Let us, then, by remembering Christ's promises respecting prayer, stir up ourselves to pray more; and let us lay better hold on these promises by remembering that they, like all other words of Christ, shall never pass

away.

And then, with regard to Christ's words respecting fasting-" Thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly."-Have these words passed away? The Christian world, as it is called, seems to think that they have; at least we must judge so from the utter silence respecting them in all its organs from which we can gather its views on religious matters, its popular tracts circulated by millions, and its newspapers and periodicals, from all which any allusion to this Christian duty, and the words of Christ which embody it, are carefully excluded. We may take it for granted, then, that the world thinks that these words of Christ have passed away, and that we shall hear no more about them. Evidently, however, the Church does not think that these words of Christ have lost their force and application, for she directs them to be read as the Gospel for Ash Wednesday. So that, on the first day of the Church's great yearly fast, we are solemnly reminded of the binding

obligation of this Christian duty-i. e., of these words of Christ.

Let us not then, my brethren, be afraid of the world, even though it may be called the religious world. Let us not be afraid of obeying the words of our Redeemer, even though we may for so doing be called Tractarians, or Papists, or Formalists, or Pharisees. Let us deny ourselves in some definite way-some pleasant food or some innocent indulgence: let us do something by way of beginning, and let us give what we save by this to the cause of God, or to the poor and needy. It is late to begin this Lent, but Passion week is coming on; and if we never begin, if we never learn to exercise ourselves in this way, then we shall never get the blessing-i.e., if Christ's words are yet abiding -if they have not passed away.

Lastly, Easter tide is, of course, one of the great seasons for the celebration and reception of Holy Communion, and so I would say to all of you here, that the blessed words of our Redeemer respecting the Sacrament of His body and His blood have not passed away.

The blessed memorials of His passion are yet, after eighteen hundred years, what He said they were, or rather what He says they

are.

He said," This is My Body, which is given for you; this is My Blood, which is shed for you;"-" Except ye eat the flesh of the Son

of Man, and drink His blood ye have no life in you. As the living Father sent Me and I live by the Father, even so, he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me."

These words, my brethren, cannot pass away, any more than His invitation, " Come unto me, all ye that labour," or His promise, Lo, I am with you alway."

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I do then, in His name, and for your souls' sake, bid you lay these words of His to heart. Be sure that, in instituting Holy Communion, Christ has not ordained a thing that any man can dispense with. If His words will not pass away, how then shall you stand before Him if you have not prepared yourself in heart and soul to keep religiously and faithfully this His last command?

"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away." Yea, Lord, Thy words respecting charity, Thy words respecting love, Thy words respecting forgiveness of injuries, Thy words respecting humility, Thy words respecting prayer, Thy words respecting the devout and faithful reception of Thy body and blood, Thy words respecting those who come to Thee, and those who abide in Thee, and those who keep Thy word shall never, never, pass away.

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SERMON XIV.

THE HARDENING OF PHARAOH'S HEART.

ROMANS ix. 17.

"The Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew My power in thee, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth."

IPURPOSE in this sermon to consider the dealings of God with Pharaoh, with whose history the lessons read out of the Book of Exodus, for this and the two next Sundays, are occupied. It is a very difficult history, because it sets before us one at least of the hardest problems connected with God's treatment of fallen man; but I do not think that it is on this account to be passed over, and for this reason, that however it may be ignored in sermons, it is not in the lessons. We read the account of Pharaoh in the lessons for three Sundays of the Christian year. We read in these chapters of God hardening Pharaoh's heart, and, in addition to this, the chapter from which my text is taken is read three times in a year, in the regular course of the evening service, viz.,

on the eleventh of January, on the tenth of May, and on the eighth of September.

Now the allusion to Pharaoh in this chapter, instead of explaining what appears at first sight unfair in God's dealings with him, actually reasserts it, and seems to imply that Pharaoh was just like a passive unconscious tool in God's hands. "For this cause have I raised thee up, that I might shew My power in thee, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth.”

You observe that it is here implied that God, to show forth His glory, made use of that very perverseness of Pharaoh which brought on him his punishment; and, more than this, even strengthened Pharaoh in his perverseness," hardened his heart," the Scripture expression is-so that Pharaoh could not go back, but was forced by a sort of superior power to go forward to his destruction; that destruction being the overwhelming of his army in the Red Sea, by which, as I shall presently show, God's "name was declared throughout all the earth.”

I do not think that all things in this awful page of God's dealings can be explained. Difficulties will always attach to it. But though we cannot make all clear, much light can be thrown upon it, and, what is far more important, much instruction can be drawn from it, to work in us the true fear of God.