was borrowed." It was not borrowed. The blessings of salvation which you have lost were not borrowed, but are God's free gift; and you ought to have held them, both for their own sake and for the giver. God is bringing them within your reach to-day, and says, "Take them up to thee." us all to lay hold of them!-THOMAS KELLY. God help Subject: The Best Time to Seek the Lord. "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”—Isa. lv. 6, 7. THESE verses are vitally connected, and what God has joined together let no man put asunder. As they stand thus interlaced and interlocked they at once give special encouragement to some to seek the Lord, and fling open the door of hope to the oldest and hardest-hearted sinner. I could not preach a Gospel that irremediably consigned one part of my congregation to hell, even though it welcomed, with loving invitation and passionate entreaty, the other part to heaven! He who does preach such a Gospel is either uncommissioned of God to preach, or is a traitor to his trust. Heaven's message of salvation to the lost and perishing is universal; it is circumscribed by no foul crimes which men may commit, and limited by no filthy locality in which men may dwell. Pardon must be proclaimed and proffered to all, irrespective of their age or the aggravations of their guilt, and on the old easy terms:"without money and without price." Still, we must not overlook the fact, nor fail to emphasize it, that while salvation is offered to all, there is a time when it can be best sought; and, because of the moral barriers which maturity in sin makes, can be more easily obtained. The text teaches us :— I. THAT THE LORD IS SPECIALLY NEAR TO SOME. "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found (i.e. easily found), call upon Him while He is near (i.e. specially near). these words apply? 1. To the young. It is not mere poetry, To whom do but a literal fact, that "Heaven lies about us in our infancy." Whether it receive due theological recognition or not, it is a moral truism, that the heart is nearer to Christ and heaven in childhood and youthhood than in after years, if in those after years there be no radical, regenerating change which we call "conversion." The soul then is (1) Purer. (2) More tender. (3) Less rebellious. God promises salvation to the young, and with an emphasis that only applies to them: "They that seek Me early shall find Me." Dear young friends! Seek the Lord now: it is the best time. Christ is near you-near enough to hear your "call" for that pardon and protection which He has promised to give. You will never have " a more convenient season." Never! The Lord is near,-2. To those who are convinced of sin and are conscious of their need of Him. The distance between the soul and God is not a physical, but a moral one. Holiness and sin are opposed, are at opposite angles. God cannot, therefore, come near to the soul that clings to its guilt with a culpable pertinacity. But when that pertinacity gives way to penitence He does draw near and presents a pardon, and then the hand of faith has only to be stretched out to receive it, and the sinner is saved. Blessed are the contrite! Blessed are the broken-hearted! My friend! art thou conscious of thy need of Christ? Art thou contrite because of thy sins? Then "He is near that justifieth thee." Continue to seek the Lord. Do not let thy desires die! Do not suffer thy convictions to burn themselves out; but "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." II. THAT THOSE TO WHOM THE LORD IS THUS NEAR MAY EASILY FIND HIM NOW, BUT MAY FIND HIM ONLY WITH DIFFICULTY IN AFTER YEARS, OR MAY NOT FIND HIM AT ALL. Childhood and youthhood, how soon they are succeeded by manhood, and, unless there be early and immediate reformation, by maturity in selfishness and sin! Convictions, deep, fervent, strong, how soon they are consumed by contact with the world, unless they are immediately turned to good account; unless no time be lost in forming the decision to which they imperatively point! This nearness of Christ, of which I have spoken, what does it mean? That God is gracious and benignant? More than that. That Christ is accessible? More than that. That He is easily accessible? More than that! It means, that an opportunity so favourable for taking hold of Christ will never present itself again. "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by." What if He should never pass by again? To those to whom He is near, what will be the consequences of delay and indecision? Oh! I cannot tell. The possibili ties are too dreadful for me to contemplate. Delay will bring (1) More difficulty. (2) More danger. (3) It may bring damnation! Can you afford to run the risk? Lord while He may be found." The text teaches us : Seek the III. THAT THERE IS HOPE FOR THE OLDEST AND MOST HARDENED SINNERS WHO HAVE ALLOWED THEIR BEST TIME FOR SEEKING THE LORD TO PASS. Salvation is offered them; but there are conditions which they will find it difficult to comply with. 1. The casting off of evil habits: "Let the wicked forsake his way." 2. The abandonment of impious, iniquitous, thoughts: "And the unrighteous man his thoughts." 3. The submission and surrender of the soul to God: "And let him return unto the Lord." Is it easy to free ourselves from habits that have grown with our growth? To resolutely drive away those thoughts-the like of which flung the apostate angels out of heaven, and which, because of the inexorable laws of the mind, are sure to follow and harass any man who has given them continuous and free indulgence? Is it easy to reverse the whole life, by submitting to His will and way against whom our life has been one long rebellion? Are you prepared to comply with these conditions, hard, rigorous, only because your sins have made them so? If you are, I congratulate you, for you are offered:-1. Mercy sufficient, comprehensive, to cover your sins: He will have mercy." You are offered:-2. Multiplied pardon to cancel your multiplied transgressions and crimes: "Our God. abundantly pardon "(min "multiply to pardon"). He will Conclusion: Do not defer your soul's safety until (1) Tomorrow. Christ may not be " near then; may not be found though you "call." (2) Your dying hour. You may be delirious, or so surprised or so stultified by your affliction as to be disinclined to "seek." How many are befooled by "putting off!" Seek the Lord Now; for possibly enough it will be NOW or NEVER! Dollar, N.B. ENOCH D. SOLOMON. The Preacher's Finger-Post. Subject: THE MORAL MURDERER AT THE TOMB OF HIS VICTIM. "And they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother."-1 Kings xiii. 30. 1. Glance at the purpose of the prophet's mission. The state of Israel: Idolatry in high places the prophet before Jeroboam; the result, etc. 2 The prophet's sin and death. Who to blame? Can both? The case stands thus: A lie was told-a lie under the name of friendship-a lie under the name of religion. The Judah prophet took it as truth, when the evidences against it being such were overwhelming. Why tell the lie? what motive? One of three. Either (a) a wish to enjoy the conversation of a man about whom he had heard so much; or (b) to test the pretended goodness of a foreign prophet, verse 11; or (c) to level him with him self. He was a prophet? 3. The principle found here is, the power of influence. A bad man ruining a good man through pretended goodness. Here is: I. A SAD RUIN. man. (2) The sad ruin of a promising man. (a) See his invincible bravery, verses 2 and 3. (b) See his generously forgiving nature, verse 6. (c) See his unboughtable honesty to God, verse 8. (3) The complete ruin by an apparently insignificant act. Here is a sad ruin : II. WROUGHT BY HIMSELF. (1) It was a ruin which was deeply related to himself. (2) It was a ruin not the result of accident, but a conscious plan. (3) It was the ruin of a brother. "My brother." Here is a sad ruin: III. Now UNALTERABLE. "Alas," He felt (1) that no repentance could now undo his act. (2) No repentance could now alter its effects. All he could say, and many now can say, is, Alas! How many graves could mothers, fathers, men, stand at to-day in England, and say, "Alas!" S. B. REES. Gt. Missenden. Subject: MAN'S BEST WISHES FOR MAN. "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God."-PHILIPPIANS i. 9-11. Good wishes are often like sentimental music-pleasant, but of no practical worth. This, however, is not always so; such wishes as those Paul here expresses for the Philippians are at once intrinsically and relatively valuable. They are virtuous in themselves, and have a power in heaven. What does he wish for his Philippian brethren? I. More ENLIGHTENED LOVE. "I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment." God has implanted the element of love deep in the natures of all men. This love is the spring of action, the bond of social fellowship, the source of pleasure. In some natures this love is torpid, in others it has run into malice, in most it acts without spiritual intelligence, it is a blind impulse. The wish of Paul is the increase of intelligent love. This increase would include at least two things. any First: That the most deserving sufferer should be loved with the greatest compassion. Pity is a form of love, but pity is oftentimes acting in the dark. How often do we find compassion lavished on worthless objects; and not unfrequently do we find the eye of pity weeping over sufferers that have no existence but in fiction and romance. Is there "knowledge" in the pity that is expended over the sufferings of those men who by their wicked recklessness have embarked in the Satanic work of war, whilst a million civilians are allowed to sigh out their existence in penury and starvation? It includesSecondly: That the most excellent men should be loved with the most esteem. Esteem is a form of love; but this esteem is often exercised without judgment. When men are honoured more for what they have than what they are, more for their money than their minds, for their social position than their spiritual principles, for their gaudy wrappages than for their |