May 23

the power which is of God. And had not Jesus this very power? How mildly, how kindly he exerted himself. He came down like rain upon the mown grass. He broke not the bruised reed; nor quenched the smoking flax. He paused to hear the cry of the beggar by the way-side, and commanded him to be brought to him. He raised the widow's son, and presented him to his mother. Grace was poured into his lips. O! to have heard the tone with which he said, "Woman, thy sins are forgiven thee!"—"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Yes, the world might have seen that Deity was come down in the likeness of men. What could be before them but the image of the invisible God?

But "with God is terrible majesty." This always Jesus displayed. His day is called the day of vengeance of our God: the great and terrible day of the Lord. Who, asks Malachi, shall abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth! He detected hypocrisy. He separated between the righteous and the wicked. He denounced Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, because they repented not. He doomed Jerusalem to war and desolation, because she knew not the day of her visitation. And never will he fail to show that he is not to be insulted, or even neglected with impunity. He is holy as well as patient; just as well as merciful. Nothing is represented so dreadful as the wrath of the Lamb: "For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"

MAY 23.—"Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near."—Isaiah 57:19.

HERE is the proclamation of the Gospel—Peace, peace. From this lovely word the Gospel derives its name and its character: it is called "the Gospel of Peace." Peace is sometimes used in the Scripture for well being, or happiness at large: but here it is to be taken in its most appropriate signification, as holding forth the idea of reconciliation. Reconciliation with whom? With God, through the mediation of him who loved us, and gave himself for us—"God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." We had offended and provoked him, and he could righteously have destroyed us: we had no claims upon his pity; and had we been told that he was forming a purpose concerning us, and was about to send a special messenger, yea, even his own Son, into the revolted province, what would have been the forebodings of our guilty consciences! "But God sent not his own Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him should be saved." And it is not the language of vengeance we hear from his messengers, War, war!—but "Peace, peace!" He does not wait for our repentance and submission, but of his own will he forms and accomplishes the plan. There were difficulties in the way of our restoration to his favour; these he removes: a sacrifice was necessary; this he provides—He spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. He made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And thus having opened a new and living

way into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, he arrays himself as the God of love, and comes and invites us to return. We were hid among the trees of the garden, whither fear had urged us, and the voice of thunder would have driven us further in; but the small still voice of pardon, assuring us that with the Lord there is mercy, and with him plenteous redemption, draws us forth to his feet, and we are accepted in the Beloved.

Too well we know, from observation and experience, the evils of war. Who has not felt the wretchedness of discord? Who has not tasted the bitterness of alienation? And who has not relished the luxury of restored sentiments of kindness, tenderness, and friendship?—Let him judge of the joy and peace of believing! Yet what is peace with a brother, a friend, a father, a king, compared with peace with God! In his favour is life. Who can describe or imagine the calm after such a storm! It is a peace which passeth all understanding. It is angels' food—It is more. They never felt a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation. They never knew a wounded spirit and the anguish of despair, upon which descended, with healing under its wings, a hope full of immortality. But the Christian, throwing the arm of faith around the cross, can say, "We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." "O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me."

But to whom is it addressed? "Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near." This immediately regards the Gentiles and the Jews, as we are assured by the Apostle, who, speaking expressly of these parties, says, "He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh." The Jews were a people nigh unto him, not as to his essential presence, but his special and gracious. He resided among them; they had his oracles, his house, his ordinances, his servants. The Gentiles were far off, because they were strangers to all these privileges, and without God in the world. But Christianity knows no outward distinctions; it regards men as creatures in the same fallen condition, and brings them health and cure. "The Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him."

By a parity of reasoning, this distinction will include other classes. They who are afar off, and they that are nigh, represent persons possessing certain privileges, or destitute of them. Some are nigh—That is, they were born of godly parents; they were piously educated: from children they have known the Holy Scriptures. Others are far off—That is, they are the children of irreligious parents, who teach them to swear but not to pray; and lead them into sin, but never go one step before them in the way everlasting.

Some are nigh—They are moral in their lives, amiable in their tempers, teachable in their disposition; they seem as free from prejudice as from vice, and only require information and decision. Of

such a one, our Saviour said, "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God." Others are far off—They are grossly wicked and abandoned, despisers of those that are good, profaners of the Sabbath, swearers, drunkards, and seem beyond the reach of reformation.

Some are nigh—They are the young, whose lives are free from care and trouble, whose understandings are not yet filled with error, whose consciences are not yet seared as with a hot iron, whose hearts are not yet hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, whose memories are retentive, and whose affections are tender and lively. Others are far off—They are the old, whose indispositions are inveterate, whose vices are deep-rooted, whose habits of evil have become a second nature—"Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" "With man it is impossible; but with God all things are possible."

We could enlarge the number of cases. There are many who have advantages which others are denied. Some are rich and others are poor—But the unsearchable riches of Christ are accessible to all. Some are learned, and others illiterate—But none can know divine things without a Divine teacher: and under his teaching, the way-faring man, though a fool, shall not err therein.

The proclamation of the Gospel is therefore addressed to all, without exception. And there is the greatest propriety in this: for if its language was not universal; if there were any exclusions or omissions, awakened souls, sensible of their desert, would be sure to appropriate them, and conclude that they had no part nor lot in the matter. But they cannot question whether they are sinners; and Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. They cannot question whether they have been spending their money for that which is not bread, and their labour for that which satisfieth not; but these are invited to hear, that their souls may live. The Gospel affords a complete warrant for every man to believe on the Son of God. We are surely nigh or afar off: but the command is, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth."

MAY 24.—"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."—2 Corinthians 3:17.

This is mentioned for two purposes. First, to characterize the Gospel. It is therefore called in the preceding verse, "the ministration of the Spirit." Secondly, to describe the Christian. Natural men have not the Spirit, and if they make a profession of religion, it is only the form of godliness without the power—But Christians possess the Spirit. The Apostle takes this for granted in the Epistle to the Galatians, and therefore inquires not whether they had received the Spirit, but how they had received it: "Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?"

But how is it to be ascertained whether we are made partakers of the Holy Ghost? Observe the reasoning of David; "That thy Name is near, thy wondrous works declare." He proves the presence of God from the agency of God. We are to do the same here. The residence of the Spirit is to be determined by the influences and operations of the Spirit. The Spirit makes those in whom he dwells "spiritual"—They "live in the Spirit"—and "walk in the