Let us read a few of the descriptions of His redeeming labours as they occur in the prophets and the gospels, remembering that the especial scene of them is the inner world, intermediate between heaven and hell, with which our minds are associated while, as to our bodies, we live in this. "For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" (Isa. ix. 5, 6). That this prophecy related to the redeeming work of our Saviour, is evident from the description of His birth into the world. Nothing, however, like the terrible struggle it describes took place in the outer world of nature; it must, therefore, have been realized in the inner world. "The Mighty God," too, in the titles of the Redeemer recited, has a peculiar significance, for it might strictly be rendered, "God, the Hero."

Read Isaiah lix., and especially ver. 19, 20: "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him: and the Redeemer shall come to Zion." The representation here is that of the assaults of a raging flood against human nature: and such it was. The infernal power, like a surging sea, beat against conscience and the remains of goodness and health in the soul; and if the Redeemer had not come to aid, all would have been lost, the world itself becoming a second hell. The storm on the Sea of Galilee was a symbol in nature of the same thing. This is strongly expressed in a previous verse: "And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His arm brought salvation unto Him; and His righteousness, it sustained Him" (ver. 16). A similar passage exists in the sixty-third chapter; "I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury: and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come" (ver. 3, 4). The intermediate state is denominated the winepress, because there a man's inner character is separated from its surroundings, as the juice from the husk of the grape. The divine influx of the Saviour God was necessarily felt by the wicked as anger and fury. From the large amount of prophetic testimony, we will

notice one other passage, "I will ransom them from the power of hell;1 I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues: O hell, I will be thy destruction; repentance shall be hid from mine eyes" (Hosea xiii. 14).

In the Gospels the work of the Redeemer in conquering the powers of darkness, and clearing the world of spirits, so that human minds could be free, is set forth with terrible distinctness. "He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner: but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (Matt. iii. 11, 12). The intermediate state, the world of judgment, is called the barn-floor, because the wheat is taken there after being cut down in the field, and the husk is removed from the grain, and its real condition made known. The Lord Himself gives a glimpse of His divine labours in this respect on various occasions. Thus, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you" (Luke x. 18, 19). Again, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out" (John xii. 31).

In the garden of Gethsemane, and at the Lord's last suffering, the death of the Cross, it was the presence and assaults of legions of infernals which constituted the chief feature in the mysterious agony of the Redeemer. In the garden, when He was seized, He said, "This is your hour, and the power of darkness" (Luke xxii. 53). And the apostle declared, that "through death He destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. ii. 14). The awful gathering around Him while on the Cross is described in the twenty-second psalm, which serves the twofold purpose of more fully opening to us some of the scenes only briefly disclosed in the New Testament, and at the same time demonstrating that in the person of David the Lord Jesus was represented. The psalmist speaks as if of himself; but in the gospels we have it distinctly applied to the Lord. See, then, the crucifixion as described in this psalm, which commences with the words used by the Saviour on the Cross: "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" Here the inner horrors of the Lord's sufferings are 1 The word "grave" in our English version obscures the passage; it ought to be rendered hell.

unveiled. The multitudes of infernals crowding round, and described by correspondences, as bulls, lions, dogs, swords, threatening the inner life of the Lord's Humanity, must to His purity, upon which the redemption of mankind then and to all future ages depended, have been unspeakably loathsome and horrible. His victories over them are what the victories of David represented. They were various, as the enemies of David were various. They assailed Him probably in the order in which David was assailed, the Philistines (the bitter maintainers of the sufficiency of a false faith) first.

The throne of David, when established, would represent the Lord's government in heaven and the church, when every enemy was put down. And thus we shall understand the magnificent language which is employed in connection with the name of David (Luke i. 31-33; Isa. ix. 7; Jer. xxiii. 5, 6). When we think of the vast hosts of the blessed which form the multitudes of heaven, which no man can number, who are under the government of the Lord Jesus, the Divine David, at once David's Son and David's Lord, how amazingly our ideas expand! The little throne and state of Israel and Judah become to us the symbols of the sway of the Saviour's love and wisdom, ever increasing and ever to increase, until earth in all her climes with heaven in all its realms shall crown Him Lord of all.

In conclusion, let us once more be reminded that David is also the type of the Christian. He must, like David, be a keeper of sheep. He must watch over the little flock of good affections within him. He has, like David, to be a man of war. The Lord says to him, "I come not to send peace, but a sword" (Matt. x. 34). He must strive against his evils like so many nations of foes. And as he overcomes, the Lord will bless him with the joys of victory and peace. The Christian must be "ruddy" with the love of heaven, "beautiful of eyes," or full of intelligence and faith, and "goodly" with all the virtues of integrity and benevolence. Samuel, or the Word, will then anoint his head with the holy oil of the divine blessing; and he will be enabled to say, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever" (Ps. xxiii. 6).

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SERMON XI.

GOLIATH SLAIN BY DAVID.

'David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee."-1 SAM. xvii. 37.

THAT the Christian life is in part a warfare, is the experience of every true follower of the Lord. There is much of peace, and much of blessing, attendant upon one who walks in the path that leads to life; but there is also much of struggle. Hence we may see the reason of the history of Israel, of which the old Testament mainly consists, being so much taken up with narratives of military affairs, which would be distasteful to the spiritually minded man, were it not that, either dimly or clearly, he can perceive that they are types of internal conflicts. He must fight against the lusts, passions and practices which are in his lower nature, if his soul is to become a kingdom of peace, and if the palm of victory is to enable him to say with the apostle; "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness (2 Tim. iv. 7, 8.)

Nor is the battle of spiritual life a single struggle. It consists of many campaigns. There are foes manifold and various, which are to be resisted and conquered. The Word of God is said to have many crowns. The apostle said, "I die daily " (1 Cor. xv. 31); and so it will be with every Christian. His first struggles will be of a comparatively external kind. He will have to decide to break off from the vices and the company of bad men, and commence a new life. This is a great achievement at the time, and requires courage; prayer, faith and determination for its accomplishment. It is with some a hard battle; but it is one which leads to a great victory. We usually rest a while after this early effort; but find, as life con

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tinues, that other enemies assail us, some under one form and some under another; and we need all our vigilance, and all our faithfulness, to come off on all occasions completely victorious. We shall be wounded, sometimes, and half dead (Luke x. 30); but, blessed be the Divine Mercy, if we are but faithful, we shall never fail to come out at length more than conquerors through Him who loves us, and is able to save all those who trust in Him.

Three classes of conflict are referred to in our text. David alludes to his conflict with a lion, and also with a bear; and every Christian must not only be like David, spiritually a keeper of sheep, or in other words a preserver of the affections of innocence and charity in the fold of his heart, but he must also fight against the lion and the bear, when these would take and devour a lamb out of his mental flock.

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The lion comes in the form of a spirit of opposition to all religion. A raging spirit of contempt for all that is good, infused by evil spirits, is a furious lion, daring and destructive. "The devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet. v. 8). David speaks of his trials in this respect on several occasions. My soul is among lions; and I lie among them that are set on fire, the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword" (Ps. lvii. 4). "Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth ; break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord' (Ps. lviii. 6). To break their great teeth is to scatter by truth their pretended facts and false statements. In the ninety-first Psalm it is said to the man who loves the Lord, "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet" (ver. 13). Every spiritual David has to fight against the lion; and if he be faithful and true, he will be able to say, like David, "The Lord delivered me out of the paw of the lion.”

But, in due time, he will have a visit from the bear. This heavy, lobbing inhabitant of the forest and the cave, is the type of an absorbing love of the world. It is an animal of strong affections, but low, clumsy, and coarse. It seems all appetite ; it pants and longs, and is full of restlessness. It is like the love

of the world, never at ease. The bear's eagerness, the bear's growl, the bear's coarseness, all symbolize the impatient, hankering, surly disposition of one who only cares for earthly things. Some men who have resisted the lion, yet succumb to the spirit of the bear. They wish to be suddenly rich. They clutch and hug