"Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money."-Isa. lii. 3.-See also Exod. ii. 23; Acts viii. 23; Rom. vi. 16. Ir is said of the wicked, that they are taken captive by the devil at his will. It is said of them also, that they "have sold themselves for nought." Satan could not take them captive, unless they consented to his wicked suggestions, and closed with the temptation by which he promises them some miserable gain, or pleasure, in exchange for themselves. What he offers is indeed tempting at the moment; but it is "nought;" it is good for nothing: and the deceived and unhappy sinner, to whom liberty was promised, finds himself only the servant of corruption: "for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he 12 Tim. ii. 26. brought in bondage.' How miserable is his state, when he sees indeed "the glorious liberty' which is enjoyed by the "children of God," who "walk in the light of the Lord;" and finds himself under a hard yoke to sin and Satan, which he knows not how to break! The Apostle represents the misery of this state, when (speaking in the person of one who is still groaning under it) he says, "I am carnal, sold under sin." And again, 66 'I delight in the law of God after the inward man : but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"2 Christ came to set us free from this disgraceful and unhappy bondage. His name of "Redeemer " implies that He came to pay a price to deliver such as were in captivity. In the first sermon which He preached at Nazareth3 He applied to Himself the words of the prophet, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me: because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek: he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted; to proclaim liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." Whether the chains by which we are bound are the chains of custom and habit; or the chains of the fear of man, and the dread of losing the friendship of the world; or the chains of sloth, or of some special forbidden indulgence; He will enable us to break asunder the bonds, if we are thoroughly desirous to be made free. He has paid the price of our deliverance, and puts the means of freedom into 12 Pet. ii. 19. our hands. What deep disgrace is it if, with the means of liberty in our hands, we hug our old chains and sink back into our old corruptions! How many a heathen who earnestly longed to be set free from the bondage of corruption,I will rise up against us in the judgment and condemn us,' if, with the full opportunity afforded us of walking at liberty in the ways of holy duty, we choose rather to remain the willing bondmen of Satan! XXIII. THE ROARING LION. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith."-1 Pet. v. 8, 9.-See also Job i. 7; Ps. vii. 2; xxii. 13; Rev. xii. 12. WE are told, "The lions roaring after their prey, do seek their meat from God." "3 The lion is subtle as well as fierce and powerful; and no less active than subtle. He takes a wide range in quest of 4 or lurks for it in his secret den; prey, ; and springs upon it with a strength which it is vain to resist, and a fierceness which knows not what it is to spare. Rom. viii. 21. 2 Matt. xii. 41. 8 Ps. civ. 21. 4 Ps. x. 9. By comparing the devil to a roaring lion that walketh about seeking whom he may devour, God has instructed me in the subtlety and cruelty of that great enemy; and the necessity of being always on my guard against him. He knows my weak points: he knows how to spring on me with advantage, when I am least prepared for his assault. He would make my soul his prey, and reign over it as a cruel lord, or miserably devour it. If baffled, or defeated, he is ready at once to renew the contest, and finds often that he can do so most successfully, when the soul that has lately conquered him is tempted to think itself in less danger for a time, and perhaps to presume on its own strength. What advantage do we give him, if we suffer our minds to be taken up with the things of this world, or to be surcharged or deadened by undue indulgence in yielding to the desires of the body! What need have we to be ever on our guard, that so being stedfast in the faith, we may be enabled to resist him! Blessed be God, we are taught that our great Redeemer hath "prevailed." According to the word that went before of Him,' He hath trodden upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon He hath trampled under His feet. And He hath given us a sure rule, by which we shall escape this disgraced and conquered enemy; "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." 1 Ps. xci. 13. 2 James iv. 7, 8. "2 "For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns."-Jer. iv. 3.See also Matt. xiii. 3-30; Mark iv. 26-29. THERE is scarcely a process of husbandry which does not supply some image and illustration of Divine things to the sacred writers. The careless and carnal heart is likened to the hard fallow ground, full of thorns and weeds, which must be broken up and ploughed, that it may be fit to receive the good seed; and the law of God, which alarms the sinner in his fancied security, and carries conviction to his soul, is the sharp ploughshare, by which the ground is thus opened and prepared. The word of God is "the seed" which is sown by the great Husbandman; and the parable of "the sower" sets forth to us the various receptions |