good of our race, and the glory of God. Let us but believe this truth, then we shall bear our trials and troubles with less complainings, we shall be reconciled to the mysteries of providence, and shall hope for full and final deliverance from all the sorrows and sufferings to which, for a few fleeting years in this life of probation, we are exposed. When we think we are guiding our affairs, it is our Father who really guides us; His arms, unseen beneath, holds the reins and biases our wills. The affairs of Time are not in hopeless confusion, things are not being precipitated into chaos, the Great Creator still governs the kingdoms of the world, and by Him kings reign, and princes decree justice. Of nations, and of men, it may still be said

"There is a Divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough hew them how we may."

And all things are gradually, but surely, moving on to the time when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and

ever.

III.—THE GRACE. "Underneath are the everlasting arms." In all the means that have been employed to rescue man from the ruin of the Fall, there has been the putting forth of unseen Divine energy. No rites, or ceremonies, or sacrifices, in themselves, could possibly avail to put away sin, and procure pardon and peace; the everlasting arms were underneath the Old Economy, and underneath the work which Christ performed for man. When there was no human arm to save, the Divine arm brought salvation. It was the infinite dignity, and Divine nature of the Redeemer that gave efficacy and power to the sacrifice that He offered on Calvary; and it is the fact that underlying the glorious Gospel of His grace, are the everlasting arms that makes the Gospel victorious over the deep-rooted enmity of sin, and the manifold evils by which it is opposed. The kingdom of Christ in the world is as "leaven," as "a grain of mustard seed," and, but for the accompaniment of Divine energy, it would be inoperative and abortive among men. It is so with the grace of God in the heart, the rise and progress of

M

religion in the soul. Underneath all the means we may use, and the efforts we may put forth, are the everlasting arms; we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, but it is God who worketh within us, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

How full of beauty the text is. How suggestive of strength. We speak of power as residing in the arms, and this anthropomorphic expression denotes that Divine power is under all things. How suggestive of succour, "arms" to sustain, to be extended for supply, "arms" to enfold and comfort, to hold up and keep from falling. How gentle those "arms" are, they enfold but do not crush the feeblest thing. How large they are, they lie under all things, above, beneath. How merciful they are, they are exerted to save, not to destroy. Let us rejoice that they are everlasting." We know how frail and dying human arms are ; we cannot make a safe and enduring prop of any earthly thing, but we may lean on the arms that hold all nature up, that never grow weak or weary.

CLIFTON.

FREDERICK W. BROWN.

The World going after Christ.

"BEHOLD, THE WORLD IS GONE AFTER HIM."-John xii. 19.

THESE words contain a direct testimony to the popularity of Jesus Christ as a religious teacher. They were spoken by the Pharisees, our Saviour's most malignant enemies, a fact which greatly enhances their value. Popularity is a thing which the vast majority of men, especially of public men, greatly covet. It has many advantages; it opens new doors and wider spheres of usefulness. The words of a popular teacher are more attentively listened to, more implicitly believed in, and more readily complied with, than the words of those who are unknown to fame. Popularity very often is a mystery which cannot easily be accounted for. Sometimes we find very worthy men, men of

superior intellects, of wide attainments, and of untarnished character, living in the shade; whilst on the other hand, we find men who are not distinguished by any of these things, basking in the full blaze of celebrity and renown. The word "behold," at the beginning of this short sentence, seems to imply that the Pharisees marvelled at the popularity of Christ. Behold! how very wonderful that the world should have gone after Him! Two or three things may have caused their surprise. Christ had come from a humble home, His outward circumstances were not affluent, He had been nursed in the cradle of poverty, He had never sat at the feet of any of their Rabbis, nor enjoyed the advantages of their schools. We cannot now fully enter into the question, what were the elements of His popularity; but the following things may, in some measure, have contributed to it :the beneficence of His works, the novelty of His teaching, the earnestness of His appeals, the beauty of His illustrations, the manner in which He brought His teaching to bear upon everyday life, and the felt possibility of His being the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, and the true Son of God. These six things may, in some degree, have contributed to his great popularity. Behold, the world is gone after Him." Let us notice

I. SOME THINGS IN CHRIST WHICH INVITE THE WORLD TO GO AFTER HIM.

Greatness is attractiye.

1. His intrinsic greatness. The greater everywhere in nature attracts the lesser. Stars revolve around the sun; rivers seek a home in the ocean's bosom. So in society, the greater men lead and the lesser men eventually follow. Jesus Christ is the greatest that ever appeared in the world. The angel Gabriel foretold of Him, "He shall be great," and He more than fulfilled the prophecy. He is greater than Moses, than Solomon, than Jonah, than the Temple; He towers immeasurably above all; He stands unique in the ages.

2. The comeliness of His character. We know but little about the personal appearance of Christ. He is sometimes represented on the canvas as of singular beauty. Some are of opinion that the passage in the forty-fifth Psalm, "Thou art fairer than

the children of men," refers to His bodily appearance. Moral beauty is sometimes reflected in physical beauty; and some think that our Saviour's body shadowed forth the comeliness of the Divinity which dwelt within Him, and that He was altogether lovely, and fairer than ten thousand. Of this, however, we have no positive knowledge. But we do know that His character was one of unique and immaculate beauty. Jesus Christ has borne the fierce criticisms of both friends and foes for eighteen hundred years. Criticising humanity has to say, "I find no fault in this He is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, purer than light and whiter than snow.

man."

3. The intensity of His love. Love is the great magnet of the moral world. Nothing influences souls like love. God is a God of love, and the Divine love is embodied and revealed in Jesus Christ. "Greater love hath no man than this;" "Herein is love," spontaneous love, mighty love, everlasting love. "I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee." 'I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love;" "and I, if I be lifted up from the earth,"-lifted to the cross where His love shall shine forth in the rich effulgence of its glory, "I will draw all men unto Me." And were many a Christian man to relate his personal experience he would say, I was neither driven to Christ by the horrors of hell, nor enticed by the glories of heaven, but drawn by the strong arm of His mercy and the irresistible attractions of His love.

4. The adaptability of His resources to meet the moral and spiritual wants of mankind. The circulation of a book depends on the degree in which its contents are suitable to the wants or tastes of the majority of readers. Men seek after what is necessary to meet their wants. Christ is the Propitiation for our sins; He is the Way by which our souls have access to the Father; He is the Bread which came down from heaven; He is the Tree of Life, the leaves of which are for the healing of the nations; He is the Treasury of the Divine fulness, where there is enough, and more than enough to supply our every need. When humanity comes to realise its great want, as it will by-and-bye, there will be a general longing and sighing for Christ.

II. TO WHAT EXTENT HAS THE WORLD AT PRESENT GONE AFTER HIM?

1. The literature of the world is going after Him. Nothing would be easier than to bring up a heavy indictment against the Press. Think of all the falsehoods it has circulated, all the slanders it has indulged in, and the gainsayings it has been guilty of. But there is a bright side to it as well. The first book ever printed was a Latin Bible; the first book produced by the English press was Tyndal's Translation of the Scriptures; and, probably, by the Welsh press, Pryse's Translation of the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer. Literature has mightily increased during the last quarter of a century, but we rejoice to think of the place which Christ has found in its pages. Christ stands conspicuous in the best literature of the day. Milton's "Paradise Lost" is acknowledged to be one of the greatest masterpieces in English literature; critics differ as to who the hero is, whether man or Satan. But when read in conjunction with his "Paradise Regained," to me, it is nothing else than a grand epic poem to the glory and honour of King Jesus. Among the masterpieces of Welsh literature there are two poems, the one called "JESUS," and the other "EMMANUEL." The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth find their way, not only into volumes of sermons and books of divinity, but into histories, romances, and even the daily newspapers.

2. Art is going after Him. There are few things which a man of culture likes better than a good painting. Pictures not only meet our craving for the beautiful, but they are moral teachers, and the lessons in morality which they convey are not to be despised. We are told that one way by which Jesuits labour to prepare the minds of our Protestant country to embrace Popery, is by scattering Romish pictures throughout the length and breadth of the land. Certainly, there is reason enough why parents should be on their guard. But art bows its knee to Christ. Many of the greatest works of the best masters are taken from Scripture narratives, and from events in the life of Jesus. Raphael has painted "The Transfiguration;" Da Vinci, "The Last Supper;" Guido, "Christ in the Garden;" and Gustave