March 12

Hebrews ii.—1. Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.

2. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward;

3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

4. God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

5. For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak.

6. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?

7. Thou manifest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands;

8. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For, in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him:

9. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

The glory of the gospel appears not only in the themes of which it treats, but in the Person by whom it came. The law was ushered in by wonders of Nature and by the ministry of angels; but the gospel was proclaimed by the Son of God.

To give efficacy to his grace, he came in our nature; put himself in our place; entered into a personal experience of our temptations, sufferings, and sorrows; wrought out before us the perfection of a human character; made atonement for our sins; tasted death for us; and, by his resurrection, spoiled death of its terror, and Satan of his power. Christ was as complete in his humanity as in his divinity. Only as a true

10. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

11. For both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren;

12. Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren; in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.

13. And again: I will put my trust in him. And again: Behold, I, and the children which God hath given me.

14. Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the Devil;

15. And deliver them, who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

16. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

17. Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren; that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

18. For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.

and proper man could he be tempted as we are; could he be for us an example in temptation and suffering; could he feel with us the tie of brotherhood. Through his humanity we are ennobled. In him, man is restored to the glory and honor for which God created him. For us this great salvation is provided in his gospel. If we will obey his voice, all that Christ hath wrought is ours: all that he hath promised we shall obtain. Yet it is possible to fail of all this, and to bring upon ourselves all the degradation and woe of sin by neglecting his word. It was the warning of Christ himself, "Take heed how ye hear."

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 2, 139, 187.

O God, who didst make the first man after thine own image! mercifully grant, that in following thy Son, the second man from heaven, we may recover that which hath been lost through sin, and may put on the new man, which is created after thee in righteousness and true holiness.

Teach us, day by day, to use thy gifts to our best good and to thy glory. [May these children early learn the true secret of happiness in life, and, like the blessed Saviour, go about doing good!] Keep us, O Lord! from all covetous desires, from all self-seeking, from all love of sinful pleasures.

Almighty God, the Father and Saviour of all men, help us, we beseech thee, to behave with

Christian charity to all that are in distress, poverty, or suffering. As thou hast had mercy upon us, let none of us come under thy condemnation on the great day of judgment for want of mercy or charity to our brethren, who, in this world of trial, were hungry or thirsty, or naked or sick, or in prison, and to whom, when we had the power, we did not administer. Help us to deny ourselves, that we may each, in our measure, have to give to them that need, and that we may ever work with thee, and for thee, in diminishing the sorrows, the miseries, and the sin of this evil world, for the sake of Him who suffered and died for all. Amen.