June 21

Ezekiel xvii.—22. Thus saith the Lord God: I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon a high mountain and eminent:

23. In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.

24. And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have done it.

Mark iv.—26. And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;

27. And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.

Dr. Hackett, in his "Illustrations of Scripture," thus describes the mustard-plant. "As I was riding across the Plain of Akka, on the way to Carmel, I perceived what seemed to be a little forest or nursery of trees. On coming nearer, they proved to be an extensive field of the mustard-plant. It was then in blossom, full grown, in some cases six, seven, and nine feet high, with a stem or trunk an inch or more in thickness, throwing out branches on every side. At that very instant, lo! one of the fowls of heaven stopped in its flight through the air, slighted down on one of the branches, which hardly moved beneath the shock, and then began to warble forth a strain of the richest music." Thus continually does the Holy Land illustrate the Holy Book. But, while the incident which suggested this second parable is thus vividly set before us, the parable itself finds its interpretation in the history of the Church.

To these two parables Matthew adds a third, to the same effect, in these words: "The kingdom of heaven is

28. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. 29. But, when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. 30. And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? 31. It is like a grain of mustard-seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: 32. But, when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. 33. And with many such parables spake he the word unto them as they were able to hear it. 34. But without a parable spake he not unto them; and, when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.

like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened." The three parables teach, under different forms, the gradual, certain, and vigorous growth of the kingdom of God: first, like the growth of grain, by silent, mysterious agencies, to which man may adapt himself, but which he can neither produce nor control; secondly, by "the inherent, self-developing power" of truth and the spiritual life, as the tiniest seed contains in itself the form of the tree and "the principle of expansion;" and, thirdly, by "the power of penetrating and assimilating a foreign mass," as the leaven ferments the whole body of meal into which it is cast. By these three principles, the growth and the perpetuity of Christianity in the world are assured beyond a question: but we may aid that growth by cherishing the divine life within us; by giving up our hearts to be completely possessed by the truth and grace of Christ, our lives to be completely moulded by his will, and consecrated to his service.

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 3, 49, 101.

Our Father which art in heaven, we draw nigh to thee through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Thou reignest above in light unapproachable. Heaven is thy throne, and earth is thy footstool: what are we that thou shouldst regard us, and adopt us as thy reconciled children? Teach thou us to forget ourselves, and seek thy glory. Let thy praise be shown forth in our time; let thy great name be known and feared; let the kingdoms of the world become thine, till thy holy law is kept by men as angels keep it above. And as for us, O Father! preserve us from day to day, and feed us with food convenient for us. And, inasmuch as our love cannot reach the measure of thine, teach us to forgive others as thou hast forgiven us. Suffer us not to be tempted above that we are able: but, however thou triest us, keep us from harm within and without; from the evil in the world around

us; from the evil that is in ourselves; from the Evil One, who lies in wait for our souls.

Thou, our Father, canst hear and answer our prayers; for thou reignest over all from the beginning, and with thee nothing is impossible: for thy pleasure and thy praise all things are, and were created. Thou hast created us, preserved us, redeemed us; our lives have been full of thy mercies; thou hast blessed us in our home, in our friends, in our country, in our times, in the means of knowledge and of grace. Help us to use to thy glory, and the good of others, that which we have so freely received. We come unto thee through Him who taught us to pray,—even Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all praise and dominion; for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.