be reconciled to Him, and declaring that He is "in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them."

Finally. The covenant was made with Noah in connexion with sacrifice. "And Noah built an altar unto the Lord : and took of every clean beast, and every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar, and the Lord smelled a sweet savour." After the religion of innocence ceased, God always required a sacrifice to ratify His covenant with man. He made a covenant with Abraham by sacrifice. In all His transactions with the chosen nation innumerable sacrifices bled upon His altar. And when we regard the covenant which He makes with His people, we see that it has been ratified by a nobler sacrifice than any which bled in the ratification of former covenants. It was not the sacrifice of bulls and of goats, of heifers and of lambs, of doves and of turtledoves. No, it was one of infinitely higher value-the sacrifice of God's only begotten Son, who was offered for us all," being made to be sin for us" though He "knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Let us pass on to observe―

II. The seal of the covenant. "I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth." My bow emphatically expresses the Divine benevolence in selecting the rainbow for a perpetual sign or seal of His promise that the world should no more be destroyed by a deluge. He placed it in the cloud not only to delight the eye, but to be a sign of His grace and mercy to man. The rainbow was to be the future pledge that His care for mankind was unceasing, and His compassion for them unchangeable. Articles of agreement among men used to be, and generally still are, scaled, that the covenant may be more solemn, and the performance of it more secure to the mutual satisfaction of the parties interested. God therefore being "willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of

promise the immutability of His counsel confirmed it by an oath," or a seal, promising that "the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal." The seal which He attached to the covenant made with Abraham and the Hebrews was the circumcision, accompanied in the latter case by the Passover which they were to observe throughout all their generations. The seal which He has affixed to the covenant with His Christian people is baptism followed by the Lord's Supper, and all the ordinances of His holy sanctuary.

As the covenant made with Noah concerning the waters of a flood is applied to the spiritual covenant made with us through Christ, so the rainbow, the sign of that covenant, is also applied to the sign of grace from God to His Church. Ezekiel in his vision by the river Chebar saw "the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, as the appearance of the bow in the day of rain;" and St. John saw a rainbow round about the throne" in his vision at the Isle of Patmos; which shows that this seal of God's covenant with man is carried on through both the Old and New Testa

ments.

The analogy may be traced in the following particulars : 1. The seal was affixed with repeated assurances of the truth of God's faithfulness to fulfil His promise of safety to "Great and precious" are the promises which, being "all yea, and all amen in Christ Jesus," are recorded in His holy Word. He has condescended to give us line upon line and

man.

precept upon precept as assurances of His faithfulness to fulfil every iota that has proceeded from His mouth.

2. The rainbow appears when the clouds are most disposed to wet, and when the cloud is thickest the bow appears brightest. It is under the thickest clouds of adversity and sorrow that God in Christ is manifested in His greatest glory through the ordinances of His house. We often come here bowed down with affliction and sorrow; we look upon the seal of the covenant and are reassured of God's grace and mercy: the rainbow appears to us in its brightest colours.

We

return from the sanctuary with a feeling of safety, know that whilst He continues the seal, He will "never leave us nor forsake us."

3. The bow appears when some parts of the sky are clear. The Christian's horizon is never so dark but there appear some clear spots. It may be that, as in the case of the church of old, "the light shall not be clear," but it is not "dark." It may not be " day, nor night, but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light." God will give even "the valley of Achor for a door of hope." The day may be overcast, but look to the cloud, you will perceive the bow, and it will not be long before a brighter sky shall

appear.

sun.

4. The bow in the cloud is a reflection of the beams of the Were there no sun there would be no rainbow. Its brilliant colours would no longer delight the eye, its hopeful design would no longer cheer the heart. O brethren, it is the beams of Christ, the "Sun of Righteousness," reflecting upon and through the ordinances of the Church, that give brilliancy and vigour and life to all. If those beams were withdrawn all would be dark, and cold, and lifeless in the service of the sanctuary. In His light we see light; in His absence we should be cheerless and comfortless, without animation, without hope.

In conclusion we may remark, that the bow itself speaks the language of terror. It is an instrument of war, and is a reminder of the war of the elements through which the old world was destroyed. Here, however, it has neither string nor arrow; mercy has divested justice of its terrors; we can look upon the bow with hope, and confidence, for God looks upon it, and makes it a remembrancer of "the everlasting covenant between (himself) and every living creature of all flesh, that is upon the earth." So long as you see that bow in the cloud you may rest assured that God has not forgotten His engagement; and so long as He allows His ordinances to continue in His Church, He will not forget that Church, nor any individual soul of her members.

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Quinquagesima Sunday.

EVENING SERVICE.-Second Lesson: 2 Cor. vii.

Verse 1.-" Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

THE ties of Christianity are ties of affection. They are the ties which bind together Christ and His followers, and bind also His followers with each other. This affection is founded upon a reciprocity of interests and feeling. There is a mutual return of sympathy arising from a union of sentiment, a union of motive, a union of desire, a union of experience, a union of object; each link contributing to the formation of a chain which neither life nor death can separate. St. Paul expresses this affection towards the Corinthians when he addresses them in the text by the endearing term of "dearly beloved." He felt a double interest in those Corinthians. The one was the interest which the respective members of one great family should feel towards each other; and the other was the interest which a father generally feels in the welfare of his children. Paul was their spiritual father; he had "begotten" them, as he styles it, "through the Gospel," having been the first instrument to induce them to embrace the Gospel, and having continued to foster their faith in the doctrines of the Gospel; therefore he calls them "dearly beloved." Beloved by him as the members of the great family of Christ, and as those who owed their membership to his instrumentality. He exhorts them to purity of life, and encourages them to bear towards him the like affection as he bore towards them.

Let me invite your attention briefly to three important considerations from the words of our text.

First, The common duty of ministers and people; Secondly, The manner in which the duty is to be performed; and, Thirdly, The inducement to perform the duty.

I. The common duty of ministers and people. "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit." The apostle includes himself as well as those to whom he was writing in the number of those who need exercise the duty of cleansing from the filthiness of the flesh and spirit,-indicating that none are free from the leaven of corruption. Ministers and people, whatever may be their positions, however they may excel in usefulness, in virtue, and goodness, are included in the same category. "There is none righteous, no, not one." Human corruption is divided into two parts: the filthiness of the flesh, and the filthiness of the spirit. By the filthiness of the flesh we are to understand the corruption which exhibits itself through the instrumentality of the body. The number of sins which appear outwardly through the medium of the body, and corrupt the flesh, is great and heartrending. In the dark catalogue may be adultery, drunkenness, gluttony, obscene language, blasphemous expressions, robberies, murder, idolatry, treason, all of which proceed from the filthiness of the flesh, or the evil passions and appetites which actuate the actions of the body.

By the filthiness of the spirit, the apostle probably means all the thoughts, or mental associations which agitate the mind. Thus, the Saviour speaks of "evil thoughts," which defile the man, and St. Paul here includes all the sins and passions which pertain expressly to the mind and soul. Such are irreverent thoughts of God, unbelief, inordinate desires, pride, devices, ambition, envy, wrath, malice, revenge, and many others which are confined to the mind for want of the opportunity, or the power to be reduced into practice. The seat of all corruption is the heart. It is the spring whence issues all the evil which is practised in the world, and which must be first cleansed before there will be purity of action in the exercise of external virtue.

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