ment made by our blessed Saviour on the cross, is the ransom which is equally needed by every child of man; and the effectual grace of God's Holy Spirit is as precisely the stay that is required by one heart as by another. All who are enlightened by God perceive the same blessedness and preciousness in their Saviour's mediation; all have a similar struggle in contending against their old corruptions:2 and while they all hunger and thirst after righteousness, they have the same conviction that it can be attained only by the help of Divine grace. All are led to prayer, and see the necessity of continual watchfulness and circumspection.

This fact is calculated to humble us, and keep us from fancying ourselves righteous, and despising others. When we see any fault in a brother, we should remember that the seeds of that very evil are in our own heart, and but for the grace of God would have sprung up in like manner. What ignorance of himself did Hazael show, when he exclaimed, "But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?" as if he was incapable of the crime which the prophet foretold that he would commit, and which within a short time he actually perpetrated.

The recollection that all hearts so greatly resemble each other, will help us also in our conduct towards others: for we shall ever remember, that all are naturally desirous of sympathy; wounded by neglect and indifference; provoked by being thwarted or injured; gratified by kindness and respect; that all have the same spiritual wants, and that it is our duty to make known to all what is as absolutely necessary for their good as it is for our own. We shall also take pains to be

11 Pet. ii. 7.

2 Gal. v. 17.

2 Kings viii. 13.

gentle and considerate for the feelings and expectations of all, recollecting that we are manded' to "honour all men;" and that the very humblest and meanest of our fellow-creatures

have equally the capacity for joy or sorrow, equally

a sense of the difference between kindness or unkindness, which we have ourselves.

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."-Rev. iii. 20.-See also Cant. v. 2; Luke xii. 36; John xiv. 23.

WE have here the image brought before us of some compassionate and condescending visitor, who seeks

11 Pet. ii. 17.

admission to the house of a poor or afflicted neighbour, with the gracious purpose of both ministering to his bodily wants, and cheering him in his loneliness by wise counsel and tender companionship. On this errand of mercy he approaches the door of the mourner or the destitute, and is willing even to "stand at the door and knock," when he finds that it is not at once thrown open to him. The perverseness which refuses to let him in, does not at once discourage or offend him; but he stands at the door with patient compassion, and continues to knock for entrance, repeating again and again the gracious purpose for which he comes.

Can anything more show our gracious Saviour's compassion, than that He has represented His patient love under this similitude? Not only did He come down from Heaven to seek and to save the lost, but He thus condescends to ask an entrance into every man's soul. He comes to us to give us comfort in our sorrows; to give us rest in our weariness; to provide us with the spiritual food which our souls require; and even to vouchsafe unto us His gracious presence, by the Communion of His most blessed body and blood. Too many are so dead in trespasses and sins, that they do not even hear His voice, and are stupidly unconscious of His gracious efforts to obtain admission into their hearts. Others are, indeed, aware of His merciful purpose, but suffer themselves to be so overpowered by slumber, that they will not trouble themselves to rise and open the door.

Who would not expect that our Lord would be at once provoked by such stupid unconcern, and would desist from His gracious purpose? It is long, however, before He ceases to knock for admission at the door of the heart. He knocks by His word,

which is like a sword' that pierces the soul, and carries conviction home to it; by His Spirit, which strives with the sinner's perverse and stubborn will; by every mercy and every judgment; by the persuasions of His ministers, the example of His saints, the punishments that overtake the wicked. What blindness and folly is it for any to harden themselves against His condescending mercy!

But happy is the hour, when at length the sinner rouses himself from his carnal deadness, and with shame and sorrow opens to his gracious Lord that heart which has been closed against Him by pride, or prejudice, or sensuality. Then he is made to taste that the Lord is gracious,2 and finds what love and patience he has continued to resist. He learns that in his Saviour's presence is the fulness of joy; and he fears, above all, to provoke Him to depart, by returning to any of those sins from which Christ came to save the world.

'Heb. iv. 12.

21 Pet. ii. 3.

XLIV. THE RETURNING SPRING.

"Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth."-Ps. civ. 30.-See also Isa. xxxii. 14, 15; Ezek. xxxvii. 9; 1 Cor. xv. 23.

WHAT a wonderful change have a few days produced in the face of the country! If any one had never seen the effect of spring, and knew this world only as it appears in winter (which is the season of Nature's death), how little could he expect the cheerful change which is taking place before our eyes, the resurrection, as it were, from its six months' sleep of all that is now bursting into a new birth around us! If such an one had seen the seeds which a few weeks ago were put into the ground, would he have thought that so wondrous an increase would spring from what seemed little more than withered leaves or worthless dust? Look, for instance, at those early flowers of the