know and feel the being, and the presence, and the care, and the sufficiency of God, should be much in secret with Him. And the secrecy must be very secret. You must not only "go into your closet," but you must "shut the door,"-shut the door against the imaginations, as well as against the substances, of the world without. Else will that closet, with its many thoughts, and fancies, and solicitudes, be as noisy as the very market-place. And you must have your heart in your hand; you must commune with your own heart and be still." And I believe that the time you do spend really alone with God, will always be the measure of your knowledge of God.

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Many of you lead busy lives. You must try to make up for it by the depth which you throw into the stillness of your solitary times with God, however short those solitary times may be. For truth is never found out of the shade, and our God is a "still" God, who is met by "still" hearts, in "still" sanctuaries.

Of such "stillness," the great, the happy, the certain result will be, that you will "know"-what? That "God is God;" not what He is,—but that He is what He is. I am anxious to press this the more upon you to-day, because this is a season when we are in danger of trespassing within the veil of hidden sanctities, and laying unhallowed hands on the ark of our deepest mystery. Our resting-place is that God is God. So He laid His foundation to Moses,-"I Am,"—"I Am that I Am.” And so,

in the very same language, Christ to the Church,—“It is I;" it might have been translated equally well, “I Am;" "It is I, be not afraid."

God is God,-from all eternity the same. is by His predestinating will and counsel.

Whatever is,

There was a

chart for ever; and all the circumstances of every person, from age to age, down to the finest lines of what man calls accidents, are the exact copies of that everlasting chart.

God is God, and He elects His own. His own grace begins,-His own grace carries on,-His own grace perfects His own work, in His own elect, to His own glory.

God is God, and the whole scheme of man's salvation revolves within Himself. The Father, according to His own infinite love and purpose, gives a people to His Son to be saved. The Son, having lived and died for them,— having borne their burdens, paid their debts, woven their righteousness, wrought their life, gives them to the Holy Ghost to convince, to comfort, to teach, to sanctify, to frame, to seal. The Spirit, having worked effectually in their hearts, gives them back again to the Son, to perfect in His perfections, and to present faultless. And the Son, having adorned them, gives them back again to the Author and the Fountain of all their joy and His, complete.

God is God, and therefore, unlike man, His wonderful patience, returning back, again and again, to build up His own marred and destroyed work,-His pity to the fallen, His love to the guilty,-His tender mercy over all His works.

God is God. He can embrace the universe at the same moment. He "counts the hairs,” and “tells our wanderings, and puts our tears into His bottle, and writes them in His book;"-nothing so great that it is above His care, and nothing so small that it is beneath His notice,—He fills the heaven of heavens, and He dwells in my heart.

God is God,-full of knowledge, clothed in clouds, working in His sovereignty, "making peace in His high

places," the dread profound of His unfathomable mystery, and none know God but God.

God is God,-all His attributes harmonize in Christ,His crown is unity, and that unity perfect, and God is love. This is "stillness;"— the Lord is," the Lord liveth," the Lord reigneth." Nothing can be but that which honors Him, and glorifies Him. my will, and His glory is my glory. that I am God."

His will is become "Be still and know

I speak to unquiet minds,—I speak to those who cannot rest in their providences,-I speak to those who have hard thoughts, I speak to tossed and troubled consciences,-I speak to the distracted, to the hesitating,-I speak to those who are overwhelmed with the mystery of life. Do not wander about so far to hunt for reasons, and to grope for comfort. Do not try so many ventures, and make so many experiments for peace. But content yourself with one thing;-"Believe in God,-believe also in Christ." Keep within it; go up and down in His Being and His offices,learn what a Father means,-learn covenant,—learn the power of the Holy Ghost,-learn the submission of the understanding,-learn the strength of the charm of a baffled intellect and a crushed will,—learn to wait, and bide God's leisure,—learn to be nothing,-learn to let God be God. The swell of the conflict which is passed will be the element of a peace which is for ever.

XXVII.

The Believer's Walk.

"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called."—EPHESIANS iv. I.

T was quite accordant with the accuracy of St. Paul's

propriety of their being

a certain balance and consistency between the manner in which a man is "called," and the way in which that man afterwards "lives." For if it be important in other matters that everything should be in good keeping, much more must it be necessary here. If we all feel how right and essential it is in common concerns that every one should act up to the position which he holds, and the station which he occupies, so that we are ready to cry out against any man who makes himself unworthy of the position he holds in society,-if any collective body is very jealous of any member who degrades the common name, -of how much greater consequence is it that there should be a harmony between the character and the conduct of one who holds no less a dignity than that he is a child of God. So that we see at once the meaning and the justice of the apostle when he says that we should "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called."

And you will observe, that, to enforce this the more upon those whom he is addressing, St. Paul takes his stand upon what he evidently considered to be his highest

dignity,- higher than all the honors of his learning, or the rank of his high office, or the celebrity of his great achievements,-his sufferings for Christ, those evidences of his grace, those features of his resemblance to his Lord, those proofs of Christ's special love;-"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you."

And upon this, let me, in passing, take occasion to remark two things,—the one that the secret of all influence is to be willing to stoop, to go very low, to place and feel ourselves as equals, nay, as the inferiors of those with whom we have to do. If you have never tried this method with those with whom you wish to do good, I advise you to make the experiment. Go to that man whom you wish to influence as from a lower point. Do not speak to him and act as if you were looking down upon him; but as if you were looking up to him. For I am quite sure, that the more we really and unaffectedly think little of ourselves, and make nothing of ourselves, the greater hold we always obtain over the minds and feelings of other people.

And the other observation which I would make, belongs to those who are in any kind of affliction. Understand that your sorrow, be it what it may, sickness, bereavement, persecution, spiritual trial, gives you a vantage-ground which you are to occupy for the glory of God. Those around you will feel it, and acknowledge it to be so. It is a talent, that trouble of yours,-it is a talent which God has committed to you, you will be held responsible for it. Therefore, in your sorrows, remember Paul,-"I, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you." Only take care that it is done with the same affection,-"I beseech you,” “I, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you."

But leaving this, in order to ascertain what is the pro