ACTION SERMON :-GLORYING IN THE CROSS.

"God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto the world.GALATIANS, vi. 14.

words was a very So changed that Perhaps there

THE Apostle when he uttered these changed man from what he was once. the contrast is striking and palpable. never was a man who had more clearly abandoned the faith he once upheld, and become a champion of the cause he formerly opposed, or who was less ashamed of it.

Of his earliest youth we have no certain knowledge. If we picture him to ourselves in his boyhood as ardent, impetuous, eager for distinction,-proud of his earthly lineage and citizenship, we are probably not far from the truth. These latter may not furnish much real ground for boasting, but they are weaknesses from which few have ever been wholly free. That he was "of the stock of Israel and tribe of Benjamin," an Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Jew of Tarsus, a citizen of no mean city, were things of which he very naturally was proud. A glorying of a similar kind may be found in nearly every country under heaven.

What he was when youth was merging into manhood we are not left to conjecture. Inspiration itself, in a few brief statements, gives us a clear and graphic picture. Brought up in Jerusalem at the feet of Gamaliel,-taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, -profiting in the Jew's religion above many his equals in his own nation; more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of his fathers, and a Pharisee of the straitest sect;-such was Saul of Tarsus. Educated under the

most learned and famous teacher of his day, gifted with great intellectual endowments, urged on by a zeal and ambition which knew no bounds, and outstripping his associates in all youthful accomplishments, there is no position of eminence, he may not reach, or honour to which he may not aspire.

All at once, however, his studies are abandoned, and he stands forth the champion of Judaism, resolute in purpose to crush the new religion, as he regarded it. Christianity, which was thought to have been put to death and buried with Christ, had also risen with him, never more to be entombed. Under the shadow of the very court that condemned him, all around the temple and throughout city and country converts and disciples of this great Teacher were everywhere springing up. The old economy and system of things were visibly endangered, and Saul of Tarsus was not the man to look indifferently on. However much he profited by the teaching of Gamaliel, he certainly had not learned his Master's moderation. Discarding argument, he appeals to force, and invokes the sharp edge of the sword. Stripes, imprisonment, and death are the portion of them that will not recant. An approving spectator of Stephen's martyrdom, we find him soon after making havoc of the Church,-entering every house, haling men and women off to prison,-punishing them oft in every synagogue and compelling them to blaspheme, and being exceedingly mad against them, he persecutes them even to strange cities. Which all betokens blind and cruel bigotry, and the bitterest opposition.

And now, what do we see? The man completely and totally changed, become a leader and Apostle of that same Christianity,—his ambition, his desire for distinction, his zeal for the traditions of the fathers, all

gone! And the once despised Nazarene is become to him both Lord and Master. He preaches the faith he once destroyed. He devotes himself heart and soul, through evil report and good report, to upholding and spreading it wherever he can find opportunity. The praise of man and the words of man's wisdom he despises, and as for earthly lore he counts all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. A wondrous transformation truly! of which he is not only not ashamed but glories in it. Where now his pride of descent and of earthly citizenship? Vanished forever. What cares he now for being a Pharisee of the straitest sect and standing foremost in knowledge and observance of the traditions of the fathers? Nothing whatever. Christ and him crucified are all his salvation and all his desire. Other men may be ashamed of the cross, but he binds it on him as a crown. Nothing else shall rival it

in his affections.

No other shrine shall receive the homage of his heart. He repels the very idea with scorn. God forbid God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me and I unto the world.

To "glory in" expresses the highest degree of delight and satisfaction. Thus men glory in their wealth, power, and wisdom. By "the cross of Christ" the Apostle calls to mind the death he died, and the reference here and elsewhere by this form of expression is to that "work" of atonement which through a life of suffering, shame and ignominy, was summed up and consummated in his death. This is that one propitiatory sacrifice for sin which needs no repetition, and admits of no addition. Some stumbled at it—some were ashamed of it--others mocked. But the Apostle recognised it as the heaven appointed way of reconciliation to God and gloried in it.

And herein he is an example of what all professing Christians do, or ought to do. This is what we especially this day are avowedly met to do. This is what we are now to summon up every power and faculty and affection to endeavour to do. This is the first day of the week, the Lord's Day. To us a day of spiritual feasting and mirth a day for holy rejoicing,—an high day, not for lamentation and mourning, but for gladness and glorying. Let us this day glory in his holy name and praise him in the assembly of his saints.

We have here brought before us the doctrine and duty of the believer's glorying in the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ. We propose to explain and enforce this duty by showing that he does so.-1. Because he sees in it the glory of Christ. II. Because he sees in it his salvation secure, and III. Because he is assured by it of great collateral facts in which he feels an interest.

I. The believer glories in the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ because he sees in it the glory of Christ. It may seem strange to speak of glory where the world sees nothing but dishonour and shame and deformity. But the believer sees in it a true and real glory which enraptures every one that beholds it.

1. He sees the glory of Christ in his person and dignity. A glory unsullied, infinite, and underived, the splendour of which irradiates the heavens above; and also a glory bestowed by the Father, the lustre of which has long illumined our earth below. Fairer is he than the sons of men, into his lips is poured fulness of

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grace." Who then is he, and what is his name, that he should be held so illustrious? What are the proofs, and where the witnesses that to him belong unrivalled excellence and such exalted majesty? All the prophets and apostles bear witness. The patriarch Jacob, gifted with pro

phetic vision, testifies to a "Shiloh that shall come, unto whom shall the gathering of the people be." Moses, too, declares "a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up like unto me.' And Isaiah also, who saw his glory, said—" A virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful-Counsellor-the Mighty God-the Father of Eternity-and Prince of Peace." And John and others who were eye witnesses of his majesty, declare "We beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Nay, Deity, in the person of God the Father, proclaims at his baptism by a voice from the excellent glory-This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

Here then is seen in him the glory of God's Eternal Son. He is the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person, and as Mediator is endowed with the Spirit in measureless fulness. All grace and gifts, wisdom and knowledge, are treasured up in him. He is girt with the attributes of deity, glorious with the perfections of godhead, and the fulness of deity dwells in him bodily. This is the "rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley," the "bundle of myrrh" and "cluster of camphire," the "plant of renown," the "desire of all nations," the "bright and morning star." Blessed are they who see his beauty, though it be but through a glass darkly. No such vision of loveliness could ever belong to earth. It is the vision of God! The infinite, the eternal, the ever-blessed, incarnate God, the chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely.

2. Christ is seen here also in the glory of his love for his people. If a man would give all the substance of his house for love it would be utterly contemned. The gold