without tenderness and graee. How much more And III. Fruitfulness is another thought suggested by the watered garden. We naturally expect to see, not merely leaves and flowers, however beautiful, but also fruit. This idea is, of course, involved in the passages just quoted to enforce the need for beauty, but the thought specially intended here is that the religion of Christ shows itself in the form of active beneficence, working as a Divine leaven in the midst of human life. The life rooted in Christ feels itself to be related to others. It exists, not for its own selfish ends, simply to absorb and to keep, but loves by its very bountifulness to enrich others. It thus aims to be reproductive, by bringing others to repeat the same experiences as we ourselves enjoy, and upon still higher levels. Look around on your neighbours and friends, on the community, on the world: look with the eye of love, with the mind of Christ. Is there not room to impart some spiritual gift? (Rom. i. 11; John xv. 8). IV. I will put the thought in one other light. Our subject leads us to think of the need there is for cultured excellence. One of the main ideas suggested by such a garden as we have before our minds is, that it would be well tended and carefully cultivated, and therefore brought to yield the best of which it is capable. Weeds and noxious things, that only occupy valuable ground and prevent useful growth, are not tolerated: they are Let us not be satisfied with the littlenesses of life. We are called and destined for infinitely greater things than we have yet reached. The garden of the soul needs to be more richly watered with heavenly influence and power, that the whole scene of our motives and activities may be so quickened and enlarged that our service may be a wholehearted faithfulness to God and man. This, however, is to be secured by three things1. A rooting (John xv. 4). 2. A growth (2 Pet. iii. 18). 3. A discipline, called by Christ a pruning (John xv. 2). This is the process by which God designs to get out of us the fruits of the seeds He has first of all put into us.-W. Manning. THE SABBATH (a). lviii. 13, 14. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, &c. The first religious ordinance instituted by God in this new created earth was the Sabbath; the day of rest after six days work. Most remarkable was the manner of the institution by the example of Almighty God Himself (Gen. ii. 1-3). Instituted by God between two and three thousand years before the law was given upon Mount Sinai as an ordinance for the Jews, it was designed to promote man's temporal as well as his spiritual good; on its due observance man's welfare, both here and hereafter, very mainly depends; by its neglect God is dishonoured, and man is wounded and hurt. I. HOW THE LORD'S DAY IS TO BE SANCTIFIED. 1. By public worship. On to pay that day especially we are We are to regard it as a day of rest and cessation from the common business and occupation of life, as a season dedicated to God. Our conversation and our thoughts are to be directed, not to temporal, but to spiritual concerns. Let us reflect upon the things of which it reminds usthe creation of the world, the resurrection of Christ; and of that which it foreshadows-the everlasting rest which remaineth for the people of God. II. THE BLESSINGS WHICH FOLLOW UPON A DUE OBSERVANCE OF THE LORD'S DAY. 1. We shall grow in wisdom and grace. 2. Even in this imperfect and troublesome world, we shall learn to delight ourselves in the Lord. 3. When the number of earthly Sabbaths is complete, we shall be found, by God's grace, meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. III. THE EVIL EFFECTS WHICH ALWAYS FOLLOW PROFANED AND NEG LECTED SABBATHS. 1. The world, with its drying, withering influence, will take entire possession of the heart. Even when the Lord's Day is only occasionally neglected, the natural result does not fail to follow-religion is at a stand-still. But where it is habitually profaned, irreligion, hardness of heart, utter indifference and carelessness about the soul, about God, and about eternity, inevitably ensue. 2. The natural faults and corruptions of our nature, being never checked by the wholesome bridle of God's Word, will run away with us, and never stop until they have urged us into perdition. Sabbaths spent in idleness and bad company have often to young men and women, in the highest as well as the lowest walks of life, been the first links of a chain, of which the middle were vice, crime, shame, death; and the last link, the tormenting flame! 3. We shall find unbroken toil a sore burden. 4. Death, instead of bringing us rest, will increase our burden a thousandfold in the kingdom of darkness.-Bishop Hervey: Sermons for the Sundays and Principal Holydays throughout the Year, vol. i. 122-133. (a) See outlines on ch. lvi. 2, 6; and Dr. Barnes' Commentary in loco. The law of the Sabbath, as instituted at the creation, and subsequently inserted in the Decalogue, instead of being repealed, retains its full authority. The sacredness of the obligation of its observance is now transferred, with undiminished force, from the seventh day of the week to the first. The sanctification of the Sabbath is still required on the same principles, in the same spirit, and for the same purposes. The only difference is, that the motives which impel to its due observance have acquired an accession of strength. Most important, therefore, is the inquiry on which we are now about to enter: In what manner should the Sabbath be observed? The due sanctification of the Sabbath requires, I. A cessation from the ordinary labours and occupations of life. II. A consecration of the entire day to the spiritual engagements and delights which peculiarly belong to it. "Remem ber the Sabbath day to keep it holy;" that is, let the entire day be separated from the occupations of other days, and consecrated to the service and enjoyment of God. III. The public acknowledgment and adoration of our God and Saviour, in acts of social worship. IV. The conscientious and diligent discharge of the domestic duties of religion. With much prayer, tenderness, perseverance, and ingenuity, let Sabbath opportunities be used for the purposes of Christian education (H. E. I., 803806). Let not your servants be neglected. They have many claims on your Christian regard. Let them have reason to bless God for entering your family. Consult and adopt the best means of promoting their eternal in terests. V. The performance of the works of charity and mercy.-H. P. Burder, D.D.: Sermons, pp. 426-448. I. Our first object must be to see what God's Word tells us respecting the origin, meaning, and importance of the primitive Sabbath. II. How far do these things apply to us? Is it God's will that we should still set apart one day in seven as a season of holy rest? III. What are some of the purposes of the institution of the Lord's Day?-C. J. Vaughan, D.D.: Sermons, pp. 255-291. I. The true Sabbath. II. Its obligation. III. Advantage. I. In what light we should regard the Sabbath. II. How we should employ it. III. The benefits arising from its proper observance. I. The proper observance of the Sabbath. Its rest, pleasures, occupations, conversation. II. The consequent blessings. 1. Delight in the Lord. 2. Exaltation-victory over enemies, freedom from all false systems of wor ship (2 Chron. xxxiv. 3; Eph. vi. 12). 3. Prosperity-abundance of spiritual food (Deut. xxxii. 13, 14; ch. xlix. 9); assurance of final security (Ps. xxviii. 9). III. The confirmation. God is faithful, cannot deceive; He will do as He has said (Num. xxiii. 19; Ps. xxii. 5; Job xxiii, 13).—J. Lyth, D.D. THE SUPPOSED AND THE REAL CAUSE OF FAILURE IN THE CHURCH. lix. 1, 2. Behold the Lord's hand is not shortened, &c. As the Church is essentially an aggressive institution, at some periods her success has been most marked; at other times her energies have seemed paralysed. It behoves us not only to inquire into the conditions of the Church's growth and expansion, but to be most careful as to our spirit and conduct, lest we by any means should prevent her development. In certain conditions, on the testimony of God's Word, we may be sure of her growth; in certain others we may be as sure of her failure. Her expansion depends upon her purity, &c.; while her failure is as inseparably associated with her sins. The excuses that are often made for the Church's non-success would be amusing had they not reference to so very solemn a subject. To us we confess they appear alarming, as they seem in many instances to indicate ignorance in regard to the very fundamental conditions of growth and prosperity. If she does not accomplish her soulsaving work something must be wrong. Excuses for her failure generally reflect more or less on the Divine Being and government, an issue from which thoughtful and devout minds ought at once to recoil. The text rebukes those who would so think or speak. Israel in the days of Isaiah attended to the outward forms of religion; and yet tokens of the Divine favour were withheld; and when these favours did not come as in the olden time, the people blamed God, instead of charging it to their own sins. The text is an answer to their utterances (ch. lviii.). Consider I. THE SUPPOSED CAUSE OF THE CHURCH'S NON-SUCCESS. This has reference to the work of the Spirit, and to unanswered prayer. Dwell— 1. On the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Upon His grace all pros perity in the Church depends. In some periods God has been pleased to pour out very abundantly His Holy Spirit. At other times He seems strangely to withhold this necessary gift. The all-important question then is: Why is the Divine Spirit withheld? Some affirm-(1.) Because it is God's will. Is this true? It is contradicted by experience. Church his tory and observation teach that every great revival in the Church has been preceded by the action of the Church herself. Prayer has become more fervent and constant, &c. It is also contradicted by the clear teaching of Holy Scripture. We are not directed to wait till God shall in His sovereign wisdom determine to send us the Holy Ghost; but we are taught distinctly to pray for Him (Luke xi. 13, with Matt. vii. 7; Jas. iv. 3). (2.) We are not to expect any extraordinary manifestations of spiritual power in these days Though we do not need the "cloven tongues," &c., we know of no scripture that would discourage the expectation of the conversion of even three thousand in one day. Pentecost was the type and pledge of something greater and better. We are living in the "latter days," and there are many plain indications that we ought now to expect the fulfilment of Joel's prophecy. Plainly, then, if the Spirit is withheld it is not because the "Lord's arm is shortened." 2. The efficacy of prayer in the Church. God is moved by the prayers of His people. Witness Moses, Elijah, &c. (Jas. v. 16). Why then so many prayers unanswered? For the cause we must look into the Church rather than up to God. As of old II. THE REAL CAUSE. our sins. Look at this matter of sin in the Church. Though the Church in this age may be innocent of those more flagrant transgressions (ch. lviii.), yet are we not guilty before heaven, for stopping in some measure the spread and growth of the Church. Let us particularise a few of the Church's sins. Think of-1. Her worldly spirit. 2. Her formalism. 3. Her apathy in reference to the masses. It but remains, now that we see the cause of the Church's small success, that we humble ourselves before God, &c.-F. Crozier : The Methodist Recorder, July 14, 1871. GOD'S POWER UNDIMINISHED. By the Lord's hand His power is intended. By the hand of His power He is in contact with the object on which He designs to operate. The question proposed is this: Is His power diminished? Its present extent is considered in relation to some previously recognised extent of it. It was previously recognised as without limit. Is it now less? The text is really an affirmation in the form of an interrogation. The Lord's hand is not shortened: His power is not diminished. This is the answer to the question in Numbers xi. 23 and Isaiah 1. 2. Let us consider the truth and some applications of it. I. THE TRUTH ITSELF (see p. 365). It is that the Lord's power was and is unlimited, and therefore equal to anything it becomes Him to do or which He has undertaken to do. In creation, providence, and redemption, the Divine power has been displayed, &c. Omnipotence, then, is an attribute of the Divine nature. We probably regard this as a settled point. But the river of our faith does not exhibit an unin terrupted flow. It encounters obstacles at many points. It sometimes suffers loss. When a new difficulty occurs we debate the whole question. Notwithstanding our clear perception of the greatness of God's power, the temptation is to measure it by our own. We catch the infection of the world's atmosphere. We are told that if science declares a thing impossible, and revelation declares it possible, science must win the victory. We lack the courage to reply that science is only the human knowledge of the day, which is continually undergoing change. The wonders of the past were pronounced impossible by the science of the past. And as the divine science of the past has shown itself in advance of the human, it will show its superiority in the future. God is unchangeable. Human power, after being used a given time, becomes feeble, and eventually incapable of exertion. There is no cause of decay or diminution in God. He can neither increase nor diminish; because He is infinite and immutable. Let us mention— II. SOME OF ITS APPLICATIONS (see pp. 365, 366):— 1. It should be applied to our temporal anxieties. Moses and the children of Israel (Num. xi.). The disciples and the five thousand people. How frequently in the experience of believers has there been some pressing difficulty, from which extrication seemed impossible, and their customary faith staggered under its weight, when an unexpected way was made by some new turn of affairs, and the difficulty disappeared. It may have happened to some of you. God seemed to ask an answer to the question: "Is my hand shortened?" 2. It should be applied to spiritual difficulties. Many things clearly revealed in the Gospel as things that may happen. We do not see how they can. Falling into the snare of the devil we measure the Divine power by our own. "How can these things be?" &c. Do some of you say the difficulty in the way of your salvation is insuperable because of your extreme sinfulness and hardness? You are measuring the Lord by yourself. You are putting a limit to the power of His Spirit and the efficacy of the Saviour's blood. 3. It should be applied to the world's conversion. You look abroad on the world with something like the prophet's hopeless scepticism. Can these bones live? It is beyond you. But it is not beyond Him. 4. It should be applied to our intellectual doubts. There are many questions in respect to which we are driven upon the simplest trust in the Divine character. Take only the resurrection from the dead. The apostle throws the whole question back on the Divine power by the analogy of the sowing and the reaping, which to man is impossible and inexplicable (1 Cor. xv. 36, 38). The grand lesson from this subject is the cheerful acceptance of our Divinely appointed lot. Cease to measure Him by ourselves. Simply trust.-J. Rawlinson. Isaiah condemns the sins of ancient Israel, and justifies the judgments of God. Observe I. WHAT SIN HAS DONE. 1. Mark its tendency to separate the soul from God. It estranged man from God at the very beginning. It does the same still, and if unforgiven will separate from Him to all eternity. 2. It has obscured and withdrawn from us the tokens of His favour. 3. It fearfully indisposes you to return you refuse His overtures, &c. II. WHAT GRACE CAN DO. 1. There is no deficiency in God's power to save. We are prone to limit the Holy One of Israel. Satan, who labours to diminish the evil of sin before its commission, equally loves to aggravate and enhance the difficulties of reconciliation. All obstacles to the sinner's restoration removed by Christ. 2. There is an infinite willingness in the heart of God to rescue and to save (ch. lv. 6-9), &c. God has shown His mercy to the chief of sinners. Heaven itself is a colony of saved souls. Christ de scribes Himself as more deeply wounded by the rejection of His mercy than He was by the agonies of the cross. III. THE VAST IMPORTANCE OF SEEKING MERCY-mercy to pardon sin, and grace to subdue it. 1. Seek Him in the full faith of His unbounded grace. 2. Labour to acquire a just sense and apprehension of the magnitude and aggravation of your rebellion. You cannot be united to Christ unless you be divorced from sin. 3. Own and accept Christ in all His relations and offices. 4. Be diligent and earnest in prayer. 5. Honour the work of the Spirit. 6. Keep Heaven and Eternity full in view.-Samuel Thodey. I. A lamentable state- separation from God. Loss of His favour. No access to Him. II. The cause of it. Much of all knowledge lies in the knowledge of causes. 1. Not in God-He is able and willing to save. 2. But in ourselves—our sins.—Archbishop Leighton: Works (1868 edition), pp. 428-432. Man's miseries-I. May not be charged upon God. He is able to save. Willing to save. II. Must be referred to man's wickedness. Actual in thought, word, deed; negligent; infatuated.-Dr. Lyth. SIN SEPARATING FROM GOD. lix. 2. But your iniquities have separated, &c. Present separation supposes previous union and capacity for it. Man is capable of communion with God. God is capable of communion with man. There was a time when they were in full communion-when man was pure. When he fell he lost, not the capacity, but the privilege. How great a loss it was! Why are these two, so fitted to each other, one of them absolutely needing the other, separated? Sin has effected the separation. It produced it at first. It is the only hindrance in the way of friendly intercourse. This is the doctrine of our text. God's holy nature. If you have been at any time guilty of sin which you are unwilling to renounce, you have felt that intercourse between God and you was incongruous and presumptuous. Do we not all know this by experience! II. Sin disinclines man for com munion with God. I. Sin unfits man for communion with God. Unrepented, unforsaken, unforgiven sin. Such sin is utterly contrary to It is "enmity against God." He who wrongs another will avoid his society if he thinks the wrong is known. The presence of the victim is a rebuke to his conscience and an excitement of his fears. The passage to dislike and hatred will probably not be slow. Is not this the course of the human heart in relation to God? Why do the great majority of men around us seem to live without any conscious thought of |