prophet in that animated apostrophe-" Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath done it; shout, ye lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein; for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob and glorified himself in Israel." (Isaiah, ch. xliv. v. 23). Let not the wise men of the east be alone in their homage to our infant Redeemer ; but let us bring our gold, our frankincense, and myrrh: our gold in charity; our frankincense in praise; and our myrrh in devout commemoration of his death, at his sacred table."

Bishop Dehon.

But deign'd to lay his meek and lowly head
Within the crib that Judah's oxen fed.

One of the most conspicuous graces in the example of our blessed Lord is humility: and thus upon several occasions he declares that, "whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."—Luke, ch. xiv. v. 11. This declaration is in perfect conformity with a similar precept found in other parts of Scripture, "Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect to the lowly."-Psalm cxxxviii. v. 6. "With the lowly is wisdom."-Proverbs, ch. xi. v. 2. "And before honour is humility."-Ch. xv. v. 33. "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit."—Isaiah, ch. lvii. v. 15. He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth

the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah ch. vi. v. 8). Ought we not then, to endeavour to obey this divine precept, as inculcated by holy men of old, and strive to imitate in our walk and conversation the condescension and humility, as set forth in the life and example of our Lord and master? But alas! how seldom do we see in the present day this heavenly grace put into practice by persons professing the name of christians,-nay, even by those who consider themselves as within the church of Christ: angry feelings and expressions, are too apt to be excited upon the slightest provocation; and a mere difference of religious opinions upon points, not at all essential, is often a sufficient test to prove that our hearts are possessed of pride, rather than "clothed with humility."

And clad in all the armour of his God.

As the Captain of our Salvation trusted neither in his bow nor in his sword, to overcome his great adversary, but in God alone; so ought we, whilst contending against our spiritual enemies, to put on the whole armour of God: for it behoveth us to consider that we have to wrestle "against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world; against spiritual wickedness in high places." Vain, indeed, are our own weak powers against such enemies, who would destroy and for ever chain us down under the bondage of Satan. Yes: Let us put on without delay,

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the whole armour of God. Let us stand therefore, having our loins girt about with truth, and having on the breast-plate of righteousness, and our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all taking the shield of faith, thre helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, (Ephes. ch. vi.); so shall we be enabled to fight manfully under the banners of the cross, and be made more than conquerors through him that loved us."-Rom. viii. 37.

But ever foremost of the hellish crew

The tempter stood.

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Since the fall of man, the old serpent, the devil, has never ceased to beset the walks of human life with snares and temptations. It is against these that our Blessed Lord so earnestly warns us. In His own most perfect prayer, he commands us to say, "lead us not into temptation." In the 26th chapter of Matthew, he says, "watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation." It is indispensable, then, that we should be constantly on our guard, and, as much as possible, bring every action of our lives to the test of the Holy Scriptures. On this point, our Divine Teacher has left us a most triumphant example. When Satan tempted him, saying, "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." The reply was, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Satan, ob

serving our Lord's mode of defence, enforces his second temptation with a mis-applied text of Scripture: if thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; for it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. To this artifice our Lord's ready reply was, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."

In the third and last signal effort, Satan combines the utmost of his powers, and shewing our Lord all the kingdoms of the earth and the glories of them, declares, "all these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me:" but this vast proposal was instantly rejected by the following words, "Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Here, we observe a complete triumph of the power of Divine Grace over sin; and such a result forcibly teaches us, from our youth up, diligently to search the Scriptures, and to pray for the same spiritual Counsellor to influence our conduct in the hour of trial and temptation, to the glory of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Do thou, Gethsemane, his sorrows tell.

In contemplating this solemn spectacle, let us not fall asleep with the drowsy disciples, but prostrate ourselves before God, deeply bewailing those sins which caused our afflicted Lord to bathe this sequestered garden with tears of agony, and

planted there the very thorns that insulted his sacred head. It will be well for those also, who are heedlessly passing by the hallowed shade in the broad paths of sin and indifference, to pause-and (if they can spare the moment) reflect how awfully this scene of suffering concerns themselves, and how earnestly it would awaken them to the dangers of the course they are pursuing.

If they imagine that in their case the infinite mercy of God will prevail over his justice, and deter him from the infliction of the dreadful penalties which he has denounced against sin; let them observe how it fared with his own beloved Son, when He stood in the way of sinners. Was one drop of bitterness withheld from the cup, which his Father gave him to drink? Let the bloody sweat of Gethsemane answer the question!* Shall then his mercy be displayed at the expense of his justice, on behalf of his enemies-of those who, despising or neglecting so great salvation, wilfully continue in sin and impenitence? No; for such, the feet of Divine mercy did not cross the "brook Cedron;" they are still amenable to the justice of an offended God, must cross it for themselves, and enter a Gethsemane in a world to come of never ceasing agony and despair.

* See a discourse in the Family Sermons published by the Christian-Knowledge Society, by Gilbert Beresford.