September 30

2 Corinthians iii.—1. Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?

2. We are our eustle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 3. Enclose us as we are manifestly declared to be the eustle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart. 4. And such trust have we through Christ to Godward: 5. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 6. Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth; but the spirit giveth life. 7. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance (which given was to be done away). 8. How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious?

If the tables upon which the Ten Commandments were written at Sinai should be found in as perfect condition as was the Moshe's stone, all the governments and churches of Christ and would contest the possession of them. Every day would be eager to look upon them, and to possess a "square" or a photograph of the original letters of the law. Yet a heart upon which the Spirit of God has inscribed penitence, faith, hope, love, joy, is a more precious treasure than would be those tables of stone. They contained but the rigid letter of God's law; and, since no human being has fulfilled that letter, the law has come to be a symbol of condemnation and death. But the heart that has been

APPROPRIATE RUMMS.]

O God, whose mercy is from everlasting to everlasting! we bless thee for thy loving-kindness to us in the abounding gifts of thy providence and grace; but, above all, for the gift of thy Son, our Mediator, who standeth between us and thy judgments as the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain. May he be our righteousness and our peace! and may we be found in him in the great day of his appearing! We bless thee for all the tokens of promise given us in thy past mercies; for the hope of immortality, the joy unspeakable and full of glory brought to us in thy gospel and in the worship of thy house this day.

And now, at the end of the Lord's day, we would thank thee for its hours of rest, and for its means of grace. Hasten that blessed time when the knowledge of thy glory shall cover the

9. For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 10. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelletth. 11. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. 12. Seeing, then, that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: 13. And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 14. But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ. 15. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. 16. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. 17. Now, the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

touched by the Spirit of God is made instinct with a new life.

The whole ministration of the law at Sinai, grand and glorious as that was in visible tokens of Jehovah's presence, was, in nature and purpose, transitory, like the glory with which the face of Moses shone,—too bright at first to be looked upon, but soon to vanish away. But the Spirit of the Lord now dwells in his Word; and the glory which we there behold as in a mirror, so far from repelling us, has an attractive, a transforming power. So much more glorious is the grace wrought upon the soul than the miracle wrought upon nature, the spiritual life than the material form!

Prayer.

[Nos. 83, 179, 181.

earth as the waters cover the sea. And, to that end, prosper thou the missionary work of thy Church. Turn towards thyself the hearts of the heathen and the unbelieving. Pour out more and more upon thy people the spirit of grace and supplication, the spirit of zeal and self-devotion, the spirit of holy fear and Christian love.

To thee, heavenly Father, we commend ourselves this night. O thou Good Shepherd! watch over us, the sheep of thy pasture. O Holy Ghost, the Comforter! guide and hallow our thoughts.

Thou in whom all families are blessed, bless thou our kindred and friends. May all who are united to us be with us united to thee; be with us presented by thee in the presence of thy Father with exceeding joy! And to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be glory everlasting. Amen.