given? To these things, or to anything in us? We feel that we could not do so even if we would. The hand of the Lord is so laid bare in it, made so visible, that we are compelled to see it, and as we see, to adore and praise it. "Not unto us," we say, not unto us, Lord, but unto Thy name be the praise."

66

And now, let me speak, in conclusion, to three classes of persons among us. And, first, to those who are in a situation like that of these Israelites while besieging Jericho-such as are warring with some powerful evil which keeps them from the enjoyment of some spiritual good.

You say, perhaps, that the strongholds of sin within you can never be destroyed, that your hearts will sooner break to pieces than have their pride, or love of the world, or some evil within them, crushed. You have done all you can, you say, but there stands the strong enemy still, with his walls unshaken, and defying all efforts. And there, brethren, it will stand, till God has effectually taught you some lessons you have yet to learn. He is aiming at more than we are aiming at. We want one sin, a particular sin, vanquished, and so does God; but He wants more. He wants all sin vanquished in us, and ourselves made meet for His heavenly kingdom. He will teach us first, by that stubborn evil within us, our utter weakness, our utter nothingness; and then He will teach us something else, a simple obedience to His commands and a simple trust in His promises. Instead of looking for a triumph over sin mainly from our own efforts, without omitting these efforts, we shall learn to look for it in prayer and a diligent use of the ordinances which God has appointed as means of grace. There will be the

following of the Ark round the city, and a silent listening to the trumpets, and a quiet waiting upon God, and all this for many days. And then, at last, our wish will be granted: the Jericho of our souls will fall, the master sin of our hearts will be overthrown. The difficulty which stands in our path will be overcome. There will be some part of Canaan won, something of the nature of Heaven entered upon.

Others of you, it may be, have just gained such a victory as this. You are even now rejoicing over some bosom sin overcome by the help of the Lord. And you are happier than Israel when wondering at this city's downfall. To you I would say, Never build that vile Jericho again. Watch over its ruins lest they should unawares creep up. Look to the end of this chapter. "Cursed," says Joshua, "cursed be the man before the Lord that buildeth up this city Jericho; he shall lay the foundation in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it." A terrible curse. But there is a misery almost as great for you if you build up again in your own heart what God in His mercy has thrown down. It is hard to master a besetting sin the first time, but the second time such a victory is seldom won. Satan is often stronger in a rebuilt garrison, than in one which has never been demolished. A man led captive by a sin of which he has once repented, is one of the most miserable men in the world. What says our Lord? "The last state of that man is worse than the first." God may give him the victory again, but the conflict will last to the end of his days, and it will send him down crippled to the grave.

And this, also, would I say to you, brethren,-rejoice

still in the ruins of these guilty walls. Bless God for every vanquished enemy and vanquished lust. He has left their ruins in you, to keep you thankful as well as watchful-to remind you of what He has done for you, and what He can do. Look forward to other victories, that so we may be "more than conquerors through Him that loved us." If we continue to fight the good fight, and strive to pass from strength to strength, after a time every stronghold of Satan shall be cast down within us, and every affection and avenue of the heart open to receive the King of Heaven. Then our hearts shall be emptied of sin, and not only every high thing which exalteth itself be brought low, but our whole heart brought "into captivity to the obedience of Christ."

XX.

Hagar in the Wilderness.

"And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water."GEN. xxi. 19.

THIS was Hagar, Abraham's bondwoman. We find her in this chapter distressed and sinking in the wilderness of Beersheba.

I. Let us look at the circumstances which brought her into this situation.

The Lord had promised Abraham a son, and through that son He had engaged to make him the father of a great nation. Still, year after year passed away, and though the promise was again and again renewed, there appeared no prospect whatever of its being accomplished. Abraham himself seems to have borne this delay well, but not so Sarah his wife. She becomes at last impatient, and with a strange mixture of faith, unbelief, and presumption, takes the accomplishment of the divine promises into her own hand. Despairing of becoming herself a parent, and pitying perhaps the long-deferred hope of her husband, she proposes to him that he should take a second wife from among her household servants, and points out to him Hagar, an Egyptian slave. In an evil hour the patriarch yields to her solicitations and receives Hagar from her hands.

'A holy God,' we may say, 'will never prosper this;' but for a time the plan seems to succeed. Hagar will soon be a mother; and with the promised seed, the promised greatness of a future nation, we might suppose, would come. The Lord seldom baffles human policy at first, brethren. He generally gives it time to become a scourge to us before He finally overthrows it. He did so in this case. Hagar, naturally elated with her condition, begins to despise Sarah, and Sarah to deal harshly with her; discord is introduced into Abraham's once peaceful tent-that was the first bitter fruit of his folly and sin.

In due time Ishmael is born; and for fifteen years Abraham regards him as his promised son. At last, however, the Lord tells him that what Sarah had so long ago thought impossible, should now, when it seemed farther than ever from possible, actually come to pass. She herself in her old age should bear him a son, in whom, and not in Ishmael, the great promises, so often made to him, should have their fulfilment. The old man's answer is a touching one. Instead of rejoicing in the prospect of another son, and that son his beloved Sarah's, his heart yearns over the boy he already possesses, and with a voice of earnest entreaty he cries out unto God-“Oh that Ishmael might live before thee!" The divine purposes, however, are fixed. The Lord denies his request. He promises him, indeed, a blessing for Ishmael; but in Isaac, his future son, He tells him, shall his seed be blessed.

About a year after this Isaac is born, and at a feast made when the child is weaned, Ishmael, now seventeen years of age, is seen by Sarah to deride him. This brings matters to a crisis. Sarah will bear no