of time and eternity.

The will of God, of course it was, in one sense, that the angels sinned, and that Satan abode not in the truth; but was cast down, and is reserved in chains. The will of God, of course it was, that the Evil One beguiled our parents; brought sin into the world, and blighted fearfully God's good creation. The will of God, of course it was, that Jesus Christ, the Son of the Blessed, was treated as He was; nailed to a tree; thrust out rudely, by wicked hands, from the abodes of men. The will of God, of course it is, that the road to Hell is broad, and the road to Heaven narrow. That you and I, brethren, are subjects of strange hopes and fears. That even now, strange though it may seem and sound, we are narrowly eyed by beings, that we see not, perhaps care not for. And that soon, who can tell how soon? infirmity, sickness, time, and death,

hall bear us off in triumph to the land of forgetfuless. I mean, forgetfulness of man.

But turn again; turn again, and look on another spect of this awful thing. The will of God, of course was, that met the fearful fall of man with remedies f salvation; and when sin was committed, placed a in-offering at the door. The will of God, of course was, that prophets and seers, priests, apostles, evanelists, ministers many, aye, and angels too, out of ight, were engaged in ministries of mercy, to save poor inners from the evil consequences of their folly. the will of God, even your sanctification. ve, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the eath of the wicked." "It is not the will of God that e of these little ones should perish." Whose will it then, that they should perish? But we shall come this presently.

66

This

As I

"Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must eeds be that offences come; but woe to that man y whom the offence cometh! Wherefore if thy hand - thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them om thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend ee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better

thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than ving two eyes to be cast into hell fire. Take heed at ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say to you, that in heaven their angels do always be

hold the face of My Father which is in heaven. For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more over that sheep, than over the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish."

In the forefront of this passage standeth the blessed Saviour, engaged in His ministry, betokening the will of God. Say-doth not the Birth, doth not the Life, doth not the Death, Resurrection, Ascension, Session of Christ, declare out loud—“ Sinners! it is not the will of God that you should die ?"

This woe because of offences; this cutting off of hand and foot; this plucking out of eye, doth it not demand of a man, for Christ, now and always—“ take up thy cross and follow Me?" Talk not flippantly, slightingly, of the will of God.

Put thyself within it,

as a living agent in its ministries, and work.

Earthly property is seldom a windfall, the heavenly

inheritance never.

people the saved.

Christ is the Saviour, and Christ's

A shepherd has a hundred sheep; one of them goes astray; he exclaims aloud, it is not my will that that sheep should be lost. And now watch that shepherd.

There he goes with his crook. Now he climbs the mountain side. Now he threads the tangled dell. Now here; now there; how his will works... See! ee! he hath found his sheep, and laid it on his shoulers rejoicing. His will was as the atmosphere of his ctions. "Whilst I breathe, I hope," he said; and he -on back his lost sheep.

And what doth the Good Shepherd do? He leaveth he fold, where ninety and nine are in safe keeping; and out and away into the wilderness He goeth, to eek and to save them that are lost. Are we not eep? Hath He found us yet? Are not the chilren lambs? Would He have them perish? Not one. t is not the will of your Father that is in heaven, hat one of these little ones should perish. God's will e done!

Be pleased to teach and to bless us, O heavenly pirit of truth and grace.

Regard actions as tokens of the working of the will. very action of our life hath a voice, and it saith this; will, or I will not! We are too apt to throw our ords and our actions about at random; but be houghtful and remember, "by thy words thou shalt e justified;" and that "God will reward every man ccording to his works."

The will is the main-spring of a man. This setteth 1 in motion. The multitude of actions may cause nfusion and jargon, but you will detect the motive ill mostly; not always certainly, because of subterges, but mostly.