it will not be smoothed down, and freed from obstacles like the Grecian stadium; still persevere in the midst of trials, and disappointments, and temptations, and reverses: "be thou faithful unto death," is the prescribed order of the superintendent of the game, " and I will give thee a crown of life."

5. The regulations of the game must be strictly observed. In writing to Timothy on the same subject, St. Paul says, "and if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully." The law by which those games were governed was applicable to all the competitors. There was no "respect of persons -no distinction madeno favour shown; the rich and the poor were placed on the same level. God is the author of order, and not of disorder. He has established an uniform law in nature; He has also an uniform law in grace. The Gospel is the law of His grace; by this His people are to be governed, and there is no distinction made.

Finally, the competitors were actuated by considerable ambition. To be a winner in the game was the highest distinction known to a Greek. The prize was conferred upon the successful champion with great solemnity, pomp, and rejoicing. Every one thronged to see and to congratulate him. His relations, friends, and countrymen, shedding tears of tenderness and joy, lifted him on their shoulders to show him to the crowd, and held him up to be applauded by the whole assembly, who strewed flowers over him, and shouted his praise. At his return home he rode in a triumphal chariot, the walls of the city being broken down to give him entrance. Cicero says, that a victory at the Olympic games was not much less honourable than a triumph at Rome. Hence we may conclude that each one was peculiarly ambitious to win the prize.

Such an ambition should actuate us in a higher cause. To obtain heaven is the greatest honour that awaits man. It is an honour which patriarchs and prophets, apostles and martyrs coveted, and one that is coveted by all who feel the

value of a soul, and the bliss of eternal happiness. The men of the world may feel an ambition to acquire riches—to enlarge their estates-to obtain position to extend their influence and fame, and to excel in all that the world calls great; but the ambition of the Christian soars above all the sordid objects of earth. He is ambitious to please God-to imitate the example of Christ-to excel in doing good, and to obtain heaven at last. "Wherefore we labour that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him."

We come to observe―

II. The contrast between the reward of the Grecian competitors and that of Christians.

The resemblance between their work is striking, but the contrast between their reward is more striking still.

1. Their reward was exclusive. In a race all run, but one receiveth the prize. The labour was distributed among all, but the prize was confined to one. That fortunate one doubtless had not exercised more self-denial, nor striven harder than the others, perhaps not so hard; he might have been favoured by circumstances, he might have possessed a more athletic frame, or he might have been trained with greater ingenuity. However, he only won to the exclusion of all others. There is no exclusiveness in the Christian's reward. All run and all win.

"The weakest saint shall win the day."

The prize will not be confined to a person nor to a class. There may be gradations of glory, in proportion to the talents possessed, or the efforts exerted in running the Christian race through life, but not a single saint shall be deprived of his crown of glory. St. Paul, in regarding this cheering prospect, bursts out in holy enthusiasm: "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, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

2. The contrast consists in the value of the respective rewards. The prizes of the Grecian competitors were composed of leaves either of olive, or of apples, or of pine, or of parsley, which possessed no intrinsic value whatever. They were utterly worthless in respect to the materials of which they were composed. The Christian's will be a crown of inestimable worth, composed of the richest gems which God reserves in the casket of His eternal love. The crown is made up of the graces of the Gospel; and if one grace, such as patience or love, possesses priceless value in this world, what must be the worth of all the combined graces in the realms of ceaseless bliss in the world to come! The price paid for the reward was infinite, no less than that of the precious blood of God's beloved and only begotten Son. No other price could have purchased it. All the pearls of the East, all the jewels of the West, and all the wealth of creation would be regarded as dross when compared with the value of the materials composing the crown which is reserved for every Christian in heaven.

3. We regard the contrast in the duration of the respective rewards. "Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible." Scarcely had that crown been placed on the victor's brow before it began to droop and show symptoms of decay, and not many days had passed before the whole of the materials had solely withered and died. The believer's crown will be incorruptible, an "enduring substance," which will never perish. We are begotten "to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us." Coequal with the eternity of God will be the glory of His people. Age after age will roll by, generation after generation of men in this world shall be born and die, and after the day of judgment will sink into eternal oblivion, but nothing will destroy nor dim the lustre of the Christian's crown. It is the crown of life, and that everlasting life without end.

In conclusion, brethren, what think you of this prize? Is it not worth striving for? Is it not worth renouncing the

pleasures of sin for a season? Is it not worth sacrificing a little of the sordid gain of the present world? Is it not worth a little self-denial of the luxurious ease and enjoyments of life? Is it not worth a little effort for the glory of God, and the welfare of our fellow-men? The holy martyrs valued it so highly that they welcomed persecutions, wel comed the prison, welcomed the stake, welcomed death in its most appalling forms that they might obtain it. When we come to die, we shall esteem it of higher value than the dearest object of life. How many in the hour of death would give their rich estates, would give the world to obtain it although they had despised and neglected it through life. It must be won in the course of life, and shall be obtained in the hour of death. "So run that ye may obtain."

152

Sexagesima Sunday.

MORNING SERVICE.-Second Lesson: Mark iv.

Verse 41." And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

THE sea of Galilee has always been subject to sudden squalls. At one moment all might be calm and placid as the surface of a mirror, and at the next the wind might lash the waves into fury, so as to endanger the safety of any ship that might happen to cross at the time: such was the case in the present instance. Those who have witnessed a vessel in a storm may imagine the feelings of the disciples and other passengers on the occasion to which the text refers. Think of the raging tempest-the howling winds-the dashing waves-the surrounding darkness-the frowning clouds-the shattered riggings-the creaking timbers-the heaving and tossing ship-the surging and reeling to and fro! then you will be able to realise in a measure the fearful condition of those people in that little vessel. All on board were in a panic except one, and He was asleep on a pillow. Not that He was ignorant of the state of things, nor was He careless about the safety of His fellow-passengers: but it was that their faith might be tried, and His power manifested. disciples knew of the miraculous power of Christ, therefore in their emergency they fled to Him, crying in their distress, "Lord, save us, we perish ;" or, as St. Mark has it, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" showing that they placed in Him the greatest confidence; as if they had said, “We are in danger of being lost, none can save us but thyself; if thou wilt thou canst." They did not appeal to Him in vain; no one ever did. His ear is always open to the cry of

The