loan of father and mother, and it may turn out a very short loan. They are anxious to do you all the good they can while you have them-to teach you, and to provide for you, and deny themselves for you, and give you a hopeful start in life. And all they want is your love and obedience and your true welfare. Do not doom yourselves to vain regrets in the future, by your want of kindness and obedience and teachableness now.

II. TO BE PREPARING TO DO WITHOUT THEM. The way to prepare to do without your schoolmaster is not to run away from school, but to learn diligently all that he has to teach you. You must leave school soon; but you will be prepared for leaving it only by being diligent while there. So you must leave your parents soon, or they you. Be prepared, by being tractable and good and diligent, to do your part well when you are separated from each other. They are like pilots who steer the ship down the river and out into the open sea. The captain must then take charge, and with his charts and compass, and by skill and watchfulness, take his ship to the destined port. God gives you a compass and chart in His Bible, and is Himself a sun overhead by day, and a whole heaven of stars by night, to guide you. Learn now to study the chart, and know the compass and the course, and to ask counsel constantly of God.

III. TO BE READY AND WORTHY TO PUT ON THEIR GARMENTS. That is to say, to take their places and do the work they are now doing, or better work. If their very kind of work needs to be done by you, do not be ashamed of it, however humble; do not grumble at it, however hard it may be. Perhaps you may have to work for a widowed mother or younger brothers and sisters. Put that garment on, for it is one of honour and beauty in the sight of God. And if it is higher and more difficult work that you are called to do, be preparing for it now; and although you may be sad when you are called in providence to take it, like Henry V. when he tried on his father's crown beside his death-bed, yet God will enable you to wear it with honour to yourself and with blessing to your fellow-men. The Apostle said, “I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me;" may all of you be able to say so when in the providence of God the command is given, "Strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son."

"WE WILL GO ALONG BY THE KING'S HIGHWAY" (Num. xxi. 22).

IN the wanderings of the wilderness Israel again and again found itself confronted and opposed by formidable foes. The

policy of the nation was to conciliate where this was possible. The present case is an instance. The desire of Israel was to follow some well-known and natural route, and an undertaking was offered to refrain from injuring or even trespassing upon the cultivated lands. The resolution expressed in the words of the text is a resolution all will find it wise to form and well to keep.

I. IT IS THE WAY WHICH THE KING HAS APPOINTED. There are many ways through this life which men follow, according to their fancies and plans; but there is one way which is God's, -which is right. It is the probation of human life to adopt this, or to prefer to it some more attractive way which is not God's. The way of duty, of principle, of piety and obedience, this is the King's highway.

II. IT IS THE WAY IN WHICH THE KING WILL BE THE GUIDE. Of Jehovah it is said, "He led His people through the wilderness." We are encouraged to follow the road which the All-wise has marked out for us by the assurance that in it He will lead

us.

Whilst we are in it we may offer the devout and touching prayer, "Lead Thou me on!"

III. IT IS THE WAY IN WHICH THE TRAVELLER IS ASSURED OF THE KING'S PROTECTION. Israel was delivered from many a foe. Hosts were vanquished, not by Israel's might, sword, or bow, but by the Divine Champion, who was at the head of the consecrated army. Many are the Christian's enemies, but his cause is God's; his safety is assured, his victory is promised. Against those who are in God's way none shall prevail.

IV. IT IS THE WAY WHICH LEADS TO THE KING'S PRESENCE. As Israel was brought to the land of promise, so those who follow where Heaven leads, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left, shall surely come to the heavenly inheritance, the Canaan beyond the stream of death, the home of the saints, the dwelling-place of God!

Third Sunday after Easter.

EPISTLE.

"As FREE, AND NOT USING YOUR LIBERTY FOR A CLOAK OF MALICIOUSNESS, BUT AS THE SERVANTS OF GOD"

(1 Peter ii. 16).

THE early Christians felt themselves to be subjects of a divine and glorious kingdom, which they could not but contrast with the powers of earth and with the all-controlling empire of Cæsar. They looked for a kingdom which should absorb the kingdoms of this world, and they needed therefore to be especially warned against rebellion and against discontent. Hence the frequent admonitions to civil order and submission to be met with in the apostolic writings. The language of the text has the appearance of paradox, but it embodies true and practical wisdom.

I. CHRISTIAN FREEDOM. Whatever might be the estate, from a worldly point of view, of those who believed on Christ, whether freemen or bondsmen, all were free in Christ Jesus. They enjoyed a liberty of spirit which could not but impart serenity and dignity to their temper. Free from the divine displeasure and condemnation, made "free indeed" by the Son of God, they enjoyed, and all true Christians enjoy, "the glorious liberty of the children of God." Their actions may be in many respects controlled by men; their hearts turn with loving freedom to the God of emancipation, in whom they live.

II. CHRISTIAN SUBMISSION. Liberty is not license. Man is not a law unto himself. We are subject to the law of God throughout the whole range of our being, and, within a very wide range, to the law of man. There is a counterfeit of liberty; there are those who pride themselves upon an "Antinomian" emancipation from the moral law, and there are those who disdain to render obedience to the civil magistrate, thinking that such obedience is incompatible with the exalted privileges of their condition. Now inspiration has forewarned professing

Christians against these follies, and has bidden us, for the Lord's sake, to be subject to every ordinance of man.

III. CHRISTIAN SERVICE. The happiest freeman is he who acknowledges and willingly obeys the law which is supremely good. He finds this service, which is spiritual and voluntary1. Honourable;

2. Advantageous; 3. Happy; and

4. Harmonious with true liberty.

STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS.

"WE ARE STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS"

(1 Peter ii. 11-17).

I. WHAT DOES THIS IMPLY?

1. That we are journeying to the place whither our Head is gone. The gospel speaks much of this departure.

2. That we have here no resting-place, but are as travellers on a journey. Therefore are we to sit loose to all earthly things. They are passing scenes of the road, in which we have no permanent interest.

II. WHAT DOES THIS DEMAND?

1. That we exercise strict self-government. "I beseech you... abstain from fleshly lusts."

2. That we live seemly lives, as becomes Christians. Thereby we bring glory to God, "having your conversation honest among the Gentiles; that whereas they speak against you as evil-doers, they may, by your good works which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation."

3. That we subject ourselves to all lawful authority. "Whether it be to the king, as supreme, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by Him for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well."

4. That we act in all things as the servants of God. So by "welldoing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." Among our duties as servants of God are these: "Honour all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honour the king."

THE WAR OF FLESHLY LUST.

"ABSTAIN FROM FLESHLY LUSTS, WHICH WAR AGAINST THE SOUL"

(1 Peter ii. II).

A FLESHLY lust is either the desire for anything inherently sinful, or the inordinate and excessive appetite for anything

inherently harmless or indifferent. The attribute "fleshly" points to the origin and sphere and aim of such lusts. A list of them in Gal. v. 19-21. Being fleshly, they cannot but war against the soul. They war against the body in many instances, but their worst influence and most pernicious is on the spiritual nature of man. They war

I. INDIRECTLY THROUGH THEIR ACTION ON THE BODY AND MIND. Close connection between soul and body through the mind. A healthy soul depends much on "a sound mind in a sound body." Fleshly lusts injure the body beyond the natural power of toleration, partially or totally, temporarily or permanently. The state of the body affects the mental powers in their exercise correspondingly, enfeebling thought, indisposing to thought, absorbing time for thought, narrowing the inlets of light and truth and grace to the soul.

II. DIRECTLY.

1. They blunt conscience and stifle its faithful warning, and demoralise.

2. They separate the soul from God and that fellowship which is its true life. Under shame and fear men hide from God, feeling that they cannot have fellowship with Him and keep their lusts. Withdrawal from God is deadly to the soul.

3. They whet the appetite for repetition. They grow by what they feed on, demand fresh gratification. (1.) They raise distracting, exhausting, painful strife if satisfaction be denied; absorb the soul's energies in resistance; monopolise time, thought, attention, and moral power; all which should have been devoted to other duties. It is at the soul's expense that resistance is made, at the expense of higher duties, and with the loss of opportunities for positive progress. (2.) If not resisted they enslave the soul and take the pith out of it. With every gratification so much moral strength passes over from us into that which masters us, and the power of resistance is gradually but surely lost.

4. They inflict future and eternal injury. (1.) Sowing to the flesh, so as to be the hopeless slave of corruption, must inevitably lead to exclusion from the holy kingdom. (2.) Lusts indulged in lessen the capacity of the soul for God, and give a believer a lower place in heaven than he would otherwise have. (3.) Part of the misery of the lost may be the perpetual mastery of these lusts, the perpetual check of an awakened conscience, and the absence of material for gratification. The warning is addressed to Christians as strangers and pilgrims passing on to eternity. Their safety lies indeed in the grace of God, but it lies, too, in their "abstinence."