stumble you. God is as willing to save the scribe and Pharisee as He is the publican and the harlot; and will no more cast out the wise and mighty and noble than He will the weak and base and foolish; but every one I have mentioned, the scribe and Pharisee, the publican and harlot, the wise and mighty and noble, the weak, the base, the foolish, have all equally destroyed themselves, and are all equally hell-deserving sinners; but they do not all equally see it,and this makes the only difference between them. He who sees it and goes to Jesus, no matter who he is, is saved; he who does not see it, and does not go to Jesus, no matter who he is, is lost. And though it is true that God "hath chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him," yet, blessed be His holy name, there

are of the mighty, and the noble, and the

learned who do see it. the number of those Him for the letter M.

Glory be to God for who have thanked It is not said that

not any mighty, but that not Many mighty are called; and as the late dear Duchess of Gordon, and many others like her have said, the letter M makes all the difference. As in the days of the Apostles, “a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith, also of honourable women, and of men not a few;" so a great company of earth's noblest and mightiest have at different times and places become obedient to the doctrines of the Cross. But every one of these learned under the teaching of the Spirit of God, that all the honours and power and wisdom of the world were shadows, and that instead of being mighty ones, they were poor, weak, needy, self-destroyed and hell

deserving sinners; that the things of earth could profit them nothing if they lost their own souls; and that their souls could only be saved by the grace of God in Christ Jesus. And to this knowledge must every one be brought, or he cannot be saved. But let him be who he may, he who will take his place at the foot of the Cross amongst poor and needy sinners shall never perish, for he has the promise, "He shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper." Therefore saith Paul, “If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God."

And now why is it all thus ordered? The Man Christ Jesus accepted it and rejoiced in it, as being the expression of His Father's will, saying, "Even so Father, for

so it seemed good in Thy sight;" but by the mouth of Paul God has given us the explanation: "THAT NO FLESH SHOULD GLORY IN HIS PRESENCE." "Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty; and base things of the world, and things that are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to nought things that are, THAT NO FLESH SHOULD GLORY IN HIS PRESENCE.”

"THAT NO FLESH SHOULD GLORY IN HIS PRESENCE." In this short sentence I believe we have the key to all God's dealings with His creatures. Let it stumble whom it may, it is written, "The Lord hath made all things for Himself, even the wicked for the

day of evil;" and His ultimate aim and end in all is His own glory; that nothing that He hath created should ever in itself have anything whereof to boast,—that all His works should praise HIM; for, for His glory they were and are created. It has been thus with the elect angels, with men, and with the angels who kept not their first estate. Of these latter I need not speak; they will praise God for ever and ever to the praise of His justice and His power, but they have nothing whereof to glory; but had the angels who kept their first estate, and who Paul calls "the elect angels," not been saved by the electing love of God, they might have fancied it was by their own innate holiness that they fell not, and so thought they had whereof to glory. But now they know, and with the voice of thanksgiving confess that they were only