winning words of Christ, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Some have yielded, have followed their Lord into the waters of baptism. Others have resisted; but they still live to taste of God's mercy, and they still hear the Gospel invitation, "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come: let him that is athirst, come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

May I not say this morning, my brethren, that ye are each returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls? May I not comfort my heart with the reflection that the time of our wandering is past; and that we are all now joined in a new and enduring union to Christ? Oh, if I thought that the lessons of by-gone days have been taught us in vain; that the time will come when we shall again stray from the fold of our Heavenly Shepherd; if I feared, for a moment, that the harmony which now reigns among us will ever hereafter be broken in upon by discord and distraction, I should not have the courage to stand before you to-day, nor should I dare venture to assume the responsibility-heavy enough as it is, even in this the day of our dawning prosperity-of becoming your under-shepherd,

and of attempting under Christ, to guide you and aid you in your heavenward journey. But I have no such fears. I believe that a day has dawned on our Zion, the brightness of which shall go on increasing; that the well-spring of our new-found happiness will gush forth in streams which shall continue to refresh and make glad the city of our God. This conviction is as oil to my heart; for I believe that Jehovah will carry on the work which He has begun until it shall come to perfection, and until it shall shine forth all radiant with heavenly beauty and glory. My soul tells me that this is the Lord's doing; and it is marvelous in my eyes.

For all this, we must not be over-confident. It is with fear and trembling that we have to work out our own salvation, even though we know that God is working within us "to will and to do according to His good pleasure." If we wish to be strong indeed, we must "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might;" if we hope to come off victorious in our hard worldstruggle, we must "put on the whole armor of God," remembering that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this

world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Let us be careful, then, that we rely not upon our own strength, but only on the might and power of our God.

You have "returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls." See to it that ye wander no more. Unite yourselves to Him now by a new and living faith-a faith which nothing can destroy or disturb; which will stand unshaken amid adversity and trouble, and come forth uncorrupted from the still more dangerous trials of prosperity. Keep near to Christ. Do this as you should, and you can never fall away. Keep near Him by faithful attendance upon the ordinances and worship of His house: keep near Him by prayer, both private and with your families keep near Him by study and medtiation on the Word of God.

In particular, I would charge you, as Paul did Timothy, to "give attendance unto reading"the reading of the Scriptures. Living, as we do, amid the hurry, and confusion, and multiplied engagements, of a commercial city, we are tempted to devote to other pursuits-too often to mere amusement-the time which we should spend in studying and pondering the teachings

of the New Testament. This tendency we must resist; and learn to resort as regularly to the perusal of the Scriptures as to our daily business avocations. The instructions of the good Shepherd-of Him who gave His life for His sheep— are written out in full in the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And we must by no means neglect them; for they alone can lead us to eternal life. It is my firm belief that a praying church, and a Bible-reading church, can never be thrown into confusion, and can never be disunited from Christ its living Head. No instance to the contrary can be pointed out in all the long history of Christianity. Here, then, is a safeguard for our protection.

On this

let us repose our trust. as the guardian of our shine or gloom, the storm or the calm, the beauty and wealth of Spring, or the nakedness and desolation of Winter, may be our portionguided by it precepts, supported by its encouragements, and cheered by its promises, our communion shall be unbroken on earth, and cemented beyond all power of dissolution in eternity.

Let us look to the Bible

safety, and, whether sun

If we have indeed returned to Christ, let us

henceforth strive to be one with Him in His death and in His life. If we truly desire to be united to Him, we shall make all His interests our own. Between Jesus and the sincere believer "there is not only attachment, but fellowship; not only correspondence, but affinity." The souls of the two "not only meet, but spontaneously clasp each other; there is not only reciprocal attraction, but approach is lost in union." The heart of each beats responsive to the heart of the other; and the spiritual life-current of the two meet and mingle into one. Such a union must we each seek for, if we would indeed be raised with Christ from the dead, and walk with Him in newness of life. And it is a union which we can each attain; for the love of Christ itself constraineth us, and draweth us, while we utter glad responses of lively thankfulness and praise. There is every thing in His character to awaken our admiration; every thing in His work to excite our gratitude; every thing in His life to draw us toward him, as the magnet is turned to the pole; every thing in His precepts to establish them in our minds and hearts, as the perfect law of liberty and love.

Some politician has said "Eternal vigilance is